The Army Forces Command (german: Heeresführungskommando) in Falckenstein Barracks in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

was one of the two leadership pillars of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

, together with the

German Army Office The Army Office (german: Heeresamt, HA) in Cologne was one of the two command pillars of the German Army, alongside the Army Forces Command (''Heeresführungskommando, HFüKdo''), until both were merged to create the current Army Command (''Kom ...

, before it was merged into the Army Command (''Kommando Heer''). Since 1994, Army Forces Command, as a higher command authority, has directed the majority of military units within the Army. However, army troops on operations abroad are commanded by the

Bundeswehr Operations Command The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning 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 con ...

of the Bundeswehr based at Potsdam. At its merger in 2012 Army Forces Command had about 83,500 soldiers in its subordinate organisations. Army Forces Command was last led by

Lt. Gen. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star rank, three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in ...

Carl-Hubertus von Butler and reports to the German General Staff.

Badge

The Army Forces Command badge is similar to the badge of the former

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

, although it lacks the Roman numeral. It portrays the symbol of German sovereignty, the federal eagle. Its colour scheme is based on that of the German Federation: black, red and gold. The badge is worn by military personnel on the staff of the Command on the left sleeve of their service dress. The braided black and gold piping represents its status above the Army's divisions, which have silver instead of gold braid.

Tasks

The primary functions of the Command were: * Full military command of all subordinate formations and staffs * Allocation of troops to operations and training * Planning and managing the training and exercise activity of the Army * In exceptional cases, command of smaller operations (normally the task of the

)

History

Until the 1990s, the

was led on operations by NATO. The change in the security situation in Europe resulting from the dissolution of the Soviet Union required a national German command to be formed. Following the disbandment of

, Army Forces Command was formed in the same location in Koblenz on 31 March 1994 from elements of the former corps staff and placed under command of Lieutenant General

Klaus Reinhardt Klaus Reinhardt (15 January 1941 – 30 November 2021) was a German Army general. He was the commander of the German Army Forces Command, the NATO ''Joint Headquarters Center'' (formerly ''Headquarters Allied Land Forces Central Europe''), and ...

. From 2001, with the Army's division reporting directly to Army Forces Command, the corps level of command was dropped. In 2002, the

in Potsdam was established and, from then on, German troops on international operations are commanded from there. Before that, Army Forces Command led a number of operations, beginning in 1995, such as IFOR, SFOR,

AFOR The Allied Command Europe Mobile Force (AMF) was a small NATO quick reaction force, headquartered at Heidelberg, Germany, active from 1960 to 2002. It formed part of Allied Command Europe (ACE), headquartered at SHAPE at Casteau, Belgium. The lan ...

and

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo Security Force, Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2 ...

(KFOR) in the Balkans and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Commanders

Army Forces Command was led by a lieutenant general. The general in charge of Army Forces Command from 16 March 2009 was Lieutenant General Carl-Hubertus von Butler. He succeeded Lieutenant General

Wolfgang Otto Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and '' gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regul ...

. Reporting to the commander were his deputy (a major general) and his chief of staff (a brigadier general). The staff of Army Command consisted of some 400 soldiers and 50 civilians. The fourth post at general level in the time of Drew and Korte was the post of the General of National and Territorial Tasks (GNTA).

Staff Organisation

*''G1'': personnel and administration *''G2'': Army intelligence, arms control, meteorology and geo *''G3'': command, planning, operational readiness, training and exercise planning *''G4'': logistics / materiel / maintenance *''G5'': civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) *''G6'': communications / IT / command support *''Surgeon-General'': head of Army medical services, planning and advice on medical support *''PIZ'': The Press and Information Centre; informing the public and organizing military bands *''Troops Psychology'': advice to the commander on psychological issues *''Legal advice'': legal advice to the commander *''Controlling/centralised tasks'': monitoring expenditure and the budget, optimization Army Forces Command also has links to the US Army Command (JHC Heidelberg), the French Army, the Dutch Army, the British Army, as well as the Luftwaffe, and German Navy.

Forces under Command

From 2010, Army Forces Command has the following formations under command as part of "Army 2010" (''Heer 2010'') or the New Army" (''Neues Heer''): * Army Forces Command in

** Franco-German Brigade at Müllheim (German element) ** Intervention Forces Division / 1st Armoured Division at Hanover *** Panzerlehrbrigade 9 at

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

*** 21st (Lipperland) Armoured Brigade at Augustdorf ** Special Operations Division at Stadtallendorf *** 26th (Saarland) Airborne Brigade at

Saarlouis Saarlouis (; french: link=no, Sarrelouis, ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located on t ...

*** 31st (Oldenburg) Airborne Brigade at Oldenburg *** Special Forces Command (brigade-level) at Calw ** DLO

Airmobile Operations Division at Veitshöchheim *** 1st Airmobile Brigade at

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. Thirty-eight meters (125& ...

*** Army Combat Support Brigade (''Heerestruppenbrigade'') at Bruchsal **

10th Armoured Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

( Sigmaringen) *** 23rd Mountain Infantry Brigade " Bavaria" at Bad Reichenhall *** 12th Armoured Brigade " Upper Palatinate" at

Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...

** 13th Mechanized Infantry Division ( Leipzig) *** 37th Mechanized Infantry Brigade " Saxony" at Frankenberg/Sa. *** 41st Mechanized Infantry Brigade " West Pomerania" at Torgelow In addition the following central depots also answer to the Army Command: * Herongen Army Central Depot * Pirmasens Army Central Depot * Central Mobilisation Base at Brück :Multinational formations Army Forces Command also provided forces for EU Battlegroups, for the NATO Response Force and for the United Nations when asked. In addition to the Franco-German Brigade, Army Command provides permanent German elements on the staffs and supporting units as well as other troops for: * Eurocorps ( Straßburg) ** German elements of the staff ** Franco-German Brigade **

when required * 1 (German/Netherlands) Corps ( Münster) ** German elements in two permanent battalions and one staff company * Multinational Corps Northeast (

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

) ** German elements of the staff ** 13th Mechanized Infantry Division when required for the Danish-Polish-German Corps Gliederung HFüKdo 2010