German Army

German Army
Deutsches Heer
Logo Heer with lettering.svg
Logo of the German Army
Active 1955-present
Country Federal Republic of Germany
Role Land force
Size 136,689 (incl. 35,000 reserve forces)
Motto To protect, help, moderate and fight
Schützen, helfen, vermitteln, kämpfen
Colors Blue, Grey and White
Anniversaries November 12, 1955
Engagements United Nations Operations in Somalia

Aftermath of the Balkan Wars 1995-1999
Kosovo War
War in Afghanistan
Decorations Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr
Military Proficiency Badge
Badge of Marksmanship
Service Medal
Flood Service Medal
Commanders
Current
commander		 Lieutenant General Hans-Otto Budde
Notable
commanders		 General Ulrich de Maizière
General Ernst Ferber, COMAFCENT 1973-1975

Lieutenant General Jörg Schönbohm, later Undersecretary of Defense

The German Army (German: Deutsches Heer, [heːɐ̯ ]) is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed of the Army, the Navy, and an Air Force after World War I. It was reinstalled in 1955 as the West German Army and as a part of the newly formed Bundeswehr. In the aftermath of the German reunification of 1990, the National People's Army of the former German Democratic Republic was integrated into the West German Army.

Contents

History

Overview

A German infantryman stands at the ready covering his comrade with the Bundeswehr's standard G36 assault rifle during a practice exercise in 2004.

Since Germany first became a modern unified state in 1871, previous names of German unified ground forces have included:

Pre-1914

Main article: German Army (German Empire)

After the reform movement of the Prussian Army following a series of disastrous defeats at the hands of her enemies in the 18th Century, internal analysis of the lessons learned had informed Prussian civilian and military leadership that, while individual soldiers were first rate, command structures, staff organization and generalship was a hit-and-miss affair, more dependent on the martial skills of the King and the individual members of the German nobility who dominated the military profession. Too often, military talent was brought together only after the Nation faced a crisis. There was little effective organizational work in between wars. The rise of the German General Staff, an institution that sought to institutionalize military excellence, brought the German Army back from years of atrophy and the humiliation of Napoleon's capture of Berlin. With a membership in the officer corps extended to all qualified German speaking men via national examinations, the improved education of the military schools, the intensive selection process of the top 1% graduated from the Kriegsacademie, with its new rising class of top notch and world class leaders, the German Army was set on a course of eventual near total dominance in Europe.

Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo the Prussian Kingdom had years of military successes in the 19th and 20th centuries. Every able bodied man between the ages of 17 and 45 was liable for military service. There were 4 classes of service - Active (Aktiv), Reserve, Landwehr and Landsturm. The Landwehr and Landsturm were only called up at times of war. The basic unit of the army at this time was the Regiment. Regiments were typically raised and supported by a specific city or region. Each regiment was then stationed near its home city. The Reserve regiment was often made up of past members of the local regiment. The Landwehr and Landsturm units were also organized the same way. An individual could spend all 22 years of military service surrounded by their friends and family. This created close ties within regiments, however, because of this system, the entire population of young men from a city or region could be wiped out in one battle.

World War I 1914–1918

The German army that fought in World War I was not in fact a single, unitary army. The four German kingdoms that existed prior to the unification of Germany in January 1871 - Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony and Württemberg - retained their own army upon unification. Prussia had the largest army of the four. After the unification and the formation of the German Empire, the Prussian army became the nucleus of the Army of the German Empire (Deutsches Reichsheer). By 1914 the German army fielded 50 active divisions and by 1918 251 divisions had been created.

Reichswehr 1918–1935

Main article: Reichswehr

Following the end of World War I and the collapse of the German Empire, most of the German Army (Heer) was demobilized or simply dissolved. Many former soldiers drifted into small paramilitary groups known as Free Corps (Freikorps). The Free Corps were generally groups of 100 men or fewer that protected a neighbourhood or town.

On 6 March 1919 an army known as the Provisional German Defence Force (Vorläufige Reichswehr) was formed with about 400,000 men, many drawn form the Free Corps. Then, in 30 September 1919 the Transitional Army (Übergangsheer) was created from the Defence Force and the Free Corps.

Finally, on 1 January 1921 the 100,000 man Army of the Weimar Republic (Reichswehr) was formed with seven Infantry Divisions and three Cavalry Divisions. In November 1923, it was troops from the Army of the Weimar Republic who crushed Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in Munich.

Wehrmacht 1935–1945

Main article: Heer (1935-1945)

Under the Treaty of Versailles, the Reichswehr was only allowed 100,000 men split between the Army and the Navy. Following the 1932 German elections the Nazi party came to power and began to abrogate the treaty. The Army was made part of the Wehrmacht in May 1935 with the passing of the "Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defence Forces". The Wehrmacht included not just the Army and Navy but also a third branch known as the Luftwaffe. Initially, the Army was expanded to 21 divisional-sized units and smaller formations. Between 1935 and 1945 this force grew to consist of hundreds of divisions and thousands of smaller supporting units. Between 1939 and 1945 close to 16 million served in the Army. Over 1.6 million were killed and over 4.1 million were wounded. Of the 7,361 men awarded the initial grade of the highest German combat honour of World War II, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, 4,777 were from the Army, making up 65% of the total awarded. The Allies dissolved the German Army on 20 August 1946.

