Leo Hepp

Leo Philipp Franz Hepp (15 August 1907 – 24 October 1987) was a German military officer, who served as a high-ranking signals officer in the Nazi German Wehrmacht during World War II and as a lieutenant general in the Bundeswehr after the war.

Early life and education

Hepp was born in Ulm, the son of military veterinarian Dr. Leo Hepp (1871–1950). He completed his secondary education at Karlsgymnasium in Stuttgart, taking his Abitur in the spring of 1925.

Career

Pre-war After taking his Abitur earlier in 1925, Hepp enlisted in the Reichswehr and was assigned to Signals Detachment 5 in Bad Cannstatt. After attending the Infantry School in Dresden and Artillery School in Jüterbog, he was commissioned as a Leutnant in Signals Detachment 5 and a few years later he was promoted to Oberleutnant. From 1935 to 1937, Hepp was an intelligence instructor at the Munich Kriegsschule of the Wehrmacht. His department of the Gehlen Organization was very helpful to the U.S. intelligence community's efforts to track the movements of Soviet fighter and attack aircraft units. His successor as head of signals intelligence was his old boss Albert Praun.

Bundeswehr In September 1956, Hepp joined the newly formed armed forces of West Germany, the Bundeswehr. From December 1959 to October 1960, he was commander of the newly formed 10th Panzer Division headquartered in Sigmaringen. From October 1960 to September 1961, he was Deputy Inspector of the Army and Chief of the General Staff, based in Bonn. In October 1961, Hepp was appointed the commander of the II Corps headquartered in Ulm, and in February 1962, he was promoted to the rank of Generalleutant. While he was corps commander, he had to handle the controversy surrounding the "Nagold affair" in 1963. This ensued when a recruit collapsed from heat exhaustion during a march of the 6/9 Fallschirmjäger Training Company from Nagold on July 25, and died in hospital a week later. Hepp made the decision, without consulting the Federal Ministry of Defence, to disband the training company for not adhering to proper training methods. In May 1967, Hepp was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit with Star. In September 1967, Hepp retired from the Bundeswehr and passed command of II Corps on to Generalleutnant Karl Wilhlem Thilo.

Federal Intelligence Service After his retirement from the military, Hepp returned briefly to intelligence, serving in the Federal Intelligence Service from 1970 to 1972 as the leader of the signals intelligence division at Pullach.