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Former corps commander Christophe Keckeis, head of the Swiss army, in Bern in 2007.
Christophe Keckeis died at the age of 75 years. Neuchâtel had led the army from January 2004 to December 2007.
(sda) The news of Keckeis’ death comes from an entry on social media by his former military pilot colleagues. Keckeis’s departure was also confirmed by army circles that were requested by the Keystone-SDA news agency. Keckeis, born in 1945 as a citizen of Fislisbach AG in Neuchâtel, studied political science in Lausanne, was a professional military pilot (with 4,700 flight hours) and joined the training squad in 1973 as a member of the surveillance squad. In 1991 he became its commander.
Keckeis took over Fliegerbrigade 31 in 1993 and was Chief of Staff of the Air Force in 1998/99. From early 2000, he was chief of operations and deputy commander of the air force.
In the fall of 2002, the Federal Council appointed him to the new post of army chief. In early 2003, Keckeis assumed the role of chief of staff and was promoted from division commander to corps commander.
The function of chief of the army was created with the Mission Statement of the XXI Army. As chief of the army, Keckeis was responsible for the development and leadership of the army. He directed the two branches of the army and the air force, the training of superior cadres, the logistics base, the planning personnel and the army command personnel.
Share in Nef’s subject
In late 2007, the perfectly bilingual Romani resigned his position due to age. He was followed by Roland Nef, who in the summer of 2008 fell into a skid and was forced to resign due to a secret criminal complaint of duress that had been pending at the time of his appointment.
Keckeis also admitted at the time that he had made mistakes, in particular that he had been overconfident. Like then Defense Minister Samuel Schmid, he was caught in a trap. On November 12, 2008, Schmid also announced his resignation as Federal Council at the end of the year.
In April 2014, Keckeis suffered a stroke, so he had to pedal for a few weeks. The coup coincided with the campaign to buy the Gripen fighter jet.
