Bundeswehr

Name	Federal Defence Forces of Germany
Native name	Bundeswehr
Caption	Bundeswehr logo
Headquarters	Bonn, Berlin, Potsdam
Commander-in-chief	Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière after declaration of state of defence: Chancellor Angela Merkel
Minister	Thomas de Maizière
Commander	General Volker Wieker (Heer)
Active	148,996 regulars
Reserve	c. 355,000 regular reserve
Amount	€ 31.1 billion (FY09)(approx. $41 bln)
Percent gdp	1.5% (FY09)
Founded	November 12, 1955
Current form	October 2, 1990
Branches	Heer (Army)Marine (Navy) Luftwaffe (Air Force) Streitkräftebasis (Joint Support Service) Zentraler Sanitätsdienst (Central Medical Services)
Age	17
Manpower age	17–49
Available	19,594,118 (2009 est.)
Fit	15,747,493 (2009 est.)
Reaching	445,048 (2009 est.)
Conscription	No (Suspended on 1 July 2011)
Domestic suppliers	EADSHeckler & KochRheinmetallKrauss-Maffei WegmannHowaldtswerke-Deutsche WerftWalther armsThyssenKrupp
Foreign suppliers
Exports	Volume of about $9 bln (2009 est.)
Imports	Volume of about $1 bln (2009 est.)
History

The Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defence Force"; ) consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal government.

The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung), the federal bureau of procurement (Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung) and the federal bureau for information management and information technology of the Bundeswehr (Bundesamt für Informationsmanagement und Informationstechnik der Bundeswehr, sometimes abbreviated as IT-AmtBw). The military part of the federal defense force consists of Army (Heer), Navy (Marine), Air Force (Luftwaffe), Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis), and Central Medical Services (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst) branches.

By international agreement (the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany), the Bundeswehr may not exceed an active strength of 370,000. The Bundeswehr currently has 247,100 active troops. Of these, 188,112 are professional soldiers, 25,566 18–25-year-old conscripts, who used to serve for at least six months, until conscription was ended in January 2011, and 33,417 Volunteer conscripts serving a longer military service. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 350,000 reserve personnel.

In 1994, Verena von Weymarn became Generalarzt der Luftwaffe ("Surgeon General of the Air Force"), the first woman ever to reach the rank of general in the armed forces of Germany.

History

The Cold War period 1955–1990

tanks]] of the Luftwaffe]] After World War II the responsibility for the security of Germany as a whole rested with the four Allied Powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. Germany had been without armed forces since the Wehrmacht was dissolved following World War II. When the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949, it was without a military. Germany remained completely demilitarized and any plans for a German military were forbidden by Allied regulations. Only some naval mine-sweeping units had continued to exist, but unarmed, under Allied control, and not as a national defence force. Even the Border guards was only established in 1951.

There was a discussion between the United States, the United Kingdom and France over the issue of a revived (West) German military. In particular, France was reluctant to allow Germany to rearm in light of recent history (Germany had invaded France two times in World War I and World War II, and also defeated France in the Franco-German War of 1870/71; (see also French–German enmity)). However, after the project for a European Defence Community failed in the French National Assembly in 1954, France agreed to West German accession to NATO and rearmament.

With growing tensions between the Soviet Union and the West, especially after the Korean War, this policy was to be revised. While the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was already secretly rearming, the seeds of a new West German force started in 1950 when former high-ranking German officers were tasked by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to discuss the options for West German rearmament. The results of a meeting in the monastery of Himmerod formed the conceptual base to build the new armed forces in West Germany. The Amt Blank (Blank Agency, named after its director Theodor Blank), the predecessor of the later Federal Ministry of Defense, was formed the same year to prepare the establishment of the future forces. Hasso von Manteuffel, a former general of the Wehrmacht and liberal politician, submitted the name Bundeswehr for the new forces. This name was later confirmed by the West German Bundestag.

The Bundeswehr was officially established on the 200th birthday of Scharnhorst on 12 November 1955. After an amendment of the Basic Law in 1955, West Germany became a member of NATO. The first public military review took place at Andernach, in January 1956. In 1956, conscription for all men between the ages of 18 and 45 was reintroduced, later augmented by a civil alternative with longer duration (see Conscription in Germany). In response, East Germany formed its own military force, the Nationale Volksarmee (NVA), in 1956, with conscription being established only in 1962. The Nationale Volksarmee was eventually dissolved with the reunification of Germany in 1990. Compulsory conscription was finally ended in January 2011.

at Le Bourget.]]

