II Corps (Bundeswehr)

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II. Corps
II. (German-American) Corps
XXX

coat of arms

Association badge
active II Corps:

Jul 2, 1956 - Mar 31, 1993

II. (GE / US) Corps:

Apr. 1, 1993 - Oct. 2005

Country GermanyGermany Germany
Armed forces armed forces
Armed forces Bundeswehr Logo Heer with lettering.svg army
Type corps
Strength 87,985 (1989)
former seat of the staff Ulm
commander
last commanding general Lieutenant General Jan Oerding
last chief of staff Brigadier General Henning Glawatz

The II Corps was a corps of the Army of the Bundeswehr , which existed from 1956 to 1993. The last seat of the staff was Ulm . During the Cold War , the II Corps was tasked with defending the eastern border of southern Germany. The corps was reclassified to the II. (German-American) Corps in 1993 . The II. (GE / US) Corps was one of the carriers of multinationality in NATO. In 2005, the Corps became the operational command of the intervention forces.

Association badge

The association badge was identical to the association badge of the other German corps except for the corps number "II". It showed the federal eagle as the German sovereign symbol . The color scheme was based on that of the flag of Germany . The badge was worn by the soldiers of the corps troops and the staff of the corps on the left sleeve of the service suit. The braided black / yellow (black / gold) border testified the position as a corps.

history

II Corps

Army Structure I (1956–1959)

By the deployment order of June 16, 1956 by the Federal Minister of Defense , Army Staff II was initially set up in Ulm on July 2, 1956 as the forerunner of the Corps . The following were initially assumed:

In 1957 the 2nd Grenadier Division and the 5th Panzer Division moved to the III. Corps . In peacetime the corps was subordinate to the command of the army . In the case of defense the guide was by the Army Group of the NATO ( CENTAG provided).

Army Structure II (1959–1970)

Repair of a Spz for short Hotchkiss in a forest near Nellingen. Maneuver “Black Lion”, 1968.

In Army Structure II, the following major formations were subordinate to II Corps :

In addition, corps troops such as the artillery command, the Army Aviation Battalion and others.

In 1960 the II Corps had grown to a strength of around 41,000 men.

Army Structure III (1970–1979)

The strategic target to create smaller, more mobile and armor defense strong units led to the conversion of the 4th Mechanized Infantry Division in the 4th Jager Division on October 1, 1970. As used reserve was as Corps troops set up on 1 April 1970, the tank regiment 200, and an airborne brigade directly assumed. The Army Aviation Battalion was replaced by a newly established light and a medium Army Aviation Transport Regiment. On January 1, 1970, the 10th Panzer Grenadier Division was renamed the 10th Panzer Division. The 12th Panzer Division switched to the III. Corps. The following major formations were under the II Corps :

On January 1, 1970, the US liaison command of the VII. (US) Corps set up with the II. Corps. The Canadian Liaison Command of the 1st (CA) Div / 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group deployed to II Corps on July 1, 1974. On July 1, 1976, the upcoming Army Structure 4 was tested with the II Corps.

Army Structure IV (1980–1992)

  • 4th Panzer Grenadier Division (Regensburg) (previously 4th Jägerdivision)
    • Panzergrenadierbrigade 10 (Weiden)
    • Panzergrenadierbrigade 11 (bow)
    • Panzerbrigade 12 (Amberg)
  • 1st Mountain Division (Garmisch-Partenkirchen)
  • 1st Airborne Division (Esslingen am Neckar)
    • Paratrooper Brigade 25 (Calw)
    • Paratrooper Brigade 26 ( Saarlouis )
    • Paratrooper Brigade 27 (Lippstadt)
  • 10th Panzer Division (Sigmaringen)

The corps troops included in Army Structure IV:

There was also a liaison command with the 1st Air Force Division . In addition, the corps was subordinate to several field replacement battalions, a front news company, a tele-spying company and a topography platoon. The corps troops thus attained the greatest size in the history of the army. Shortly before the end of the Cold War, the corps had grown to its historical maximum size with a strength of around 88,000 men. In order to incorporate parts of the NVA , the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division supported the establishment of the Bundeswehr Ost from October 1, 1990 as a patendivision to Wehrbereichskommando VII.

