22. February 2017

Handover ceremony of the OCCAR-EA Director

On 22 February 2017, the handover ceremony of the OCCAR-EA Director was held at the OCCAR-EA headquarters in Bonn. Mr Hubert Blahnik, Chairperson of the OCCAR Board Supervisors (BoS), handed over the lead of OCCAR-EA from Mr Tim Rowntree to Mr Arturo Alfonso-Meiriño. The change of command takes effect on 1 March 2017.

Mr Hubert Blahnik, Chairperson of the OCCAR BoS and German BoS representative

Mr Blahnik thanked Mr Rowntree for the four years of excellent leadership of OCCAR-EA which included a growth from 8 to 13 programmes, delivery of the first A400M and further BOXER, FREMM, FSAF and TIGER systems into service as well as the integration of Lithuania into the BOXER Programme. 

The BoS Chairperson also welcomed Mr Alfonso-Meiriño, wishing him a successful and great time as OCCAR-EA Director. Mr Alfonso-Meiriño is currently Major General of the Spanish Air Force and the Deputy National Armaments Director for International Relations in the Spanish Ministry of Defence.

Tim Rowntree, OCCAR-EA Director

Mr Rowntree thanked all OCCAR stakeholders for the great cooperation during his time as OCCAR-EA Director and offered his sincere thanks to all OCCAR-EA staff members for the immense support that they have given to him and OCCAR as organisation. On the basis of these joint efforts, cooperation through OCCAR is recognised today as a proven way for nations to achieve a much greater Defence capability within their limited budgets.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from the OCCAR Member States, industry and the international partner organisations, EDA and NSPA, and senior OCCAR-EA staff.

Arturo Alfonso-Meiriño, incoming OCCAR-EA Director

The current and the incoming OCCAR-EA Director with the representatives of the OCCAR Member States

The current and the incoming OCCAR-EA Director with the representatives from the international partner organisations, EDA and NSPA

From left: Rudolf Maus (NSPA Director of Logistics Operartions); Tim Rowntree (OCCAR-EA Director); Arturo Alfonso-Meiriño (incoming OCCAR-EA Director); Rini Goos (EDA Deputy Chief Executive)