During the Cold War the Bundeswehr was the backbone of NATO's conventional defense in Central Europe. It had a strength of 495,000 military and 170,000 civilian personnel. The Army consisted of three corps with 12 divisions, most of them heavily armed with tanks and APCs. The Luftwaffe owned significant numbers of tactical combat aircraft and took part in NATO's integrated air defense (NATINAD). The Navy was tasked and equipped to defend the Baltic Approaches, to provide escort reinforcement and resupply shipping in the North Sea and to contain the Soviet Baltic Fleet.

During this time the Bundeswehr did not take part in combat operations. However there were a number of large-scale training and operational casualties. The first such incident was in June 1957, when fifteen paratroop recruits were drowned in the Iller river, Bavaria.

German Reunification 1990

After reunification of Germany in 1990, the Bundeswehr was reduced to 370,000 military personnel in accordance with the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany between the two German governments and the Allies (2+4 Treaty). The former East German Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) was disbanded, with a portion of its personnel and material being absorbed into the Bundeswehr. jet, taken over from the former East German Air Force.]]

About 50,000 Volksarmee personnel were integrated into the Bundeswehr on 2 October 1990. This figure was rapidly reduced as conscripts and short-term volunteers completed their service. A number of senior officers (but no generals or admirals) received limited contracts for up to two years to continue daily operations. Personnel remaining in the Bundeswehr were awarded new contracts and new ranks, dependent on their individual qualification and experience. Many received and accepted a lower rank than previously held in the Volksarmee.

In general, the unification process of the two militaries—under the slogan "Armee der Einheit" (or "Army of Unity")—has been seen publicly as a major success and an example for other parts of the society.

With the reduction, a large amount of the military hardware of the Bundeswehr, as well as of the Volksarmee, had to be disposed of. Most of the armored vehicles and fighter jet aircraft were dismantled under international disarmament procedures. Many ships were scrapped or sold, often to the Baltic states or Indonesia (the latter received 39 former Volksmarine vessels of various types).

Mission

soldiers in Bosnia]] The role of the Bundeswehr is described in the Constitution of Germany (Art. 87a) as absolutely defensive only. Its only active role before 1990 was the Katastropheneinsatz (disaster control). Within the Bundeswehr, it helped after natural disasters both in Germany and abroad. After 1990, the international situation changed from East-West confrontation to one of general uncertainty and instability. Today, after a ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1994 the term "defense" has been defined to not only include protection of the borders of Germany, but also crisis reaction and conflict prevention, or more broadly as guarding the security of Germany anywhere in the world. According to the definition given by former Defense Minister Struck, it may be necessary to defend Germany even at the Hindu Kush. This requires the Bundeswehr to take part in operations outside of the borders of Germany, as part of NATO or the European Union and mandated by the UN.

Organization and command structure

Frigate]] With the growing number of missions abroad it was recognized that the Bundeswehr required a totally new command structure. A reform commission under the chairmanship of the former President Richard von Weizsäcker presented its recommendations in spring 2000.

In October 2000 the Joint Support Service, the Streitkräftebasis, was established to concentrate logistics and other supporting functions such as military police, supply and communications under one command. Medical support was reorganized with the establishment of the Central Medical Services.

The combat forces of the Army are organized into five combat divisions and participate in multi-national command structures at the corps level. The Air Force maintains three divisions and the Navy is structured into two flotillas. The Joint Support Service and the Central Medical Services are both organized in four regional commands of identical structure. All of these services also have general commands for training, procurement, and other general issues.

The minister of defense or the chancellor is supported by the Chief of Defense (CHOD, Generalinspekteur) and the service chiefs (Inspekteure) and their respective staffs in his or her function as commander-in-chief. The CHOD and the service chiefs form the Military Command Council (Militärischer Führungsrat) with functions similar to those of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States. Subordinate to the CHOD is the Armed Forces Operational Command (Einsatzführungskommando). For smaller missions one of the service HQs (e.g. the Fleet Command) may exercise command and control of forces in missions abroad. The Bundestag must approve any deployment abroad by a simple majority. This has led to some discontent with Germany's allies about troop deployments e.g. in Afghanistan since parliamentary consent over such issues is relatively hard to achieve in Germany.

The Bundeswehr in general is still among the world's most technologically advanced and best-supplied militaries, as befits Germany's overall economic prosperity and infrastructure. Its budget is, however, steadily shrinking and among the lowest military budgets in NATO in terms of share of GDP.

Operations

during a practice exercise in 2004. US troops watch in the background. All rifles in the photo are equipped with blank firing adapters.]] (MP)]] of the Luftwaffe]]

Since the early 1990s the Bundeswehr has become more and more engaged in international operations in and around the former Yugoslavia, and also in other parts of the world like Cambodia or Somalia. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, German forces were employed in most related theaters except Iraq.

Currently (February 7, 2011) there are Bundeswehr forces in:

Afghanistan

* ISAF

4,925 personnel

(mandate limit: 5,350)

Kosovo

* KFOR

1,535 personnel In all three services, light sand-colored uniforms are available for duty in warmer climates.

