Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz: Colonel (MC) Roland Schwab succeeds Brigadier General (MC) Jens Diehm

The Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz has new leadership: at a ceremonial parade on 3 February, Brigadier General (Medical Corps, MC) Jens Diehm handed over both his roles – medical director and commander – to his successor, Colonel (MC) Robert Schwab.

Diehm was born in Weinheim in 1965, joined the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) in 1984 and studied medicine at the universities of Giessen and Heidelberg. His military career was equally impressive: service as a unit medical officer was followed by several deployments to crisis areas abroad and postings in Paris and the USA. In 2022, when the Bundeswehr Central Hospital marked its 65th anniversary, he became its commander and medical director.

A focus of his tenure was closer cooperation with hospitals in the surrounding area, above all in the Koblenz region. He also helped expand and shape the Koblenz medical campus, whose pilot project begins this year. In his speech at the ceremony, Diehm said:

“We all face major challenges and upheavals in the security policy environment and in healthcare in Germany. These can only be overcome together, across the whole of state and society, at all levels. From the federal government and the federal state to the cities and our local partner hospitals. I thank everyone who helps to achieve this in this common spirit. Be it through cooperation or in the Koblenz campus of Mainz University Medical Center.”— Brigadier General (MC) Jens Diehm

New commander at the Bundeswehr Central Hospital Koblenz

Colonel (MC) Roland Schwab is no stranger to the hospital – he is its 20th commander. His time here as a junior doctor in 2000 was followed by various postings for the experienced surgeon, up to clinical director of general, visceral and thoracic surgery.

The Army Music Corps Koblenz provided the music for the ceremony. Major General (MC) Johannes Backus, Deputy Surgeon General of the Bundeswehr Medical Service and Commander Medical Treatment Facilities, had himself led the Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm until recently. Accordingly, he spoke clearly about the importance and responsibility of such a hospital:

“In peacetime, the core mission of a military hospital is the education, training and further training of medical personnel to keep them ready for crises and war, so that we can fulfil our very own purpose. Given the security policy situation, this mission is becoming the maxim of our actions and has increasingly entered our awareness in recent years.”— Major General (MC) Johannes Backus