The German special forces include the Special Operations Forces (''

Kommando Spezialkräfte The Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) (, alternatively Special Operations Forces Command (SOFCOM)) is a unified combatant command and a large brigade-level unit of the German Army (Heer) designated to perform Covert operation, covert operations, ca ...

'', KSK) of the

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

and the Naval Special Forces Command ('' Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine'', KSM) of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

. Both are regular units and fully integrated into the branches of the German Armed Forces (''Bundeswehr''). During operations, special forces personnel are under the command of the special operations division of the Armed Forces Operations Command ('' Einsatzführungskommando der Bundeswehr'') in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, a branch of the Joint Support Service (''Streitkräftebasis''). Besides the KSK and KSM, numerous specialized units can support special forces operations.

Special Forces

Army Special Forces

A large majority of German special forces are part of the

(KSK). The unit was founded in 1996 to adapt Germany's response to new offensive tasks, including the development of crisis response forces. Until then, the German Armed Forces (''Bundeswehr'') primarily served as a territorial defence force, in line with its self-image and primary orientation. The specific reason for the establishment of the Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) was the evacuation of German citizens by Belgian Para-Commandos during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

in 1994. This task was carried out by special forces of the Para-Commando Brigade from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the former colonial power, as agreed upon in advance by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

partners. The German government chose not to intervene directly because neither the Federal Border Guard (''

Bundesgrenzschutz Bundesgrenzschutz (; abbreviation: BGS; ) is the former name of the German ''Bundespolizei'' (Federal Police). Established on 16 March 1951 as a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the BGS originally was primarily focu ...

'')

GSG 9 , formerly , is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime. In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-H ...

unit, established in 1972 after the Munich Massacre, nor the

Paratrooper Companies B1 (Commando) were trained for

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

situations. Additionally, the necessary technical means for transporting and carrying out the task were lacking. The KSK is a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

-level unit that is stationed in

Calw Calw (; previously pronounced and sometimes spelled Kalb accordingly; ) is a Landstadt, town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital and largest town of the Calw (district), district Calw. It is located in the North ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. The unit is under the command of the Rapid Response Forces Division (''Division Schnelle Kräfte'') and is made up of around 1,500 soldiers. Most of them serve in the support forces department. * Kommando Spezialkräfte **HQ KSK *** Psychological Service *** Language Service **Force Development Group ** ''Operational Forces'' ***1st Commando Company ***3rd Commando Company ***4th Commando Company ***Special Commando Company ***Training Centre ** ''Support Forces'' ***HQ & Support Company ***Signal Company ***Support Company ***Medical Centre

Naval Special Forces

The Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine (KSM) was founded in 2014 and was based upon the Commando Frogmen Company (''Kampfschwimmerkompanie''), one of Germany's oldest special operations units. The KSM is based in

Eckernförde Eckernförde (; , sometimes also ; , sometimes also ) is a city located in the of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel, it has a populat ...

and is part of the 1st Flotilla (''Einsatzflottille 1'') in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. * Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine ** HQ KSM *** S1 - Personnel *** S2/6 - Intelligence/Communications *** S3 - Operations *** S4 - Logistics **** Operations Support Team Air (''Einsatzgruppe Luft'') **** Diver Depot **** Vehicle Repair Squad *** Analysis & Development Group *** Special Operation Medical Support Team (SOMST) ** Commando Frogmen Company *** Commando Frogmen Teams (''Kampfschwimmereinsatzteams'', KSET) *** Operations Support Team Sea (''Einsatzgruppe See'') ** Tactics and Training Group (''Gruppe Grundlagen, Verfahren, Taktik und Ausbildung'', GVTA)

Special Forces Aviation

The KSK is currently supported by the German Army Aviation Corps and - since the reorientation of the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

in 2010 - by the helicopter force of the

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

. In 2015, the KSK got its aviation component made up of 15 EC645 T2 utility helicopters. They will be part of the Helicopter Wing 64 at the Holzdorf Air Base. The KSM is supported by the Naval Air Wing 5 in

Nordholz Nordholz is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Wurster Nordseeküste. It is situated approximately 25 km north of Bremerhaven, and 1 ...

which operates the

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to t ...

and

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome eng ...

Specialized Forces

Special Operations Training Centre

Originally established in 1979 as an international school for

long-range reconnaissance patrol A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP, is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrolling, patrols deep into enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ed., ...

team, the Ausbildungszentrum Spezielle Operationen is responsible for the initial and further training of special and specialized forces. The centre has the size of a regiment, is subordinate to Army Training Commando and based in Pfullendorf.

Specialized Forces Army

To close the gap between the KSK and regular infantry, the German Army developed a concept of specialized forces (Specialized Forces of the Army with Expanded Basic Qualifications for Special Operations, EGB - ''Spezialierte Kräfte des Heeres mit erweiteter Grundgefähigung für spezielle Operationen'', EGB). This includes numerous army SOF units, mostly airborne forces. A distinction is made between the main operational forces and support forces. All of them are independent units respectively part of regular formations. In 2013, the operational forces consisted of: * 4 x

Fallschirmjäger The () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-comman ...

Commando companies with each 4 platoons * 4 x Fallschirmjäger pathfinder platoons * 1 x Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Company * 2 x airborne engineer platoons * 2 x HUMINT HQ Squads * 4 x HUMINT Squads The support force is made up of: * 2 x airborne reconnaissance companies * 4 x K9 platoons of the Fallschirmjäger * 4 x Fallschirmjäger Joint Fire Support Coordination Teams * 4 x Fallschirmjäger Joint Fire Support Teams * 1 x electronic warfare platoon * several units, e.g. medics and PSYOPS

Fleet Protection Forces

From 1997 until spring 2014, both naval special forces (commando frogmen) and naval specialized forces ( mine clearance divers and boarding trained naval infantrymen) were organized into the Naval Specialized Deployment Forces, a battalion-sized unit with four companies. The idea was to combine all specialized skills into one single formation. In the beginning, it was planned to create a force protection company beside the Boarding Company to support the operations of the commando frogmen. Through the reorientation of the Bundeswehr, the commando frogmen got their battalion while naval infantry (including HUMINT experts) and mine clearance divers were summarized into the Naval Force Protection Battalion ('' Seebataillon'') in

. The formation is often described as the "multi-tool of the German Navy". So, the battalion can support special forces operations.

Counter-Terrorism

'' GSG 9 der Bundespolizei'' (GSG 9 of the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

), formerly ''Grenzschutzgruppe 9'' or GSG 9 (Border Guard Group 9) of the Federal Border Guard (''

'') from 1972 to 2005, has continued to be the specialized

police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. The tasks of a ...

of the German Federal Police for

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

since 2005. Established as a counter-terrorism unit by the ''

'' in 1972 following the Munich Massacre, the GSG 9 served as a model for the formation and alignment of the

(KSK) in 1996. Their counterpart at the state police level (''

Landespolizei ; ) is a term used to refer to the state police of any of the states of Germany. History The of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century, when Germany united into a single country in 1871, under Otto von Bismarck. Various ...

'') is the '' Spezialeinsatzkommandos'' (SEK).

Historical

The Brandenburgers were a special forces unit of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Formed in 1939, they were initially part of the ''

Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...

'', the military intelligence service. The unit was created by Theodor von Hippel, who envisioned small, highly trained groups capable of sabotage and infiltration behind enemy lines. The Brandenburgers were known for their ability to blend in with local populations, often using their proficiency in foreign languages and knowledge of local customs to carry out their missions. They operated in various theatres, including Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

References

Bundeswehr German Army (1956–present) German Navy {{Improve categories, date=July 2021