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Previous names of past German military forces have included
In the Bundeswehr, the other two components are the '' Luftwaffe '' (Air Force) and the ''Marine'' ( German Navy ). HISTORY Pre 1914 Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle Of Waterloo the Prussian Kingdom had years of military successes in the 19th Century & 20th Century . 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 ''Landstrum'' 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, but 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 (Heer) was not so much one united army. It was separated based on the kingdoms before unifications. There were four such armies: the Prussian Army (Preussisches Heer), the Saxon Army (Sächsisches Heer), the Bavarian Army (Bayrisches Heer) and the Württemberger Army (Würtembergisches Heer). These were the main four armies of Imperial Germany. Prussia had the largest army out of the four. The Prussian Army became the nucleus of the Imperial German Army (''Kaiserliche Armee'' or ''Deutsches Reichsheer'') with the unification of Germany in 1871. By 1914 the German Army fielded 50 Active Divisions and by 1918 it fielded over 250 divisions. The Term ''"German Army"'' did not come into being until after 1918, when the Germans were defeated. Reichswehr 1918-1935 See Also: Reichswehr Following the end of WWI and the collapse of the German Empire most of the German army (Heer) was demobilized or simply dissolved. Many former soldiers drifted into small armed groups known as Freikorps . The ''Freikorps'' were generally groups of 100 men or fewer that protected a neighbourhood or town. On March 6th, 1919 an army known as the ''Vorläufige Reichswehr'' (Provisional German Defence Force) was formed with about 400,000 men, many drawn form the ''Freikorps''. Then, in September 30, 1919 the ''Übergangsheer'' (Transitional Army) was created from the Defence Force and the ''Freikorps''. Finally, on January 1, 1921 the 100,000 man '' Reichswehr '' was formed with 7 Infantry Divisions and 3 Cavalry Divisions. It was the ''Reichswehr'' who put down Adolf Hitler 's Beer Hall Putsch . Wehrmacht 1935-1945 See Also: Wehrmacht Under the Treaty Of Versailles the '' Reichswehr '' was only allowed 100,000 soldiers split between the Army and the Navy . In 1933 the Nazi party came to power and began dismantling the treaty. The Army was founded as part of the '' Wehrmacht '' in May 1935 with the passing of the "Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defence Forces". The ''Wehrmacht'' was expanded to include the Army and Navy and with 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 13 million served in the Army. Over 1.6 million were Killed and over 4.1 million were wounded. Of the 7361 men awarded the initial grade of the highest German combat honour of WWII, the Knights Cross, 4777 were from the Army making up 65% of the total awarded. The German Army was implicated in widespread War Crimes including assisting in the Genocide of European Jewry during the The Holocaust . The Allies dissolved the German Army on August 20, 1946 . CURRENT ARMY Structure The German Army is commanded by the Chief of Army Staff in the Federal Ministry of Defence in Berlin and Bonn . The major commands are the German Army Command in Koblenz and the German Army Office in Cologne . German Army Command The German Army Command in Koblenz (Heeresführungskommando) leads all combat units (three armoured/mechanized divisions, two special divisions and one several brigade). It is command by a general-lieutenant. :German Army Command
German Army Office The German Army Office in Cologne is responsible for administration, education, training and logistic of the German Army. It is commanded by a general-lieutenant or a general-major. Schools & training centers:
Logistic units:
Kinds of troops In the German Army, unlike in the armies of its neighbours ( France , Belgium , Netherlands , Denmark ), there are no individual regiments. Instead, individual Battalion s of infantry, armour, artillery etc are given unique numbers. The German Army distinguishs 11 different types of troops, known as Truppengattungen. Each corps is responsible for education and training of their units, mostly by their own schools or training centers. Signal Corps Units of the signal corps are responsible for communication, strategic reconnaissance and electronic warfare. Most units of the signal corps belong to the Joint Support Center (Streitkräftebasis). Army Reconnaissance Corps During the Army Transformation the armoured reconnaissance corps (Panzeraufklärungstruppe) gets the new name '''Heeresaufklärungstruppen'''. The reason is that the original task of the armoured reconnaissance corps has changed. Today they need for e.g. drones of the artillery or specialists from military intelligent units. The army reconnaissance corps is equipped with Fennek, Luchs, Wiesel 1, the drone reconnaissance system KZO, ALADIN and LunaX, the radar system BÜR (Bodenüberwachungradar), Fuchs