Manfred Nielson (born February 25, 1955) is a retired admiral of the German Navy who last served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia.

In 1985, Nielson released his command and was redeployed to the West German defense staff in Bonn where he served as junior adviser.

A further redeployment in 1998 brought Nielson back to the German Ministry of Defense where he became Branch Chief Central Affairs within the Directorate-General for Plans and Policy by simultaneously being promoted to the rank of captain.

From May till October 2003 he was deployed to the Horn of Africa where he served as Commander Combined Task Force 150 with the Operation Enduring Freedom.

During that tour of duty vice admiral Nielson was selected by the Secretary of Defense Thomas de Maizière to become Director of a special staff that was created to prepare the intended restructuring process of the Bundeswehr.

[2] In June 2011 he was selected as Special Director for the audit of all running and planned procurement projects of the Bundeswehr under the scope of the restructuring process.