Walter Kolbow was a member of the German Bundestag who served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence (1998-2005), as well as deputy chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag (2005-2009).
He served as chairman of the Commission for Security and Forces of the SPD board, and spokesman of the commission of the Federal Academy for Security Policy of Germany. He also is a senior advisor of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. Kolbow has served as parliamentary state secretary and deputy minister of defense (1998-2005).
He also has been deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the German Parliament (2005-2009). He was a member of the German Parliament and of the Defense Committee for twenty-nine years (1980-2009), where he served as SPD spokesman. Kolbow also was a member of the North Atlantic Assembly and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.