and Dingo. A typical reconnaissance bataillon (Aufklärungsbataillon) is structured in a HQ & support company, two armoured reconnaissance companies, a drone reconnaissance company and a separate military intelligence platoon. Armoured Corps The German Army armoured corps (Panzertruppen) are armored units ('''Panzertruppe'''), equipped with main battle tanks, and mechanized units ('''Panzergrenadiertruppe'''). A typical armoured bataillon (Panzerbataillon) consists of a HQ & support company and three Tank companies (equipped with 42 MBTs). The new mechanized bataillon ('''Panzergrenadierbataillon''') consists of a HQ & support company and three mechanized companies (equipped with up to 40 Marder 1 A5 or Puma). Formally there was a fith company with mortars or/and anti-tank units. Infantry Corps Within the German Army, there are three types of infantry:
A typical infantry bataillon is structured in a HQ & support company, three infantry companies and a weapons company. The weapons company consistis of two anti-tank platoons (equipped with Wiesel 1, TOW), two machine gun platoons (equipped with Wiesel 1, machine gun 20mm) and two mortar platoons (equipped with Wiesel 2, mortar 120mm). Special Platoons like a ski (Skizug) and a mountain ranger platoon ('''Hochgebirgszug''') of the mountin infantery, a free fall platoon ('''Freifallzug''') of the paratroops or dog platoon ('''Diensthundezug''') are found in the HQ & support company ('''Stabs- und Versorgungskompanie'''). Special Forces Through the Army Transformation were the special forces formed. Soldiers of the Special Operation Command (Kommando Spezialkräfte) formerly belong to the infantry, today they have their own corps. Artillery Corps The majority of artillery corps (Artillerietruppe) within the German Army is '''Panzerartillerie''' (armoured artillery). After the Army Transformation the German Army will only have six artillery units. The German Army needs for e.g. Peacekeeping no artillery, so the new artillery corps is really smaller, but the units are bigger and stronger.
Air Defence Corps The air defence corps (Flugabwehrtruppe) is in the German Army not part of the artillery corps. After the Army Transformation the German Army has five air defence units:
Army Air Corps The army air corps (Heeresfliegertruppe) contains all helicopter units of the German Army, which are mostly organized in regiments. There are three types of helicopter regiments: the attack helicopter regiment (equipped with Bo155PAH, replaced by the Tiger ), the light transport helicopter regiment (equipped with UH-1D , replaced by the NH90 ) and the transport helicopter regiment (equipped with CH-53G ). The German Air Forces and the German Navy also have their own transport helicopter units. A helicopter regiment is normally structured in a HQ squadron, a support squadron, a flying group (Fliegende Gruppe), with three squadrons, and a mechanic group ('''Luftfahrzeugtechnische Gruppe'''), with four squadrons. Each regiment is mostly equipped with up to 40 helicopter. Engineer Corps The engineer corps (Pioniertruppe) support all units in their mobility. The engineer corps has many faces: the engineer units ('''Pioniere'''), the armoured engineer units ('''Panzerpioniere'''), the airborne engineer units (''' Luftlandepioniere '''), the mountain enigneer ('''Gebirgspioniere''') and other units. Special engineers (Spezialpioniere) do not belong to the engineer corps of ''Heer'' - they belong to the Joint Support Command ('''Streitkräftebasis'''). They are responsible for repairing runway or pipelines or they built field camps. The engineer corps becomes in the new army structure bigger and more effectivity.
NBC Corps The NBC corps (ABC-Abwehrtruppe) is responsible to decontaminate people, vehicles and other material. They also search for nuclear, bacterial or chemical sources. These research squads are equipped with the NBC Fox ('''ABC-Spürpanzer Fuchs'''), which will be replace through the MRAV Boxer . Army Logistic Corps The logistic corps of the German Army (Logistiktruppen) support the combat units. The German Army logistic corps is the result of the fusion of the corps of maintenance troops ('''Instandsetzungstruppe''') und the corps of supply troops ('''Nachschubtruppe'''). The logistic units, mostly logistic bataillons ('''Logistikbataillone''') have many tasks: rransportation, maintenance/repairing of vehicles, weapons and other material, supply of material, cooking meals for troops, etc. A typical logistic bataillon of the German Army consists of a HQ & support company, two light maintenance companies and two supply/transport companies. (In Contrast a logistc bataillon of the Joint Support Center consists of a HQ & support company, two maintenance companies, two supply companies, a transport company and a special supply company.) WEAPONS Light Weapons
Reconnaissance Systems
Combat vehicles
Artillery
Air Defence Systems
Engineer Equipment
Helicopters
Logistic Equipment
Non-combat vehicles
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