Army Structure V (1992-2000)

To implement Army Structure 5, two staffs of the field and territorial army merged to form military area command / division staff, to which the field division and the defense district commands were directly subordinate. Subordinate to the II Corps (without division troops):

As early as 1992, Army Structure V was readjusted - Army Structure V (N) - in which the merger of the staffs, if already done, was reversed. Instead of taking on territorial tasks, the corps should in future be developed into the carriers of multinationality in the army. At the same time began the phase of downsizing the army, which continues to this day. For this purpose, an Army Aviation Brigade was not set up in the corps, so that the II Corps retained its anti-tank helicopter regiment. In addition, Panzer Grenadier Brigades 11 and 22 were disbanded on March 31, 1993 . The following brigades in the area of ​​the II Corps followed on September 30th: Panzergrenadierbrigade 10 , Heimatschutzbrigade 56 and Panzerbrigade 28 and Panzerbrigade 29 .

The II Corps was formally dissolved in April 1993. The II. (German-American) Corps took its place.

II. (German-American) Corps

The II. (German-American) Corps existed from April 1993 to October 2005. The staff of this corps continued to be provided by the German army in accordance with the Lead Nation principle , while the constantly present American portion was limited to a liaison command in the otherwise German staff. If necessary, the 1st US Armored Division should be led by the II. (GE / US) Corps as the American part . Parts of the corps were used in October 2005 to set up the operational command of the intervention forces. As early as 2001, the army divisions were commanded directly by the newly established Army Command .

Calls

Soldiers of Paratrooper Battalion 261 in 1993 in Somalia

The II. (German-American) Corps was involved in German missions abroad after 1989:

  • October 1990 to February 1991: logistical support for the Gulf War allies
  • August 1992 to February 1994: Participation in the UN mission UNOSOM in Somalia , around 2000 soldiers in the corps
  • 1995–1996: GECON UNPF in ex- Yugoslavia . Around 150 soldiers of the 2nd Corps were involved in the 1st contingent, others for the 2nd contingent from December 1995, others for the German Contingent Implementation Forces from January 1996.

Commander

No. Surname Beginning of the appointment End of appointment
14th Major General Jan Oerding 0April 1, 2004 0October 7, 2005
(from then on: KdoOpFüEingrKr )
13 Major General Karl-Heinz Lather March 10, 2001 March 31, 2004
12 Lieutenant General Götz Gliemeroth 1997 2000
11 Lieutenant General Edgar Trost 0April 1, 1993 1996
10 Lieutenant General Gert Verstl 0April 1, 1989 March 31, 1993
09 Lieutenant General Werner Lange 0October 1, 1983 March 31, 1989
08th Lieutenant General Leopold Chalupa 0October 1, 1981 September 30, 1983
07th Lieutenant General Meinhard Glanz 0October 1, 1980 September 30, 1981
06th Lieutenant General Carl-Gero von Ilsemann 0April 1, 1976 September 30, 1980
05 Lieutenant General Helmut Schönefeld 01st October 1970 March 31, 1976
04th Lieutenant General Karl Wilhelm Thilo 0October 1, 1967 September 30, 1970
03 Lieutenant General Leo Hepp 0October 1, 1961 September 30, 1967
02 Lieutenant General Max-Josef Pemsel 0April 1, 1957 September 30, 1961
01 Major General Friedrich Foertsch November 27, 1956 March 31, 1957

See also

literature

  • Herbert Seifert: The structures of the army. In European Security 1999, 2000.
  • Reinhard Teuber: The Bundeswehr 1955–1995. Norderstedt 1996.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bibliography for inventory BH 7-2 “II. Corps ”in the Federal Archives ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) 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@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / startext.net-build.de
  2. ↑ Bibliography at the Federal Archives  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bundesarchiv.de  
Active and former corps with the participation of the German army
Active corps

1st German-Dutch Corps  | Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps  | Eurocorps  | Multinational Corps North-East

Former corps

I. Corps  | II. Corps / II. (German-American) Corps  | III. Corps  | IV Corps  | Headquarters of the Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland

Corps equivalents

Territorial Command East  | Weir area command I · II · III · IV · V · VI

Coordinates: 48 ° 25 ′ 1 ″  N , 9 ° 59 ′ 0 ″  E