Helge Hansen (born 13 March 1936) is a retired general who served in the German Army within the Bundeswehr. From 1992 to 1994 he was the Inspector of the Army and from 1994 to 1996 he was Commander Allied Forces Central Europe within NATO. Military career Training and first commands Hansen was born on 1936 13 March 1936 in Dresden and entered the Bundeswehr in 1957 as an officer cadet. He trained with the Panzergrenadier corps. In 1959 he was promoted to second lieutenant (Leutnant) and was employed as a platoon commander in a Panzergrenadier battalion. Six years later, in 1965, Hansen was promoted to captain (Hauptmann) and took over the post of a company commander for two years within 173rd Panzergrenadier Battalion in Hamburg. From 1967 to 1969 he attended the General Staff course at the Bundeswehr Staff College in Hamburg as a major and was awarded the General Heusinger Prize as the best student of his year. Thereafter he was appointed as the G1 personnel staff office in the 12th Armoured Division in Veitshöchheim. From 1971 to 1972 Hansen attended the NATO Defence College in Rome and afterwards served as a staff officer in the Federal Ministry of Defence in Bonn. From 1974 to 1977 Hansen commanded the 312th Panzergrenadier Battalion in Delmenhorst as a lieutenant colonel (Oberstleutnant). After this command Hansen was posted in 1977 to Brunssum in the Netherlands where he served as a staff officer in the Headquarters of the Allied Forces Central Europe within NATO. Returning to Germany he then served as the department head for military-political policy in the Defence Staff in Bonn under General Inspector Jürgen Brandt. Service as a general As a colonel (Oberst) Hansen took over Panzerlehrbrigade 9 in Munster from 26 September 1980 to 11 October 1982. In 1982 he was promoted to brigadier general (Brigadegeneral). Next Hansen was posted from October 1982 to March 1984 as the divisional head of military politics in the office of the Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany with NATO in Brussels. Following that tour Hansen returned to Germany and took over the 1st Armoured Division in Hanover in April 1985 in the rank of major general (Generalmajor) from Henning von Ondarza and commanded the division until 30 September 1987. From 1 October 1987 to 30 September 1990 Hansen commanded the German III Corps as a lieutenant general (Generalleutnant) in Koblenz.