NBC Defense Force (Bundeswehr)

Beret badge of the NBC defense force of the Bundeswehr

NBC special protective clothing ZODIAK of the Bundeswehr

The NBC defense force has been a branch of the armed forces of the Bundeswehr since April 2013 . As part of the realignment of the Bundeswehr , all NBC units of the Army were transferred to the base of the armed forces and placed under the newly established NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr . This is one of a total of four skill commands in the armed forces base. The main task is to reduce the impact of NBC weapons on your own troops and infrastructure.

assignment

The NBC defense force supports all other branches of the armed forces in the precautionary defense measures against the effects of nuclear , biological and chemical warfare agents and comparable natural and industrial hazardous substances . The ABC troops are assigned the following tasks:

ABC education and evaluation

The NBC defense force clarifies the use of NBC weapons. It analyzes the effects of NBC weapons as well as the industrial and natural NBC hazard potential. The NBC defense force creates forecasts and assessments of the effects of NBC weapons. Electronic detection, measurement and detection methods determine the type and scope of the hazard. Detected warfare agents and hazardous substances are analyzed more precisely using laboratory technology.

ABC advice and warning

The NBC defense force advises the military and, in some cases, the civilian leadership on all issues relating to NBC defense and other protective tasks. The ABC advice makes an important contribution to the planning and management of operations . The leadership is advised in particular when making decisions about necessary measures to protect the troops and to eliminate the threat. To protect the civilian population from NBC weapons, the NBC defense force works closely with civilian civil protection . The NBC reporting and warning organization provides information about NBC influences and takes protective and countermeasures in the event of NBC hazards.

Decontamination and water treatment

The NBC defense troops decontaminated (decontaminating, sterilizing , radiation eradication, detoxifying) personnel and material. The NBC defense force prepares polluted, contaminated and salty water to make drinking water quality .

Disinfection and health care

The NBC defense force supports infection and epidemic prevention through disinfection . The NBC defense force carries out hygiene measures and thus supports the health care of the troops, especially in destroyed infrastructure and in field camps.

Protection tasks and training

The NBC defense force has special skills in self-protection, fire protection , environmental protection and radiation protection .

The training of the NBC defense force, but also of leaders and trainers of other troops in NBC defense and self-protection in a secondary function is carried out in courses at the NBC and self-protection school in Sonthofen.

Under conventional combat conditions, the NBC defense force is used in the rear area for security and pioneering tasks.

history

Soldiers of a transport train with NBC equipment during a maneuver in August 1990

NBC defense force has set up a sluice on Dänholm on the edge of an avian influenza protection zone

In the Wehrmacht, the tasks of the NBC defense force were performed by the fog troop or throwing force ( weapon color already burgundy ). In addition to the application of fog and chemical warfare agents, their tasks were gas detection and site decontamination .

When the Bundeswehr was founded in 1956, the first NBC defense units and the troop school were set up, in the set-up phase still under the troop designation "NBC defense and chemical troops ". The structure was significantly influenced by the Chemical Corps of the US Army . For the setup, American equipment and organizational models were initially used. Only in the investigation and decontamination (disinfection) of chemical warfare agents was it possible to fall back on the experience of the armed forces' fog and throwing force.

During the Cold War , large-scale fogging was far more important than it is today. In particular, the later NBC defense associations of the WHNS were primarily intended to camouflage the American nuclear weapons in the territory of the Federal Republic by means of large-scale fogging. The American M2 fog generator was first introduced for nebulization . The NBC defense force no longer has fog generators. This order was taken over by the artillery troops and the mortar troops with smoke grenades and smoke agents by the troops themselves.

From 1960, NBC defense units became an integral part of all major units of the field army. Each corps received an NBC defense battalion , the divisions each received an NBC defense company and each brigade an NBC defense platoon . Increasingly, Germany was developing its own, often technologically leading device in NATO. The off-road 7 t truck with its decontamination equipment has been in use since the 1980s . In the mid-1980s, the Fuchs armored vehicle was introduced into the troops.

With the foreign missions of the Bundeswehr , the defense against industrial hazardous substances and the treatment and transport of water became particularly important. In addition, the foreign missions mainly relied on fire-fighting skills, field camp hygiene and disinfection of materials before they were returned home. In 2002 the NBC defense force reported around 2,900 posts.

On April 23, 2013, the NBC defense force was subordinated to the NBC defense command, which was put into service on the same day, and thus switched to the armed forces base.

Previous missions

The force has special skills, so they are often requested for foreign and disaster operations . A selection:

1960: Agadir

1990: Germany , Clausen , Lindwurm campaign : removal of American chemical weapons

1999: Kosovo

2002: Kuwait , NBC protection tasks in connection with the Iraq war : The task of the NBC Defense Battalion in Kuwait was to support the armed forces of the coalition partners and those of coalition states in the event of an attack with weapons of mass destruction.