A different, traditional variety of the service uniform is worm by the Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry), consisting of ski jacket, stretch trousers, and ski boots. Instead of the beret, they wear the grey "mountain cap". (see here for details.) The field uniform is the same, except for the (optional) metal Edelweiss worn on the forage cap.

The traditional arm-of-service colors appear as lapel facings and as piping on shoulder straps. Generals wear an inner piping of gold braid; other officers wear silver piping. Lapel facings and piping are maroon for general staff, green for infantry, red for artillery, pink for armor, black for engineers, yellow for communications, dark yellow for reconnaissance and various other colors for the remaining branches. Combat troops wear green (infantry), black (armor), or maroon (airborne) berets. Logistics troops and combat support troops, such as artillery or engineers, wear red berets. A gold or silver badge on the beret denotes the individual branch of service.

The naval forces wear the traditional navy blue, double-breasted coat and trousers; enlisted personnel wear either a white shirt or a navy blue shirt with the traditional navy collar. White uniforms provide an alternative for summer. The officer's dress cap is mounted with a gold anchor surrounded by a wreath. The visor of the admiral's cap bears a double row of oak leaves.

The air force service uniform consists of a blue jacket and trousers with a light blue shirt, dark blue tie, and black shoes. Olive battle dress similar to the army fatigue uniform is worn in basic training and during other field duty. Flying personnel wear wings on their right breast. Other air force personnel wear a modified wing device with a symbol in its center denoting service specialization. These Tätigkeitsabzeichen come in bronze, silver, or gold, depending on one's length of service in the specialty. Wings, superimposed over a wreath, in gold, silver, or bronze, depending on rank, are also worn on the service or field cap.

Ranks

In general, officer ranks are those used in the Prussian and pre-1945 German armies. Officer rank insignia are worn on shoulder straps or shoulder boards. Army (Heer) and air force (Luftwaffe) junior officers' insignia are four pointed silver stars while field grade officers wear silver (black or white on camouflage uniforms) stars and a laurel wreath around the lowest star. The stars and wreath are gold for general officers. In the case of naval (Marine) officers, rank is indicated by gold stripes on the lower sleeve of the blue service jacket and on shoulder boards of the white uniform.

Soldier and NCO ranks are similar to those of the Prussian and pre-1945 German armies. In the army and air force, a Gefreiter corresponds to the NATO rank OR-2 and Hauptgefreiter to OR-3. An Unteroffizier is the lowest-ranking sergeant (OR-5), followed by Stabsunteroffizier (OR-6), Feldwebel and Oberfeldwebel (OR-7), Hauptfeldwebel (OR-8) and Stabsfeldwebel (OR-9). Ranks of army and air force enlisted personnel are designated by stripes, chevrons, and "sword knots" worn on rank slides. Naval enlisted rank designations are worn on the upper (OR 1-5) or lower (OR-6 and above) sleeve along with a symbol based on an anchor for the service specialization (rating). Army and air force officer candidates hold the separate ranks of Fahnenjunker, Fähnrich and Oberfähnrich, and wear the appropriate rank insignia plus a silver cord bound around it. Officers candidates in the navy Seekadett (sea cadet; equivalent to OR-4) and Fähnrich zur See (midshipman second class; OR-5) wear the rank insignia of the respective enlisted ranks but with a gold star instead of the rating symbol, while an Oberfähnrich zur See (midshipman first class; OR-7) wears an officer type thin rank stripe.

Medical personnel of all three services wear a version of the traditional caduceus (staff with entwined serpents) on their shoulder straps or sleeve. The officers' ranks have own designations differing from the line officers, the rank insignias however are basically the same.

Traditions

Former German military organisations have been the old German state armies, the Reichswehr (1921–1935) and the Wehrmacht (1935–1945). The Bundeswehr, however, does not consider itself as their successor and does not follow the traditions of any former German military organisation. The official Bundeswehr traditions are based on three major lines:

the defense reformers at the beginning of the 19th century such as Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Clausewitz

the members of the military resistance against Hitler such as Claus von Stauffenberg and Henning von Tresckow

its own tradition since 1955

As its symbol the Bundeswehr uses a form of the Iron Cross. The Iron Cross has a long history, having been awarded as a military wartime decoration for all ranks since 1813, and earlier associated with the Teutonic knights. The name Bundeswehr was proposed by the former Wehrmacht general and liberal politician Hasso von Manteuffel.

