Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) will have to do without one of her closest confidants in the coming term. According to SPIEGEL information, Katrin Suder, as Secretary of State for Armaments at the Wehrressort responsible for equipment of the troop and the reform of the breakdown-plagued procurement, leaves the ministry at her own request.
The departure of Suder is for the Leyen a bitter loss. Shortly after taking office in 2014, she had wooed the former partner at the management consultancy McKinsey. The personality was a coup. Switching from top managers to politics is rare. Suder saw, however, that the reform of the giant organization Bundeswehr for a success-spoiled and well-paid consultant could be appealing.
Since the change Suder tried with all his strength to make the encrusted and chaotic procurement, so the weapon purchase of the Bundeswehr, more efficient. With a kind of Kassensturz she brought first light into the chaos projects like the troop transporter A400M. Then she designed a new armaments management, which should prevent bankruptcies like the giant plane.
Suder has earned a reputation over the years and has not spared himself. Even among the minister's critics, most military and civil servants value the agile adviser for her courage. Their hands-on manner, including text messages Suders to officials in the Ministry or the commissars of the Defense Committee into the night, was almost legendary.
DPA
Airbus A400M
However, Suder shares with the Minister a shortcoming: The initiated reforms in procurement are so far only paper tigers. Only the new major arms projects will show whether breakdowns and horrendous additional costs really fail. As of the Leyen Suder was already clear in 2014 that quick successes can not be achieved and are still politically expected.
It was foreseeable that Suder would not stay forever in the Wehrressort. Suder said about her experience as a top consultant, a reform of a giant organization like the Bundeswehr lasted at least seven years. Often it is good if another face completes the modernization. Nevertheless, von Leyen had recently tried to keep her confidant in the ministry.
Still more changes in the ministry
For months there had been rumors about Suder in the Wehrressort. Now, according to the Defense Department, Suder wants to take a longer break and spend more time with the family. With her wife, the former HSV manager Katja Kraus, she had a child in autumn 2016. For months, Suder commutes by ICE between Berlin and Hamburg, the focal point of her family.
The question of what Suder will do after her time-out is still open. As head of the troop's billions of dollars of procurement, she has gained valuable insider knowledge in recent years. So Suder would be as qualified for a board position at a major corporation as for a return to consulting McKinsey as a partner. Prior to Suder's departure, one of her closest advisors had already returned from the ministry to McKinsey.
The defense department wanted to confirm the important personality on SPIEGEL request neither deny. A spokesman said only, one participates "basically not at personnel speculation". The Ministry is scheduled to officially announce Suder's departure at the end of this week. On Friday, von der Leyen will probably also present further changes.
As successor Suder's deputy deputy, General Benedikt Zimmer, is traded. Zimmer is considered experienced in arms management, he will now have to maintain the pressure to reform and transport it into the troop. Whether he succeeds will have a significant impact on the minister's current account, which must finally deliver results.
DPA
Defense Minister von der Leyen
Von der Leyen is under enormous pressure before the start of the second term. It has initiated important reforms over the past four years. The pressure has brought many soldiers against them. Successes are not yet seen. Rather, especially because of the precarious equipment situation, which will continue for a long time, the Bundeswehr supplies food for negative headlines.
An important personality away from Suder leaked already at the end of last week. Accordingly occupied by the Leyen the post of Inspector General Volker Wieker, whose retirement had been postponed several times, with General Eberhard Zorn. As the supreme soldier, it will also be Zorn's task to regain lost confidence in the ministry.
In addition, Leyen will have two new parliamentary state secretaries: Thomas Silberhorn from the CSU and former Secretary General Peter Tauber from the CDU. In recent years, the state secretaries in the military sector have remained rather colorless, but the two new candidates are expected to interfere more.
Note: In an earlier version, Suder commuted from Berlin to Hamburg, the center of life of the five-member family. In fact, Suder has two more children, but they are not twins.