Organization of the Army (Bundeswehr, Army Structure 5)

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The division of the Army of the Bundeswehr in Army Structure 5 describes the units of the Army in Army Structure 5 . The Army Structure 5 referred to the planned division of the Army in the 1990s. Army Structure 5 was only partially taken over. As early as 1993, due to the changed geopolitical situation, the taking of Army Structure 5 was canceled and the taking of the clearly different "readjusted" Army Structure 5 (N) began. The most noticeable difference between the planned Army Structure 5 and 4 was the planned merging of the command posts of the field army with the corresponding command posts of the territorial army . With the commissioning of the Franco-German Brigade , the process of creating multinational units began.

Preliminary remarks

Status of implementation of the army structure 5

Army structure 5 was planned and tested under the framework conditions of the Cold War , analogous to the procedure for earlier army structures before 1990, and was intended to form the basis of the army structure for the decade beginning in 1990. Army Structure 5 was only partially taken over. Between the end of 1989 and 1993, unlike when the former army structures were taken, the reclassification was not implemented quickly within a few months. As early as 1993, due to the changed geopolitical situation after the end of the East-West conflict, the taking of Army Structure 5 was completely abandoned. The Army Structure 5 had to be "readjusted",

The "readjusted" army structure was designated as Army Structure 5 (N) ( N for "readjusted"). The revised Army Structure 5 N only took over individual elements of the abandoned Army Structure 5. In essence, despite the similar designation, it was a fundamental new plan.

Structure of the list

The breakdown of the army into troop units listed below essentially takes into account the rough structure planned in accordance with Army Structure 5 in West Germany , even if this was not implemented. In East Germany, the list takes into account the structure planned in East Germany. After 1990, the classification principles of Army Structure 5 were briefly transferred to the establishment of the Bundeswehr in East Germany. Overall, it can be stated that the principles of Army Structure 5 were implemented more consistently in East Germany than in West Germany. Where possible, information on the concrete implementation of the planning between 1990 and 1993 is added. Where z. If, for example, a planned structure was not adopted in this form (or was only adopted after 1993), a corresponding note is inserted. The troop reduction initiated after 1990 meant for many troops that they continued to exist for a short time in the early 1990s, but no longer implemented the reclassification into the new structure that was intended for them in the plans for Army Structure 5. These troops should be listed in a separate section and not where they were originally intended in Army Structure 5. Overall, the article is therefore neither a representation of the original planning of the Army Structure 5 nor a representation of a structure that was ever actually taken.

Scope of the army

Due to the demography of the Federal Republic of Germany, the plans for the size of the Army of Army Structure 5 did not provide for any significant changes compared to Army Structure 4. At the end of 1989 even an extension of the military service was considered necessary to keep the troop strength. Only through the accession of the whole of Berlin and the re-established states on the territory of the defunct German Democratic Republic to the Federal Republic did the size of the army (in the short term) grow beyond the target originally planned in Army Structure 5. With a total of 14 deployed divisions , the field army reached its all-time high. After this brief peak, the number of troops was reduced and military service could be shortened. At the end of 1993 the German army was already smaller than at the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s.

Superior leadership

The three German Corps and subordinate military units should be in the case of defense by batons of NATO are out. In the NATO command structure , operations for LANDJUT , NORTHAG and CENTAG were planned. The the inspector of the army subordinate units at the level of the top army command and the three territorial commands subordinate troops remained (in the case of defense ) under national command - that remained the Chancellor and Federal Ministry of Defense and the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces and the Army Staff downstream . So this area was not integrated into the NATO command structure.

By 1993 at the latest, however, it became clear that after the end of the East-West conflict, the integrated NATO structure in Western Europe should be relaxed and the national land forces should be led by national command staff. In Army Structure 5 (N), the Army Command was planned in the German Army , which from then on was to lead the Army as the highest command staff.

The territorial army in the army structure 5

The territorial army remained as part of the army in Army Structure 5. In the event of a defense, the territorial army should be led, unlike the field army, by national command staff. However, it was planned to de facto give up the organizational independence of the territorial army in the peace structure of Army Structure 5. For this purpose, it was planned that the command posts of the territorial army should be merged with the corresponding command posts of the field army in peace. This should affect at least all management levels down to the defense district commands. Ultimately, however, the planned merger - especially in West Germany - did not go beyond the approaches that were most consistently implemented in the merger of the military commandos with the divisions ; These fusions were to continue after the end of Army Structure 5, initially in Army Structure 5 (N). It was only between 1994 and 1996 - actually after the end of Army Structure 5 - that, as originally planned, individual defense district commands were merged with brigades (only for a short time) . The East German troops were formally part of the territorial army in any case until the withdrawal of the group of Soviet armed forces in Germany under the Two-Plus-Four Treaty . In East Germany, between 1990 and 1993, a list of merged units based on the principles of the Army Structure 5 was largely implemented, but without formally constituting units of the field army.

Supreme Army Command

Corps / Territorial Command North

Note: the establishment of the merged corps / territorial command north was not completed. Instead, the I. Corps , LANDJUT , the Territorial Command North and the Territorial Command Schleswig-Holstein / Military District Command I continued to exist largely independently. The merger of the remaining military area commands in the Territorialkommando Nord and Schleswig-Holstein and the remaining divisions in the area of ​​I. Corps / LANDJUT was implemented by around mid-1994.

Further troops in northern Germany

The following North German troop units were not consistently reclassified according to the classification principles of Army Structure 5, are therefore not listed above, and existed essentially similarly - with mostly reduced troop strength - as in Army Structure 4 in addition to the units listed above until about the start of the reclassification to Army Structure 5 (N) continued as unfused associations. Whether and in what form the original plans for Army Structure 5 provided for these units to be subordinated to a merged corps / territorial command or a merged division / military area command cannot be proven:

Corps / Territorial Command South

Note: the formation of the merged Corps / Territorial Command South was not completed. The merger of the military area commands and divisions was realized.

Corps / Territorial Command East

Note: Until the merged Corps / Territorial Command East was set up in 1991, the land forces in East Germany were jointly managed by the Bundeswehr Command East . The predecessor for the staff of the Corps / Territorial Command East was the Army Command East , which was also subordinate to the Bundeswehr Command East. The establishment of the merged corps / territorial command east and the merger of the military area commands and divisions were realized from 1991.

Airborne Force


literature

  • Rolf Clement : 50 years of the Bundeswehr . 1955 - 2005. Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-8132-0839-7 (288 pages).
  • Hans-Jürgen Schraut: The armed forces structure of the Bundeswehr 1956-1990 . Documentation as part of the Nuclear History Program. Science and Politics Foundation, Ebenhausen 1993.
  • Herbert Seifert: The structures of the army . In: Federal Ministry of Defense, Command Staff of the Army I 5 (Ed.): European Security . No. 1999/2000 . Bonn 2000, DNB  962058939 (68 pages).
  • Reinhard Teuber: The Bundeswehr 1955–1995 . In: Leadership and Troop . tape 5 . Patzwall, Norderstedt 1996, ISBN 3-931533-03-4 (156 pages).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Location database of the Bundeswehr in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the training grounds used by the Bundeswehr abroad. In: Website of the Military History Research Office . Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr , Military History Research Office , accessed on February 17, 2020 (For technical reasons, direct links to individual search queries or search results are not possible. Please use the “search form” to research information on the individual departments).