Lieutenant Colonel Jan Heymann is currently commanding about 104 German soldiers in northern Iraq, in the metro­polis Erbil where the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) are presently training Kurdish fighters. Heymann is the successor to Colonel Stephan Spöttel who commanded the mission until the end of September 2015. Spöttel was found dead in his hotel room in Erbil. Heymann holds the Silver Cross of Honor (Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Silber) and is currently on his third overseas deployment. He has held various positions in the Bundeswehr, and is now serving in the 37th Mechanized Infantry Brigade (Panzergrenadierbrigade 37) at Frankenberg in Saxony. He was born in 1974, joined the German armed forces in 1995 and lives in Saxony.

pizefk@bundeswehr.org

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