Captain Gundel is an officer within the Alliance Fleet. At the time of the Lost Fleet's withdrawal from the Syndicate home system, Gundel was the captain of the fast fleet auxiliary Jinn, and the commander of the Third Fast Fleet Auxiliaries Division.
Gundel was relatively unpopular among his fellow captains, due in large part to his aversion to work, and his tendency to give outlandish estimates on how quickly a project could be completed, or even how soon it would be started. Captain Geary became aware of this when he asked Gundel for a recommended course of action regarding the reactivation of shut-down Syndicate mining facilities within the Kaliban system. Gundel responded that he could have dismayed by Gundel's other answers. He promptly "reassigned" Gundel, removing him from command of the Jinn and the Auxiliaries Division, and giving him a busy-work assignment as a member of Geary's "staff", allowing command of the auxiliaries to pass to the much more capable Captain Tyrosian.
Following the Alliance Fleet's return to Alliance space, John Geary had Gundel remain at Varandal while the fleet continued its activities, with him still continuing on his assignment despite it no longer having any purpose.