Colonel (retired) Siegfried Lautsch is a graduate of the military academies in Moscow (Frunze) and Dresden, as well as the Command and Staff College of the Bundeswehr in Hamburg. In 1970-82, he served as an East German Army officer in reconnaissance units and, in 1983-87, as Head of Operations Department of the Military District V (5th Army) in Neubrandenburg and the staff officer responsible for operational planning for the 1st Front. In 1987-90, he was Head of the Training Directorate in the East German Ministry of National Defence and achieved the rank of Colonel. After the reunification of Germany, he continued to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Bundeswehr and served on numerous UN and OSCE missions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
