Markus Reisner (born March 10, 1978, in Bucklige Welt, Lower Austria) is an Austrian historian, military expert, and officer of the Austrian Armed Forces serving as commander of the Gardebataillon. Professional life Training and first assignments Markus Reisner joined the Austrian Armed Forces in 1997 as a one-year volunteer and subsequently completed a preparatory semester for the Military Academy in Allentsteig. From 1998 to 2002, he attended the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt where he trained as an officer. He then served in the Reconnaissance Battalion 2 in Salzburg until 2004, where he was assigned as a platoon commander, deputy company commander, and training officer of an armored reconnaissance company. After that, he served with the Jagdkommando in Wiener Neustadt until 2013. Studies and doctorate Reisner studied law and history at the University of Vienna. From 2010 to 2013, he completed doctoral studies in history at the University of Vienna (dissertation on the aerial warfare over Austria from 1943 to 1945, supervisor Lothar Höbelt). In 2017, he completed his Ph.D. studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna. Service as a staff officer From 2014 to 2016, he completed the 20th General Staff Course at the National Defense Academy in Vienna. In June 2020, he was appointed head of the Development Department of the Theresian Military Academy, and led it with the rank of Colonel of the General Staff. Since September 1, 2022, Reisner is commander of the Gardebataillon, one of the most elite and traditional units of the Austrian Armed Forces, in Vienna. Academic career Markus Reisner currently is a member of the Military History Advisory Board of the Scientific Commission at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defense (since 2017), and holds a position as lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt (since 2011). Before, he advised the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2017-2018), as well as the Austrian Ministry of Defence (2018). He has gained public recognition as head of the Development Department of the Theresian Military Academy, where he delivered battlefield analyses in the form of YouTube videos on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. These videos had mainly been watched in the German sprachraum at first, but started to gather an international audience since being made available in English. Reisner is a speaker at the Candid Foundation, the University of Leeds, and the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy.