Bundeswehr

The Bundeswehr (German for "Federal Defence Force"; ) are the military of Germany. The Bundeswehr has a military part (Streitkräfte) and a civil part, with the military part having the Army, Navy, Air Force, Joint Support Service, Joint Medical Service and Cyber and Information Domain Service.

The Heer (Army), Marine (Navy) and Luftwaffe (Air Force) form one unified force, not three separate fighting forces. And two smaller ones: Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis) and Joint Medical Service (Zentraler Sanitätsdienst).

In peace-time the commander-in-chief is the Federal Minister of Defence, and in wartime the Chancellor of Germany. This is unlike most countries where the head of state is commander in chief.

In March 2012, there were about 207,000 soldiers serving in the Bundeswehr; there are another 200,000 in reserve. Conscription for the Bundeswehr has been abolished in July 2011.

Related pages
 NATO
 Luftwaffe
 Wehrmacht

 Sources 

Category:German military organizations