Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr (German: [ˈbʊndəsˌveːɐ̯] ⓘ, literally Federal Defence) is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.
"Military of Germany" and "Armed forces of Germany" redirect here. For historical armed forces of Germany, see Military of Germany (disambiguation).Federal Defence Forces of Germany
Wir. Dienen. Deutschland.[1]
("We. Serve. Germany.")
12 November 1955
3 October 1990
- Federal Minister of Defence
(during peacetime)[2] - Chancellor of Germany
(during war)[3]
17
Yes, but indefinitely suspended since July 2011
181,672 (2023)[4] (ranked 30th)
34,600 (2023)[5]
2,000
2.01% (2024)[7]
US$85 million (2014-2022)[8]
US$1.53 billion (2014-2022)[8]
As of 31 May 2023, the Bundeswehr had a strength of 181,672 active-duty military personnel and 81,612 civilians,[4] placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world, and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France. In addition, the Bundeswehr has approximately 34,600 reserve personnel (2023).[5] With German military expenditures at $55.8 billion (2022),[9] the Bundeswehr is the seventh highest-funded military in the world, though military expenditures remain relatively average at 1.4% of national GDP,[9] well below the non-binding NATO target of 2%. Germany is aiming to expand the Bundeswehr to around 203,000 soldiers by 2025 to better cope with increasing responsibilities.[10]
Following concerns from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany announced a major shift in policy, pledging a €100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr – to remedy years of underinvestment – along with raising the budget to above 2% GDP.[11]
Organisation[edit]
History of organisation[edit]
With the growing number of missions abroad it was recognized that the Bundeswehr required a new command structure. A reform commission under the chairmanship of the former President Richard von Weizsäcker presented its recommendations in spring 2000.
In October 2000 the Joint Support Service, the Streitkräftebasis, was established to concentrate logistics and other supporting functions such as military police, supply and communications under one command. Medical support was reorganised with the establishment of the Joint Medical Service. In 2016, the Bundeswehr created its youngest branch the Cyber and Information Space Command.
Senior leadership[edit]
The Minister of Defence is supported by the Chief of Defense (CHOD, Generalinspekteur) and the service chiefs (Inspekteure: Inspector of the Army, Inspector of the Air Force, Inspector of the Navy) and their respective staffs in his or her function as commander-in-chief. The CHOD and the service chiefs form the Military Command Council (Militärischer Führungsrat) with functions similar to those of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States. Subordinate to the CHOD is the Armed Forces Operational Command (Einsatzführungskommando). For smaller missions one of the service HQs (e.g. the Fleet Command) may exercise command and control of forces in missions abroad. The Bundestag must approve any foreign deployment by a simple majority. This has led to some discontent with Germany's allies about troop deployments e.g. in Afghanistan since parliamentary consent over such issues is relatively hard to achieve in Germany.
Combat forces[edit]
The combat forces of the Army are organised into three combat divisions and participate in multi-national command structures at the corps level. The Air Force maintains three divisions and the Navy is structured into two flotillas. The Joint Support Service and the Joint Medical Service are both organized in four regional commands of identical structure. All of these services also have general commands for training, procurement, and other general issues.
KFOR
UNMISS
UNIFIL
Operation Counter Daesh
Service uniform of the German Army (Heer)
Service uniform of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe)
With the suspension of compulsory military service in 2011 and the reorientation of the Bundeswehr, the military district recruiting offices were dissolved effective 30 November 2012. Their tasks were taken over by the newly created career centers of the Bundeswehr.
The career centers of the Bundeswehr are the armed forces main way of presenting itself as a nationwide employer for both military and civilian careers.[61]
In the structure of the Bundeswehr's personnel recruitment organization adopted in 2019, there are five large career centers in Hanover, Mainz, Düsseldorf, Munich and Berlin with assessment centers. There are 16 smaller, regional career centers, of which only those in Wilhelmshaven, Stuttgart and Erfurt have an assessment center. The 110 career counseling offices belonging to the career centers are combined with 86 location teams of the career development service to form 113 counseling offices.[62]
The Bundeswehr offers numerous career paths: