Captain (Navy) Dr. Michael Heidinger is the reserve commander of the Bundeswehr CBRN Defence Command, a position he has held since 2017.

Capt. Heidinger studied economics and received his doctorate (Dr. rer. oec.) at Ruhr University Bochum. In his civilian career, he was an executive at the Federal Employment Agency, an advisor to the SPD parliamentary group in the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament, and a department head in the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2009, he was elected mayor of the city of Dinslaken and served in this position for 11 years before retiring in 2020.

His military career began in 1983 in the armored infantry troops. In 1987, he transferred to the CBRN Defence troops and was trained as a reserve officer there. Subsequently, Capt. Heidinger served for 20 years in the Federal Ministry of Defence in various positions. In 2014, he was promoted to the rank OF-5. Alongside his work in the Ministry, Capt. Heidinger completed all significant troop assignments in the CBRN Defence troops, including as a company commander and as a staff officer in CBRN Defence Brigade 100. In 2017, Capt. Heidinger was appointed reserve commander of the Bundeswehr CBRN Defence Command in Bruchsal, making him the only reserve officer in the Bundeswehr to command a brigade-equivalent unit.