Bundeswehr
From Themarshallwiki
| Federal Defence Forces of Germany Bundeswehr | |
| | |
 Bundeswehr logo | |
| | |
| Founded | November 12, 1955 |
| Present form | October 2, 1990 |
| Country | Germany |
| Branch | Tri-service |
| Part of | Federal Ministry of Defense |
| Headquarters | Bonn, Berlin, Potsdam |
| Size | Approximately 280,000 personnel (2010) |
| Commanders | |
| Commander in Chief | Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (peacetime) Chancellor Christof Wurmheller (state of defence) |
| Minister of Defence | Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg |
| Chief of Staff | General Volker Wieker (Heer) |
| Branches | |
| Ground | Deutsches Heer |
| Sea | Deutsche Marine |
| Air | Luftwaffe |
| Tri-service branches | Streitkräftebasis (Joint Support Service, Zentraler Sanitätsdienst (Central Medical Services) |
| Expenditure | |
| Percentage of GDP | 2% (2009-10) |
The Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defence Force) comprises the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, since the Basic Law of Germany states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the Federal government.
The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the Armed Forces Administration (Wehrverwaltung), the Federal Bureau of Procurement (Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung) and the Federal Bureau for Information Management and Information Technology of the Bundeswehr (Bundesamt für Informationsmanagement und Informationstechnik der Bundeswehr, sometimes abbreviated as IT-AmtBw).
The military part of the federal defense force consists of the following branches:
Army (Heer)
Navy (Marine)
Air Force (Luftwaffe)
- Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis)
- Central Medical Services (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst)
Mission
The role of the Bundeswehr is described in the Constitution of Germany (Art. 87a) as absolutely defensive only. Its only active role before 1990 was the Katastropheneinsatz (disaster control). Within the Bundeswehr, it helped after natural disasters both in Germany and abroad. After 1990, the international situation changed from East-West confrontation to one of general uncertainty and instability. Today, after a ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1994 the term "defense" has been defined to not only include protection of the borders of Germany, but also crisis reaction and conflict prevention, or more broadly as guarding the security of Germany anywhere in the world. According to the definition given by former Defense Minister Struck, it may be necessary to defend Germany even at the Hindu Kush. This requires the Bundeswehr to take part in operations outside of the borders of Germany, as part of NATO or the European Union and mandated by the UN.
