Mission

The German Army is the largest service in the Bundeswehr. It is the mainstay of land operations and operations of airmobile and air-mechanised forces to protect Germany and its citizens. It is ready to act in the framework of international conflict prevention and crisis management, in support of Germany’s allies, and to conduct rescue, evacuation and other assistance missions.

A total of around 60,000 women and men serve in the Army. They must be able to fight, protect, assist and mediate on a global scale in regions that are vastly different from one another in terms of geography, climate and culture. In accomplishing its mission, the Army puts the values and standards of the German Basic Law into practice. The principles of Innere Führung, or leadership development and civic education, and mission command shape the Army’s philosophy of leadership.

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The German Army places itself in the tradition of the Army reformers around Gerhard von Scharnhorst, the resistance fighters of 20 July 1944, and its own history, which goes back more than 50 years and can itself claim instances of virtuous conduct and exceptional individual feats. This becomes evident in the Army’s units, branches and military tradition.

The Army is and will always remain reliable. That is why the service is actively moving toward a digital future. The digital transformation programme was officially kicked off on 6 December 2018 in Dresden and since then, the Army has been testing new digital technologies. The intent is to become networked for tomorrow’s battlefields.

The Army covers the entire task spectrum from high-intensity combat and multinational stability operations to training and emergency assistance.

We provide operationally ready forces for international conflict prevention and crisis management and for national and collective defence tasks. Whether in humanitarian aid missions across the globe or in homeland defence and domestic disaster-relief operations, we make an essential contribution. A distinctive characteristic of our Army men and women is their willingness and ability to fight. On operations, we are always in the thick of it – even when things get tricky. Shoulder to shoulder with our partners and the local population, we are courageous, reliable, well trained and ready to lay our lives on the line should the mission so require.