Command and obedience in the Bundeswehr The principle of command and obedience in the Bundeswehr ( ) , along with the concept of " citizens in uniform " ( ) , was central to the 1953 idea of " leadership development and civic education " ( official translation of ) . The revised definition of military orders and obedience , as well as superior - subordinate relations by the former " Amt Blank " ( Blank Agency , predecessor of the Federal Ministry of Defense ) , was a 1950s result of Nazi German excesses . Central aims were the reduction of power to command by superiors and a shared responsibility for obedience by subordinates . Military orders . A military order is defined in § 2 ( 2 ) of the German military penal law ( , WStG ) as an : An instruction might be a military order , if a soldier was a defined military superior by the Ministerial Directive Governing Superior - Subordinate Relations ( ) . If an order was given by someone not a military superior , it would be juridically called a " military non - order " ( without claim of obedience ) . Fundamentally , a superior is responsible for his orders and obligated to implement his instructions . He may only give orders concerning official aims and respecting international and national laws and the general directives issued by the Ministry . He is fundamentally responsible for the consequences of his orders . Whenever possible , military orders should include a description of the task and its aim . This is known as " Auftragstaktik " , and would enable subordinates to act to achieve the order ' s aim in changed circumstances . Superior - subordinate relations . The command relationships in the Bundeswehr are defined in the Ministerial Directive Governing Superior - Subordinate Relations ( official translation of , abbreviated " Vorgesetztenverordnung " ( VorgV ) ) . These service regulations were decreed March 19 , 1956 , shortly before the first soldiers joined the newly founded Bundeswehr , and went into effect June 7 , 1956 . They were modified by decree October 7 , 1981 . The " Vorgesetztenverordnung " applies only to Bundeswehr soldiers and does not apply to civilian personnel of the Bundeswehr . Superior - subordinate relations of civilian Bundeswehr members ( as well as military - civilian or civilian - military superior - subordinate relations ) are defined by other regulations and ordinances . The content of the " Vorgesetztenverordnung " is one of the first things that recruits are required to learn . Superior positions . § § 1 - 3 VorgV concern the assignment of a superior . It is possible for a soldier to be superior to another in several ways . The following types of superiors are defined : Contradictory orders . If a subordinate receives an order contrary to an already - received order ( or one which defers substantially the achievement of its aim ) , he must inform the superior who gave the second order of this . On the basis of this knowledge , the second superior would have ( due to his order ) responsibility to verify the given order and decide whether or not the subordinate had to obey his order ( instead of the first received order ) . The subordinate must obey the last given order , if the second one is not canceled ; this is necessary because the second superior may have new information about a changed situation . If a subordinate has not been able to execute the first order ( or to attain the expected aim ) because of the second order , he must inform the first superior as soon as possible . The subordinate is immune from punishment by him , because the second superior is responsible for his order . Prioritization ( in opposing superior relationships ) . It may be possible for two soldiers to be superior to each other due to differing paragraphs of the " Vorgesetztenverordnung " . For such situations the following prioritization of relationship importance is defined : § 6 VorgV is excluded because a commissioned officer ( or NCO ) could only declare himself superior if there was no superior to him at the scene . Obedience and disobedience . Duty of obedience . Above all , subordinates must obey their superiors and must inform superiors of non - executed orders or unreached aims . Subordinates must execute military orders : Although a superior must verify his orders , the recipient must also do so . First he would have to verify whether an instruction was given by a defined military superior according to the " Vorgesetztenverordnung " . If not , it would not be a military order with claim to obedience . If he executed this " military non - order " , he would be responsible for possible consequences . If the instruction is given by a military superior , he must verify whether he must obey , can obey , or must refuse to obey . Generally he has to obey . He " can but need not " obey if the order has obviously no legitimate aim ( e . g . " clean my boots " in usual situations ) , violates the soldier ' s " own " human dignity ( e . g . " run into the city and shout that you are a fool " ) , or is unconscionable ( e . g . obliges the soldier to spend amounts of his own money above limits mentioned in directives ) . He " must not " obey if the order violates " others < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > " human dignity , international law or consists of a crime ( including a misdemeanor ) . Otherwise , subordinates are guilty of their deeds if their criminal character was obvious to them . Obviously - unavoidable errors may remain unpunished . Apart from that , it is not the soldier ' s job to investigate the entire legitimacy of the order ; e . g . whether the not obviously lacking official aim actually existed , or whether non - penal laws or directives of the Ministry were complied with . In particular , a soldier must obey to commit a contravention . In these cases , the commanding superior has the entire responsibility for the act . It might , though , be comradely to bring an error to the superior ' s attention , and the soldier is not to be punished for doing so . Penalties for disobedience and insubordination . Punishment for disobedience is regulated in the " Wehrstrafgesetz " ( military penal law ) . Germany does not have any military court s ; civilian courts have jurisdiction over military law . Subordinates who do not execute military orders with claim to obedience may be punished with imprisonment up to three years ( in particularly serious cases up to five years ) , if they acted negligently . " Severe consequences " means aggravated battery , a restriction on the German armed forces . Insubordination is the oral or physical revolt against military orders or the denial ( in spite of repetition ) of an order , and may be punished with imprisonment up to three years . In case of an initial revolt against a military order , a court could withhold sentencing if the subordinate executed the order voluntarily and in time afterwards . If subordinates avoided executing orders frivolously , they could also be sentenced to imprisonment up to two years in cases of severe consequences .