Rear Admiral Sascha Helge Rackwitz
BUNDESWEHR PIETER-PAN RUPPRECHTRear Admiral (LH) Sascha H. Rackwitz has been Commandant of the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College in Hamburg since June 2026.
Sascha Rackwitz joined the German Navy in 1991. After completing his studies in social sciences and public affairs at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, he qualified as a submarine officer and sailed on submarines for several years. After an assignment as Flag Aide to the Commander of Military District I (Coast) in Kiel and his extended operational training, Admiral Rackwitz assumed command of submarine U 24.
Upon completion of the 3rd joint National General/Admiral Staff Officer Course at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, and following two assignments as Assistant Chief of Branch at the Federal Ministry of Defence, Admiral Rackwitz was privileged to command 1 Submarine Squadron for two years, which is home to the German submarine force and the sea-based reconnaissance assets of the German Navy.
After his tour in command of the German submarine force, Admiral Rackwitz served as defence policy advisor to the German ambassador to the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union in Brussels and as Head of the Office of Military Assistants to the Chief of the German Navy. In 2017, he returned to the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College for two years to teach operational art and naval strategy at the Faculty of Naval Forces before going back to the fleet as Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of Flotilla 1 in Kiel. Back in the Federal Ministry of Defence, at the beginning of 2022, he served as Head of Office to the Director-General for Forces Policy and as Chief of the Central Tasks Branch.
In January 2023, Admiral Rackwitz was appointed Commander of Flotilla 1 and Director of the NATO Centre of Excellence for Operations in Confined and Shallow Waters. In this function, he was responsible for three naval bases in the Baltic Sea region, more than 4,500 personnel, and over 30 warships and submarines, as well as the naval infantry and the Navy special operations forces. In October 2024, Admiral Rackwitz was once again assigned to the Federal Ministry of Defence, where he served as Head of Office to the Chief of Defence before the Chief of the Defence appointed him as Commandant of the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College on 23 June 2026.
Admiral Rackwitz participated in several deployments and projects, notably as Commanding Officer of U 24 in NATO operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, as CTG421.04 in the WESTLANT deployment with the U.S. Navy, and as Commander of NATO’s Aegean Activity.
In his spare time, he is a very avid but untalented golfer. Admiral Rackwitz and his wife Mirjam live close to Eckernförde, which is home to the German submarine force. They have three adult children, two of which are serving in the Navy, too.