2006: Disease control during the bird epidemic , including on Rügen

2014: Kurdish autonomous region in Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve : Provision of NBC defense capacities to protect the NATO troop contingent there

2020: Use during the Covid-19 pandemic. Among other things, the manufacture of disinfectants.

education

NBC protective mask

The central training facility for the NBC defense forces of all branches of the armed forces and the military organizational areas is the NBC Defense and Legal Protection Tasks School in Sonthofen . She is also responsible for the further development of the military branch. At the same time, she exercises the forces of the Bundeswehr with regard to environmental protection and fire protection . The head of the school is a general of the NBC defense force with the rank of colonel and is therefore particularly responsible for the training and further development of the NBC defense force.

organization

Bundeswehr soldier (left) of the 750 NBC Defense Battalion in June 2016

classification

The German NBC defense force forms a separate branch of the armed forces of the Bundeswehr .

All soldiers in the Bundeswehr are trained in NBC defense and self-protection for all troops .

With the aspect of medical NBC protection, among other things, the deal Institute of Radiobiology of the Bundeswehr , the Institute of Microbiology of the Bundeswehr and the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Bundeswehr in the Central Medical Service of the Armed Forces . The Defense Science Institute for Protective Technologies - NBC Protection in Munster is responsible for technical NBC protection . Their findings flow into the training of the NBC defense forces.

Active units

The following units form the active NBC defense force:

designation	place	Association	annotation
NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr	Bruchsal	Command Force Base	set up April 23, 2013
NBC Defense Battalion 7	Höxter	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr
NBC Defense Battalion 750 "Baden"	Bruchsal	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr	emerged from "NBC Abwehr Regiment 750"
School NBC defense and statutory protection tasks	Sonthofen	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr

The NBC defense force in the armed forces base consisted of around 2,000 soldiers in 2013. The two light NBC defense companies 110 and 120 were dissolved. In the future, the Bundeswehr will have two NBC defense battalions, which will be led by the NBC defense command of the Bundeswehr in Bruchsal. The NBC defense command officially went into service on April 23, 2013. On the same day, responsibility for the army's NBC defense force was handed over to the new command and thus to the armed forces base. In 2020 the NBC Defense Regiment 1 is to be set up in Strausberg.

Inactive units

Two non-active NBC defense battalions are planned as supplementary troop units in the Bundeswehr's NBC defense command, based on the units that are active at the location . You do not have your own large equipment.

	designation	place	Association	annotation
	NBC Defense Battalion 906	Höxter	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr	Coleur : NBC Defense Battalion 7
	NBC Defense Battalion 907	Bruchsal	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr	Coleur: NBC Defense Battalion 750

In the NBC Defense Regiment 750 and NBC Defense Battalion 7, special forces and equipment are available for civil-military cooperation . Two non-active NBC defense companies are non-active supplementary troop units , which are based on the Couleur troop units NBC Defense Battalion 750 and NBC Defense Battalion 7 and can grow to 150 reservists each when alerted . The two companies do not have their own large equipment.

	designation	place	Association	annotation
	6th Company / NBC Defense Battalion 7	Höxter	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr	Color: NBC Defense Battalion 7 (formerly NBC Defense Company 954)
	6th Company / NBC Defense Battalion 750	Bruchsal	NBC Defense Command of the Bundeswehr	Couleur: NBC Defense Battalion 750 (formerly NBC Defense Company 10)

Former units

equipment

Technical device

Fuchs tracer of the NBC Defense Regiment 1

Experimental study of an AC reconnaissance robot (AC sensor payload as an alternating charge on the 'Garm' robot)

LDS: Light decontamination equipment, can be air laid. These systems are assigned to the DLO and set up at the leABCAwKp. There are four different modules that can be air-laid with the CH-53:

LDS / P: Light decon equipment, staff;
LDS / M: Light decon equipment, material;
LDS / S: Light decon equipment, special equipment and
LDS / I: Light decon equipment, infrastructure

TEP 90 : Troop disinfection, disinfection, disinfestation and detoxification site. Consists of a protected 8 * 8 carrier vehicle of the new generation, on which four modules for decontamination of large equipment, clothing and equipment, (sensitive) special equipment and people are loaded. The TEP 70, consisting of a Daimler-Benz 5-ton truck with a water capacity of 1,500 liters and, in comparison to the TEP 90, significantly higher personnel costs with significantly lower performance, is still being phased out in places.
HEP 70: Main-Radiation-Disinfection-Disinfestation-Detoxification-Place. Consists of, among other things, a truck (7 t, all-terrain) ("E-Kfz") with a water capacity of 3,000 liters for the application of aqueous decontamination solutions or the detoxification emulsion.
Fox tracer tank

uniform

The weapon color of the NBC defense force, shown for example as the color of the braids and collar tabs , is Bordeaux red . The color of the beret is coral red . The beret badge shows crossed retorts and oak leaf framed by the oak wreath .