One of the most visible traditions is the Großer Zapfenstreich, a form of military tattoo that goes back to the landsknecht era. Another expression of the traditions in the German armed forces is the ceremonial vow (Gelöbnis) of recruits, during basic training. Annually on July 20, the date of the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by Wehrmacht officers in 1944, recruits of the Wachbataillon vow at the Bendlerblock, where the officers had their headquarters. The wording of the ceremonial vow of conscripts was:

:"I pledge to loyally serve the Federal Republic of Germany and to bravely defend the law and the freedom of the German people." :"Ich gelobe, der Bundesrepublik Deutschland treu zu dienen und das Recht und die Freiheit des deutschen Volkes tapfer zu verteidigen."

Professional soldiers and officers of the Bundeswehr have to swear an oath with the same wording, but beginning with "Ich schwöre, ..." ("I swear...").

Rank structure and superior-subordinate relations

Bundeswehr rank insignia

Command and obedience in the Bundeswehr

Ranks of the Army and Air Force

Enlisted

Schütze/Flieger or equivalent rank - Private/Airman/Aircraftman or equivalent rank

Gefreiter - Private E2

Gefreiter-UA - Private/Airman E2 - NCO Candidate

Gefreiter-OA - Private/Airman E2 - Officer Candidate

Obergefreiter - Private First Class / Airman First Class

Hauptgefreiter - Private First Class / Lance Corporal

Stabsgefreiter - Corporal

Oberstabsgefreiter - Specialist / Lance-Sergeant/ Senior Aircraftman Technician

Non-commissioned officers

Unteroffizer - Sergeant (Junior Rank)

Stabsunteroffizer - Sergeant

Feldwebel - Sergeant (Senior Rank)

Oberfeldwebel - Staff Sergeant

Hauptfeldwebel - Sergeant First Class / Flight Sergeant

Stabsfeldwebel - Master Sergeant / First Sergeant / Quartermaster Sergeant

Oberstabsfeldwebel - Sergeant Major

Officer Cadets

Fahnenjunker- Cadet / Officer Candidate (with the rank of Unteroffizier)

Fähnrich - Ensign (with the rank of Feldwebel)

Oberfähnrich - Ensign (with the rank of Hauptfeldwebel)

Officers

Leutnant - 2nd Lieutenant/Sublieutenant

Oberleutnant - 1st Lieutenant/Lieutenant

Hauptmann - Captain (land and air)

Stabshauptmann Captain First Class

Major

Oberstleutnant - Lieutenant Colonel

Oberst - Colonel

Brigadegeneral - Brigadier General/Brigadier

Generalmajor - Major General

Generalleutnant - Lieutenant General

General

Ranks of the Navy

Enlisted

Matrose - Seaman Recruit

Gefreiter - Seaman Apprentice E2

Gefreiter-UA - Seaman Apprentice E2 - Petty Officer Candidate

Gefreiter-OA - Seaman Apprentice E2 - Officer Candidate

Obergefreiter - Seaman

Hauptgefreiter - Able Seaman

Stabsgefreiter - Leading Seaman

Oberstabsgefreiter - First Leading Seaman

Non-commisioned officers

Maat - Petty Officer Third Class

Obermaat - Petty Officer Second Class

Bootsmann - Petty Officer First Class

Oberbootsmann - Chief Petty Officer

Hauptbootsmann - Senior Chief Petty Officer

Stabsbootsmann - Master Chief Petty Officer

Oberstabsbootsmann - Master Chief Petty Officer of the Fleet/Command Master Chief Petty Officer

Officer cadets

Seekadett - Sea Cadet

Fähnrich zur See - Midshipman 2nd class

Oberfähnrich zur See - Midshipman 1st class

Officers

Leutnant zur See - Ensign or Acting Sublieutenant

Oberleutnant zur See - Lieutenant Junior Grade / Sublieutenant

Kapitänleutnant - Lieutenant

Stabskapitänleutnant - Lieutenant Senior Grade

Korvettenkapitän - Lieutenant Commander

Fregattenkapitän - Commander

Kapitän zur See - Sea Captain (naval)

Flottillenadmiral - Flotilla Admiral

Konteradmiral - Counter Admiral/Rear Admiral

Vizeadmiral - Vice Admiral

Admiral

Awards

See also Awards and decorations of the German Armed Forces

Bundesverdienstkreuz, the Order of Merit Cross of the German Federal Republic

Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr

Combat Action Medal of the Bundeswehr

German Armed Forces Service Medal

German Armed Forces Flood Service Medal

German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency

German Armed Forces Badge of Marksmanship

German Parachutist Badge

German Sports Badge

See also

Conscription in Germany

References

External links

Bundeswehr – Official site (in German)

Federal Ministry of Defence official site (in German, English and French)

Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung official site (in German)

Bundesamt für Informationsmanagement und Informationstechnik der Bundeswehr official site (in German)

Territoriale Wehrverwaltung official site (in German)

Germany Germany Category:Military history of Germany Category:Military of Germany Category:1955 establishments in West Germany Category:1955 in West Germany