Bundeswehr veterinarians

Veterinary medicine is crucial to the defence capability of the armed forces, for example by ensuring that service animals are healthy, and by testing drinking water and food for the troops. From a curative perspective, veterinarians focus on providing health care for Bundeswehr service animals. They treat sick and injured service animals, whether they have been wounded on duty or have a common infection. 

Just as soldiers, service animals can be injured on the job, be it during search-and-seizure training for dogs or mules’ transporting heavy equipment for the mountain infantry in alpine terrain. However, as a wide range of tasks relies on service animals to be ready for action, and the Bundeswehr has a moral and legal responsibility towards the animals, they receive holistic treatment of the highest quality standards. Animal welfare is a constitutional responsibility and therefore of particular importance to veterinary medicine in the Bundeswehr.

Regarding the prevention and control of epizootic disease, Bundeswehr veterinarians are required to conduct risk assessments, consult with experts and propose suggestions for necessary control and counter measures to be carried out in the armed forces. Other tasks in its remit include health-related consumer protection and food safety. In this regard, food sabotage prevention and food defence, for example safeguarding against the deliberate contamination of drinking water, both play an important role. 

The Bundeswehr’s veterinarians are supported by a wide range of NCO-ranked skilled occupations, such as veterinary medical technicians, veterinary assistants, farrier officers and animal keepers.

The veterinarians and NCOs working in veterinary medicine in the Bundeswehr work all over Germany, from Bad Reichenhall in the south to Kiel in the north. 

This includes the central institutes of the Medical Service, which focus on testing food, drinking water and samples of animal origin. The supervisory bodies of the Medical Service (North, East, South and West) function as veterinary inspection offices responsible for monitoring compliance with regulations for veterinary medicine and health and consumer protection. The Bundeswehr School of Dog Handling and 230 Pack Animal Centre not only concentrate on training and further development but also on the traditional curative work of veterinarians. 

The Institute of Microbiology and the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology are responsible for specialist diagnostic testing, consulting, research and development. As soon as an unusual outbreak of disease is suspected, the task forces of these institutes can be deployed anywhere in the world within a matter of hours. This rapid deployment readiness is particularly important in the case of highly infectious diseases such as COVID-19Coronavirus Disease 2019 or foot-and-mouth disease, which is primarily transmitted by farm animals.

Bundeswehr veterinarians tackle a wide range of challenges both at home and on missions abroad, whether they are treating service animals, testing food and drinking water, monitoring food hygiene in troop dining facilities and field kitchens, consulting on food defence measures and food sabotage prevention, or conducting risk assessments for epizootic and zoonotic diseases. Before being deployed, they are given additional specialist training, for example on dangerous animals, veterinary care for service dogs, or certification in handling blowguns and tranquiliser rifles.

Veterinarians monitor the situation on Bundeswehr sites such as training areas, prepare risk assessments, and work closely with the Department of Health to make sure that epizootic pathogens such as African swine fever or foot-and-mouth disease do not find their way into Germany.