Beret color and badge
Collar Tabs
Job badge

Military symbol (formerly: tactical symbol)

The military symbol of NBC defense troops is the NATO -Convention following two crossed stylized retorts .

Military symbol (basic symbol) of the NATO NBC defense

Rank designations

The lowest rank in the units of the NBC defense force and other branches of the armed forces is the shooter . He corresponds to the rank of hunter, radio operator, tank grenadier etc. ( → see here ) of other branches of service. The other ranks correspond to the general ranks of the Bundeswehr .

Team rank
Lower rank		Higher rank
-	Sagittarius	Private
Rank group : Teams-NCOs-NCO-NCOs-Lieutenant-Captains-Staff officers-Generals See also : Ranks and Rank Badges of the Bundeswehr

Trivia

The "battle cry" of the NBC defense force is: "Fog - Ahoy".

literature

Jens Barthelmeß, Carsten Rumpf: Chronicle of the NBC defense force 1956-2006 . Ed .: Comradeship of the NBC Defense and Fog Troop e. V. ( Reading sample [PDF; 1.9 MB ; accessed on November 19, 2010]).
Report Verlag GmbH, Bonn (Ed.): ABC Protection - from Germany - Capabilities and Development / CBRN Protection - from Germany - Capabilities and Development 2010 . 2010.

Web links

The Bordeaux reds - comradeship of the NBC defense and fog troops e. V. Retrieved May 1, 2020
"Fog - ahoy!" NBC defense now task of the armed forces base. Federal Ministry of Defense , head of the press and information staff, accessed on November 19, 2010 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bernd Schwendel: "Nebel - Ahoi!" NBC defense now task of the armed forces base. Federal Ministry of Defense, head of the press and information staff, April 23, 2013, accessed on April 29, 2013 .

↑ What is the mission of the NBC defense force? (No longer available online.) Federal Ministry of Defense , head of the press and information staff, archived from the original on October 29, 2011 ; Retrieved November 19, 2010 .

↑ Formations of the Army. (No longer available online.) The Federal Archives, archived from the original on February 26, 2015 ; Retrieved November 16, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ The history of the NBC defense force. (No longer available online.) Federal Ministry of Defense, head of the press and information staff, archived from the original on October 29, 2011 ; Retrieved November 19, 2010 .

↑ Jens Barthelmeß, Carsten Rumpf: Chronicle of the NBC defense force 1956-2006 . Ed .: Comradeship of the NBC Defense and Fog Troop e. V. Reading sample, PDF; 1.9 MB ( Memento from February 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

^ The stationing of the Bundeswehr - October 2011 (PDF; 2.8 MB) BMVg, October 26, 2011, accessed on October 26, 2011 .

↑ What equipment and technology does the NBC defense force use? (No longer available online.) Federal Ministry of Defense, head of the press and information staff, archived from the original on February 6, 2013 ; Retrieved November 19, 2010 .

↑ ^a ^b The equivalent, higher and lower ranks are given in accordance with ZDv 14/5 B 185, cf. The Federal Minister of Defense (ed.): ZDv 14/5. Soldiers Act . DSK AV110100174, change status July 17, 2008. Bonn August 21, 1978, rank designations in the Bundeswehr, p. B 185 (Not to be confused with the Law on the Legal Status of Soldiers (Soldiers Act) . The order of the ranks shown in the info box does not necessarily correspond to one of the regular rank sequences provided for in the Soldiers' Career Ordinance , nor does it necessarily correspond to the rank hierarchy described in the Superiors Ordinance a managerial relationship ).

↑ The Bordeaux Reds: History ( Memento of March 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

[Aufstellung-1] Bernd Schwendel: "Nebel - Ahoi!" NBC defense now task of the armed forces base. Federal Ministry of Defense, head of the press and information staff, April 23, 2013, accessed on April 29, 2013 .

[2] What is the mission of the NBC defense force? (No longer available online.) Federal Ministry of Defense , head of the press and information staff, archived from the original on October 29, 2011 ; Retrieved November 19, 2010 .

[3] Formations of the Army. (No longer available online.) The Federal Archives, archived from the original on February 26, 2015 ; Retrieved November 16, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[4] The history of the NBC defense force. (No longer available online.) Federal Ministry of Defense, head of the press and information staff, archived from the original on October 29, 2011 ; Retrieved November 19, 2010 .