Current Army

Bundeswehr Kreuz.svg
Bundeswehr
Teilstreitkräfte or TSK
(Branches)
Bundeswehr Heer.jpg Heer
Bundeswehr Luftwaffe.jpg Luftwaffe
Bundeswehr Marine.jpg Marine
Organisationsbereiche
(Organisational areas)
Sanitätsdienst
Streitkräftebasis
German soldiers during exercise in 1960
German dog handler quickly pulls his working dog off of a simulated criminal
German soldiers, having rebuilt the bridge in the town of Visoko, Bosnia, during the opening ceremony in 1996
German Army soldiers onboard an armoured personnel carrier in Somalia in 1993
German soldiers in Bosnia
A German Army soldier demonstrates the equipment of the IdZ program.

The Heer was founded in 1955 as the army of West Germany. After 1990, it absorbed the army of socialist East Germany, a part of the Nationale Volksarmee. The former East German forces were initially commanded by the Bunderwehr Command East under command of Lieutenant General Jörg Schönbohm, which was disbanded on 30 June 1991. In the aftermath of the merge, the German Army consisted of four Corps with a manpower of 360.000 men. Hencefoward it was continuously downsized to its current structure which is called "Army of the future". All corps were either disbanded or transferred to a multinational level such as Multinational Corps North East. IV. Corps was reorganized and became a overseas deployment command like the British Permanent Joint Headquarters. In 1996, an airborne brigade was converted into a new command leading the Army's special forces, known as Kommando Spezialkräfte.

Personnel

A total of 101,000 soldiers are currently on active service in the German Army.[1] Of these, approximately 17,000 are conscripts. Additionally, a further 35,000 personnel are reservists of the German Army reserve force.

Current structure of the German Army

The German Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff, Army (Inspekteur des Heeres)based at the Federal Ministry of Defence in Berlin and Bonn. The major commands are the German Army Office in Cologne and the German Army Forces Command in Koblenz. In 2002 a number of army units and their personnel were transferred to the newly-formed Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis) and Joint Medical Service branches.[2]

Chief of Staff, German Army

Starboard beam view of a West German Army utility landing craft transporting US soldiers and M113 armoured personnel carriers across the Rhine River during Exercise REFORGER '83
Future structure of the German Army (click to enlarge)
Helicopter of the German Army Aviation Corps in Northern Iraq in 1991
Helicopter of the German Army Aviators Corps during an exercise in Bosnia

Wappen Heeresamt.png German Army Office

The German Army Office in Cologne (Heeresamt) is the superordinate authority for all supporting elements of the Army, such as schools and education centres. It is commanded by a Major General, currently MajGen Joachim Clauß.

Wappen Heeresführungskommando.png German Army Forces Command

The German Army Forces Command in Koblenz (Heeresführungskommando) exercises command and control over all combat units. It is commanded by a Lieutenant General. These units include two armour divisions, two mechanized infantry divisions, the Division for Specialized Operations and the Airmobile Division. Depending on their size and role, brigades can be commanded either by a Brigadier General alike or a Colonel. Unlike other European armies such of neighbouring Netherlands and France, regiments are no common form of organization and thus rare in the German army. Battalions are most likely directly subordinate to brigades or to divisions as divisional troops.

Truppengattungen'

The German Army knows eleven different branches of troops, designated as Truppengattungen. Each Truppengattung is responsible for training and readiness of its units and disposes of its own schools and centres of excellence for doing so. Optically this distinction can be made by the branch colour, called Waffenfarbe which is displayed by a cord attached to the rank insignia, and the colour of their beret with a specific badge attached to it.

Beret Colour (Army only)

Waffenfarbe (Army and army support branch only)

Rank structure

The rank structure of the German army is adjusted to the rank structure of the NATO. Unlike its predecessors, the modern German Army does not use the rank of Colonel General. The highest rank for an army officer is Lieutenant General, as the rank of Full General is reserved for the Armed Forces chief of staff or officers serving as NATO officers. Officer cadets do not pass through all enlisted ranks, but are directly promoted to Lieutenant after 36 months of service.

