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The German Army ('' ("Federal Defence Forces") of the Federal Republic Of Germany . Traditionally, the German military forces have been composed of the Army, the Navy , and after the First World War, the Air Force . The ''Heer'' was re-formed in the 1950s as the West German Army as part of the ''Bundeswehr''. In October 1990 , upon the Reunification of Germany, the East German army, the '' National People's Army '' '''(NVA)''', was integrated into the now unified force. The German word ''Heer'' means simply "army". The term is not restricted to any particular country, so "''das britische Heer''" would mean "the British Army ". HISTORY Overview during a practice exercise in 2004. US troops watch in the background.]] Since Germany first became a modern unified State in 1871 , previous names of German unified military forces have included:
Pre-1914 See Also: German Army (German Empire) After the reform movement of the German Army after a series of disasterous defeats at the hands of her enemies in the 18th Century, internal analysis of the lessons learned had informed German 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 individual members of the German nobility from the Kings on down 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 atropy 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% of 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 , each 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 See Also: 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 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 crushed Adolf Hitler 's Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in November 1923 . Wehrmacht 1935–1945 See Also: Wehrmacht 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 Nazi combat honour of WWII, the Knight's Cross , 4,777 were from the Army, making up 65% of the total awarded. The German Army commited and was implicated in widespread War Crimes including assisting in the Genocide of European Jews and other peoples during the Holocaust . The Allies dissolved the German Army on 20 August 1946 . CURRENT ARMY The Bundeswehr Heer was founded in 1955 as the army of West Germany . After 1990, it absorbed the army of socialist East Germany which was called the ''Landstreitkräfte'' (terrestrial armed forces), a part of Nationale Volksarmee . Structure The German Army is commanded by the Chief of Army Staff (''Inspekteur des Heeres'') 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 independent brigade). It is commanded by a Lieutenant General. ''(Current Structure)''
at Würzburg as part of partnership range with the U.S. 1st Infantry Division ]]
German Army Office (''Heeresamt'') The German Army Office in Cologne is responsible for the administration, education, training and logistics of the German Army. It is commanded by a lieutenant general or a major general. Schools, training centres and miscellaneous offices:
Corps 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 distinguishes 11 different branches of service or corps, known as Truppengattungen. Each corps is responsible for education and training of its units, mostly by its own schools or training centres. Signal Corps Units of the signal corps (Fernmeldetruppe) are responsible for communication, strategic reconnaissance and electronic warfare. Most units of the signal corps belong to the Joint Support Centre ('''Streitkräftebasis'''). Army Reconnaissance Corps During Army Transformation, the armoured reconnaissance corps (Panzeraufklärungstruppe) was given the new name '''Heeresaufklärungstruppe'''. The reason is that the original task of the armoured reconnaissance corps has changed. Today they need artillery drones or specialists from military intelligence 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 battalion (Aufklärungsbataillon) is structured in a HQ & support company, two or three armoured reconnaissance companies, a drone reconnaissance company and a separate military intelligence platoon. Armoured Corps The armoured corps (Panzertruppen) are armoured units ('''Panzertruppe'''), equipped with main battle tanks, and mechanized infantry units ('''Panzergrenadiertruppe''') equipped with IFV s. A typical armoured battalion (Panzerbataillon) consists of a HQ & support company and three tank companies (equipped with 42 MBTs). The new mechanized battalion ('''Panzergrenadierbataillon''') consists of a HQ & support company and three mechanized companies (equipped with up to 40 Marder 1 A5 or Puma). Formerly there was a fifth company with mortars or/and anti-tank units. Infantry Within the German Army, there are three types of infantry:
A typical infantry battalion is structured in a HQ & support company, three light infantry companies and an indirect fire support company ("The Heavy Company"). These company consists of one anti-tank platoons (equipped with Wiesel 1, TOW), three machine gun platoons (equipped with Wiesel 1, machine gun 20 mm) and two mortar platoons (today equipped with mortar 120 mm on M113, in future on Wiesel 2). Then you find specialized Infantry Platoons like a mountain ranger platoon (Hochgebirgszug) of the mountain infantry, a pathfinder platoon ('''Fallschirmspezialzug''') of the paratroops or K9 dog platoon ('''Diensthundezug''') are found in the HQ & support company ('''Stabs- und Versorgungskompanie'''). Special Forces Through Army Transformation the Special Operations Division (DSO) was formed. Soldiers of the Special Forces Command ( Kommando Spezialkräfte ), formerly belonging to the infantry, today have their own division. Artillery Corps The majority of artillery corps (Artillerietruppe) within the German Army are '''Panzerartillerie''' (armoured artillery). After Army Transformation the German Army will only have six artillery units. The German Army no longer requires the same amount of artillery for its peacekeeping missions as it did during the Cold War , so the new artillery corps is relatively smaller, however the units are larger and stronger.
Army Air Defence Corps The army air defence corps (Heeresflugabwehrtruppe) is made up of five units:
Army Aviators Corps The ), the light transport helicopter regiment (equipped with UH-1D , to be replaced by the NH90 ) and the transport helicopter regiment (equipped with CH-53G ). The German Air Force and the German Navy also have 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 helicopters. Engineer Corps Units of the engineer corps (Pioniertruppe) engage in mobility, countermobility, survivability and general engineering operations. They have many faces: the engineers ('''Pioniere'''), the armoured engineers ('''Panzerpioniere'''), the airborne engineers ('''Luftlandepioniere'''), the mountain engineers ('''Gebirgspioniere''') and other units. The engineer troop unit structure becomes larger and more effective in the new army.
NBC Corps The units of the NBC corps (ABC-Abwehrtruppe) are responsible for decontamination of personnel, 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 replaced by the MRAV Boxer . Logistics Corps Units belonging to the logistics corps (Heereslogistiktruppen) support combat units. The logistics corps is the result of the fusion of the ordnance corps ('''Instandsetzungstruppe''') and the supplies corps ('''Nachschubtruppe'''). Logistics units, mostly logistics battalions ('''Logistikbataillone''') have many tasks: transportation, maintenance/repairing of vehicles, weapons and other material, supply of material, cooking meals for the German Army, etc. A typical logistics battalion of the German Army consists of a HQ & support company, two light maintenance companies and two supply/transport companies. (In contrast a logistics battalion of the Joint Support Centre consists of a HQ & support company, two maintenance companies, two supply companies, a transport company and a special supply company.) WEAPONS Standard Light Weapons & P8 Pistol ]] ]]
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EXTERNAL LINKS Historical Links
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