| Intervention Force Division / 1st Armoured Division 1. Panzerdivision |
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1st Armoured Division insignia |
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| Active | 1956 - present |
| Country | Germany |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Conventional warfare, peacekeeping |
| Size | About 20.000 soldiers |
| Part of | German Army |
| Garrison/HQ | Hanover |
| Nickname | The first one Die Erste |
| Motto | Roughly: Go! Let's tackle it! Man drup - man to! (Low German) |
| Anniversaries | July 1st 1956 |
| Engagements | Kosovo War War in Afghanistan |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Major General Markus Kneip |
| Notable commanders |
General Henning von Ondarza, COMAFCENT 1991-1994 General Helge Hansen, COMAFCENT 1994-1996 |
1st Armoured Division (German: 1. Panzerdivision) is an armoured division of the German Army. It also bears the designation Intervention Force Division (Division Eingreifkräfte). Its staff is based at Hanover. In the course of the current reorganisation of the Bundeswehr it will become the backbone of Germany's newly formed intervention forces which will have a manpower of 35,000 soldiers in total. This division is equipped and trained for high intensity combat operations against militarily organized enemies as well as peacekeeping missions. The majority of all German troops assigned to EU-Battlegroups and Nato Response Forces will come from this division. It also represents Germany's permanent contribution to the binational I. German/Dutch Corps.
Intervention Force Division / 1st Armoured Division is Germany's last full-scale conventional division.
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This division was formed on July 1 1956, the day of the official inauguration of the Bundeswehr. It was the first fully operational unit of the new German Army. At first referred to as 1st Grenadier Division, it was reorganized in the 1980s and made fully armoured in 1981. During this period it was part of I Corps of the Bunderswehr Heer, in turn part of NATO's Northern Army Group, Allied Forces Central Europe. It was the only division in the Army Group without a forward defence sector in line against a projected Warsaw Pact attack; the only immediately available reserve division.[1]
1st Armoured Division has deployed to the Balkans, Afghanistan and to several peacekeeping operations. Troops of this division were also deployed to the support of civilian agencies during large natural disasters such as the Hamburg Floods of 1962, disastrous wild fires in Northern Germany in the 1970s and the 2002 Floods in Eastern Germany.
The division cultivates a partnership with the United States Army 28th Infantry Division.
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