German Army Aviators Corps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The German Army Aviators Corps (Heeresfliegertruppe) is a special unit within the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). The German Army Aviators Corps is part of the German Army, containing all its helicopter units. The German Air Force and the German Navy both also have their own helicopter units.

Coat of arms of German Army Aviators Corps

German Army Aviators Corps-badge

1 Identification
2 Tasks
3 Equipment
4 Units
5 History
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Identification

The coat of arms of the German Army Aviators Corps is a white eagle, swooping down, carrying a sword in its claws. Members of the German Army Aviator Corps wear a burgundy-coloured beret. The badge on the beret is a wing, crossed vertically by a sword, surrounded by a oak leaves. Their epaulettes are lined in silver-grey. The sleeves of their uniforms show the flying wings, emphasizing their main task.

[edit] Tasks

The main tasks of the German Army Aviators Corps are:

support of own troops through anti-tank warfare.
transport, both internally and externally, of personnel and material.
reconnaissance in combination with other units.
liaison between different units
disaster aid, e.g. wildfire, floods etc.

Due to their manifold tasks, the German Army Aviators Corps cannot be classifed as having any of the classic tasks of army units, namely leading and supporting the leadership, fighting and supporting the fighting force.
Some but not all units of the German Army Aviators Corps are incorporated into the Airmobile Operations Division (Division Luftbewegliche Operationen). This division was founded on 1 July 2002 and became operational on 8 October 2002.

[edit] Equipment

The German Army Aviators Corps is equipped with:

Bell UH-1D, light transport helicopter.
Sikorsky CH-53G/GS, medium transport helicopter.
MBB Bo 105P, anti-tank helicopter.
MBB Bo 105M, reconnaissance and liaison helicopter.
SA318 Alouette II, training helicopter.
Eurocopter EC 135, training helicopter.

Procured but not yet delivered for active service have been:

Eurocopter Tiger, attack helicopter
LTH NATO-HELICOPTER 90, multi-role helicopter

SA318 Alouette II	Bell UH-1D	Bölkow Bo 105	Eurocopter EC 135
Eurocopter Tiger	NH90	CH-53G

[edit] Units

The following units are part of the Air Mechanized Brigade 1 of the Division Airmobile Operations. The headquarters are in Fritzlar:

Name of unit	Based at
Army Aviators Light Transport Helicopter Regiment 10	Faßberg
Army Aviators Attack Helicopter Regiment 26 Franken	Roth
Army Aviators Attack Helicopter Regiment 36	Fritzlar
Army Aviators Liaison and Reconnaissance Helicopter Squadron 100	Celle
Army Aviators Support Squadron 14	Celle

The following units are part of the Army Aviators Brigade 3 of the Division Airmobile Operations. The headquarters are in Mendig:

Name of unit	Based at
Army Aviators Liaison and Reconnaissance Helicopter Squadron 300	Mendig
Army Aviators Support Squadron 7	Mendig
Army Aviators Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 15 Münsterland	Rheine
Army Aviators Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 Oberschwaben	Laupheim
Army Aviators Support Squadron 10	Laupheim
Army Aviators Light Transport Helicopter Regiment 30	Niederstetten
Army Aviators Support Squadron 13	Niederstetten

The following unit is not part of the Division Airmobile Operations:

Name of unit	Based at
Army Aviators Support Squadron 1	Holzdorf

The following units are part of the Army Aviators Training School. The headquarters are in Bückeburg:

Name of unit	Based at
Instruction Group A (flying instruction)	Bückeburg
Instruction Group B (non-flying instruction)	Bückeburg
Training Centre C (flying instruction)	Celle
Army Aviators Test Squadron 910	Celle
Research And Development Group	Bückeburg
Technical Maintenance Department	Bückeburg

[edit] History

Main article: History of the German Army Aviators Corps

After the foundation of the Bundeswehr in 1955, the first head of the department of the German Army Aviators Corps, Colonel Horst Pape, was appointed on 7 November 1956. During the next ten years, a great number of bases all over the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany were founded.

In the first instance, all the equipment was acquired from allied nations. However, from the late 1960s onwards, more emphasis was put on developing new technology with other European partners. Until 1990, the German Army Aviators Corps was restricted to see active service only during aid mission within Germany and NATO countries.

Since the unification of the Federal Republic of Germany with the German Democratic Republic in 1990, there have been several rounds of re-organizations within the Bundeswehr, also affecting the German Army Aviators Corps. A number of bases were closed down, and their units either dissolved or merged with other units. In 2002, most remaining units of the German Army Aviators Corps were incorporated into the Division Luftbewegliche Operationen (Division Airmobile Operations).

Furthermore, the rôle of the German Army Aviators Corps changed as well. Since the mid 1990s, it has been increasingly deployed in a support rôle in several countries for as varying bodies as the United Nations, NATO and the EU, first in Iraq after the the 1st Gulf War, then on the Balkans with IFOR, KFOR, SFOR and EUFOR, and most recently in Afghanistan as part of ISAF.

[edit] References

Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Das Heer: Heeresflieger, Bonn, 1975
Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Heeresflieger, Bonn, 1970.
Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Armee der Einheit 1990-2000, Bonn, 2000
Bundeswehramt, Unser Heer 3: Heeresflieger, Bad Godesberg, 1962.
Bünz, Fred, Modernisierung in der Bundeswehr: die Entwicklung des Konzeptes der Luftbeweglichkeit und der entsprechenden Einsatzgrundsätze; unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des von Carl von Clausewitz formulierten Wechselverhältnisses von Theorie und Praxis, Diss., München, 1999.
Dressel, Joachim & Griehl, Manfred, Flugzeuge und Hubschrauber der Bundeswehr, Stuttgart, 1990
Garben, Fritz, Deutsche Heeresflieger: nationale und internationale Rettungs-, Hilfs- und UN-Einsätze, Lemwerder, 2005.
Garben, Fritz, Fünf Jahrzehnte Heeresflieger: Typen, Taktik und Geschichte, Lemwerder, 2006.
Kaufholz, Bernd, Im Dienste des "alten Europa": Helfer in Kabul und andernorts, Halle, 2003
Schütt, Kurt W., Heeresflieger: Truppengattung der dritten Dimension; die Geschichte der Heeresfliegertruppe der Bundeswehr, Koblenz, 1985
Tausend Stichworte zur Bundeswehr, Herford, 1997
Vetter, Frank, Die deutschen Heeresflieger: Geschichte, Typen und Verbände, Stuttgart, 2001.