Territorial Service

Territorial regions of Switzerland: green 1, blue 2, pink 3, yellow 4

The Territorial Service (abbreviation: Ter D) is a branch of the Swiss Army , which was created in 1887 as a territorial entity with a service and combat mandate through an ordinance of the Federal Council .

tasks

The two main tasks of service and combat missions remained until the end of the Second World War . The service contract comprised the supply of the front army by means of procurement and provision of supplies, taking over the return and making use of the personnel and material relief supplies. The combat mission consisted of the space defense of the rear area (fighting the enemy who had broken through with tanks , airborne troops , etc.) and the border sections which were not covered by the field army.

With the changed war technique after 1945, war can take place anywhere. As a result, the combat mission for the territorial service was limited to local defense while the service contract became comprehensive logistics . The territorial tasks today include the guarantee of civil-military cooperation as well as the activities in the territorial service departments: protection of civil objects to ensure existential needs (objects SEB), military-related measures in the field of the energy industry, military care service / support in the refugee sector.

history

Until World War II

The eight territorial districts of 1887 were subordinate to the EMD and commanded by the territorial commander. To fulfill the task of fighting each circle were a commander with 6-8 Landsturm - battalions assigned. In 1912, the Territorial Service was given the additional task of preparing and securing the mobilization and deployment of the army. Since the territorial troops were doing their service near their place of residence, they could be deployed particularly quickly. The territorial circles were adapted to the section boundaries of the eight divisions . The assigned combat battalions were increased to 10-13 and the border guard corps were also subordinated. Until the end of the First World War, the territorial commanders were directly subordinate to the EMD in Bern. This federal intervention in cantonal sovereignty was later reversed.

In 1931 the territorial service was taken away from the EMD and placed under the army command. With the troop order of 1938 (TO 38), the newly created border brigades took on the task of securing the state border and the mobilization of the field army. The territorial service in the now 13 territorial districts was limited to local defense. An exception was the protection of neutrality (NSD), which was assigned to the territorial troops in the Basel area from 1970 to 1986 .

Second World War

On August 28, 1939, three days after the British had given Poland an alliance, the Swiss border troops and on August 29 the four Basler Territorial Battalions were deployed. The management of the territorial service had not had the opportunity to familiarize themselves before the start of the active service. She had to do this after the general mobilization in autumn 1939. The territorial service now comprised 36 battalions. The city commandos in Zurich , Bern and Basel were supported by the Territorial Service. While the city of Zurich was part of the Limmat position , the city of Basel was in front of this defensive front and formed an advanced base.

At the beginning of the war, the service contract to supply the army was in the foreground and led to the subordination of the territorial service to Army Group Ic (rear service). The war image of the first weeks of the war in Poland prompted the army command to strengthen the combat troops in October 1939. The army command took 26 battalions away from the territorial service and assigned them to the army corps.

On May 11, 1940, the general triggered the second general mobilization and a day later issued the first directive on the formation of voluntary local brigades . The German invasion of Denmark and Norway had shown that the Fifth Column and acts of sabotage in the interior were almost as crucial as military operations. The general therefore issued the instruction to supplement the territorial services by recruiting local brigades and company guards to a manpower suitable for warfare and to make them organizationally independent. With the move to the Reduit from July 1940, the task of the territorial service shifted again from the rear service to local defense and he was therefore subordinated to the army group front. When the army partially left the Reduit in 1944, the service contract became more important again.

post war period

The territorial service was newly divided into 16 territorial circles, analogous to the recruiting circles of the divisions and mountain brigades , and subordinated to the department for intelligence and territorial services in the army staff. In 1947 a four-level hierarchy was created: (four) territorial zones, districts, regions and local territorial commanders. In areas with permanent combat troops (border, reduit and fortress brigades), the territorial troops were subordinated to the respective troop commanders.

The 1961 troop order (TO 61) was influenced by the Cold War. The previous four territorial zones were transformed into six territorial brigades and placed under the command of the corps . In 1967, the local defense groups were dissolved and reduces the territorial companies and militia companies or severe Füsilierkompanien reshuffled. The overall defense concept enshrined in law in 1969 led to the reorganization of the territorial service. Its section boundaries have been adapted to the cantonal boundaries.

Today the Territorial Service consists of four territorial regions , to which disaster relief battalions and command support battalions are subordinate. Territorial liaison staffs ensure cooperation between civil cantonal leadership staff and the military leadership.

Organization of the Territorial Service (Ter) over time

1887 eight districts (ordinance territorial service)
1912 eight Ter Kreise (MO 1907, Landsturm as Ter Troop, securing mobilization)
1914 the border coverage
1939 thirteen ter zones (TO 36/38)
1940 three ter sectors
1942 four ter zones
1944 seven ter commandos
1947 four ter zones, ter districts, ter regions, ter local (municipalities)
1962 six Ter Brigades ( Army 61 )
1969 four ter zones
1982 Establishment of Warning Regiment 1 as part of the (directly subordinate) army troops
1995 four ter divisions ( Army 95 )
2014 four ter regions ( Army XXI )
2018 four ter divisions ( WEA )

literature

Report of the Chief of the General Staff of the Army to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army on Active Service 1939–1945 , Bern 1946.
Board of the Swiss Society of Territorial Service Officers (Ed.): 100 Years of Territorial Service, 25 years of the Swiss Society of Territorial Service Officers . 1988
Daniel Nicolas: Le service territorial depuis 1887. Communication of the Swiss Society of Officers of the Territorial Service No. 23, Emmenbrücke 1972

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Ordinance on the Territorial Tasks of the Army (VTA), as of November 18, 2003 (PDF; 86 kB)
↑ Territorial regions 1 to 4 ( Memento from March 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
^ Jean Rossier: The Territorial Organization. In: Zivilschutz = Protection civile = Protezione civile , 30 (1983), pp. 34-37.

[1] Ordinance on the Territorial Tasks of the Army (VTA), as of November 18, 2003 (PDF; 86 kB)

[2] Territorial regions 1 to 4 ( Memento from March 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[3] Jean Rossier: The Territorial Organization. In: Zivilschutz = Protection civile = Protezione civile , 30 (1983), pp. 34-37.