Officers of the German ArmySchirmmütze heer.jpg
General
(General)
Gen		 Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant)
GenLt/GL
 Major General (Generalmajor)
GenMaj/GM		 Brigadier (Brigadegeneral)
BrigGen/BG
 Colonel
(Oberst)
Oberst/O		 Lieutenant Colonel
(Oberstleutnant)
Oberstlt/OTL
OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4
BwGeneral.png BwGeneralmajor.png BwBrigadegeneral.png BwOberst.png BwOberstleutnant.png
Officers of the German ArmySchirmmütze heer.jpg
Major
(Major)
Maj/M
 Staff Captain (Stabshauptmann)
StHptm/SH		 Captain
(Hauptmann)
Hptm/H		 1st Lieutenant (Oberleutnant)
OLt /OL
 Lieutenant (Leutnant)
Lt/L
OF-3 OF-2 OF-2 OF-1 OF-1
BwMajor.png BwStabshauptmann.png BwHauptmann.png BwOberleutnant.png BwLeutnant.png
Non-Commissioned Officers of the German Army Schirmmütze heer.jpg
Command Sergeant Major (Oberstabsfeldwebel)
OStFw/OSF		 Sergeant Major(Stabsfeldwebel)
StFw/SF
 1st Sergeant (Oberfähnrich)
(officer cadet)
OFähnr/OFR		 1st Sergeant (Hauptfeldwebel)
HptFw/HF		 Master Sergeant (Oberfeldwebel)
OFw/OF
OR-9 OR-8 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6
Oberstabsfeldwebel.png Stabsfeldwebel.png Oberfaehnrich.png Hauptfeldwebel.png Oberfeldwebel.png
Non-Commissioned Officers of the German Army Schirmmütze heer.jpg
Sergeant 1st Class
(Fähnrich)
(officer cadet)
Fähnr/FR		 Sergeant 1st Class
(Feldwebel)
Fw/F		 Staff Sergeant (Stabsunteroffizier)
StUffz/SU
 Sergeant
(Fahnenjunker)
(officer cadet)
Fhj/FJ		 Sergeant
(Unteroffizier)
Uffz/U
OR-6 OR-6 OR-5 OR-5 OR-5
Faehnrich.png Feldwebel.png Fahnenjunker.png Unteroffizier.png
Enlisted Ranks of the German ArmySchirmmütze heer.jpg
Corporal (Oberstabsgefreiter)
OStGefr/OSG		 Staff Corporal (Stabsgefreiter)
StGefr/SG
 Lance Corporal (Hauptgefreiter)
HptGefr/HG		 Lance Corporal (Obergefreiter)
(officer cadet)
OGefr/OG		 Lance Corporal
(Obergefreiter)
(NCO cadet)
Gefr/G
OR-4 OR-4 OR-3 OR-3 OR-3
Oberstabsgefreiter.png Stabsgefreiter.png Hauptgefreiter.png ObergefreiterOA.png ObergefreiterUA.png
Enlisted Ranks of the German ArmySchirmmütze heer.jpg
Lance Corporal (Obergefreiter)
OGefr/OG		 Private 1st Class
(Gefreiter OA)
(officer cadet)
Gefr/G		 Private 1st Class
(Gefreiter UA)
(NCO cadet)
Gefr/G		 Private 1st Class
(Gefreiter)
Gefr/G		 Private
(Soldat)
S
OR-3 OR-2 OR-2 OR-2 OR-1
Obergefreiter.png GE-Army-OR2a.gif GE-Army-OR2b.gif Gefreiter.png Soldat.png

Weapons

Standard light weapons

Reconnaissance systems

Combat vehicles

Leopard 2A6
Puma IFV

Artillery

Air Defence Systems

A Gepard of the German Army
Wiesel 2- in the Ozelot anti-air version of LeFlaSys
Mine layer Skorpion
Mine breaker Keiler

Engineer equipment

Aircraft inventory

Eurocopter Tiger of the German Army
Bo 105s of the German Army in a hangar
German NH90
EC 135 of the German Army
A German CH-53GS
Heavy tractor trailer Elefant whilst loading a Leopard 2A4
Wolf
A MAN MULTI

The German Army operates more than 320 helicopters. Nearly all were built in Germany while nearly 40% are indigenous designs. 80 Eurocopter Tiger and 80 NH90 helicopters have been ordered.

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service[3] Notes
UH-1 Iroquois Flag of Germany.svg Germany utility helicopter UH-1D 82 being withdrawn; built by Dornier
Bölkow Bo 105 Flag of Germany.svg Germany utility/attack helicopter PAH-1/VBH 180[4]
Eurocopter EC 135 Flag of Europe.svg European Union utility helicopter 15
Eurocopter Tiger Flag of Europe.svg European Union attack helicopter 80 (planned), entered service
NHI NH90 Flag of Europe.svg European Union transport helicopter NH90 TTH 80 (planned), entered service
Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion Flag of Germany.svg Germany transport helicopter CH-53G/CH-53GS 89 110 built by VFW

Logistic equipment

Non-combat vehicles

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ↑ Official website of the German Armed Forces
  2. ↑ "Die Streitkräftebasis" (pdf). Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
  3. ↑ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 15 January 2007.
  4. ↑ German military aviation OrBat

External links

Historical links

Bundeswehr cross Military of Germany (Bundeswehr)
   

Bundeswehr Heer.jpg Army (Heer)
Central Medical Services (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst)       Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis)