The German Maritime Forces Staff plans and prepares multinational maritime operations and exercises.
“German Maritime Forces”, or in its NATO abbreviation simply DEU MARFOR, is a military command and operational staff. Its personnel plan, support, and lead multi-national maritime exercises and operations. In times of crisis, NATO or the EU, for example, can activate the staff as maritime headquarters to lead national naval units.
DEU MARFOR is therefore a further contribution by Germany specifically to national and collective defence. Allies such as the United Kingdom, France, and Italy also have comparable headquarters.
The staff is an integral part of the new Naval Command Centre in Rostock. Just under 100 soldiers form its core, 25 of whom are multi-national exchange and liaison officers. Their work processes and procedures are certified according to NATO standards, and their daily working language is English. All this makes DEU MARFOR unique within the German Navy. If the task force is activated for a specific task in a crisis, it is reinforced by experts from both the Bundeswehr and partner nations.
DEU MARFOR has three main tasks: first, to plan military operations in detail; second, to command warships, combat aircraft and helicopters; third, to compile and update a comprehensive situation picture. Secondary functions include organising the supply of subordinate units as well as the involvement with a public information campaign. The staff can perform all of these tasks in whole or in part out of a fixed infrastructure on land or on board German or allied warships.
Since 1 October 2024 the German Navy respectively DEU MARFOR has taken over the NATO function of Commander Task Force Baltic, or CTF Baltic for short, for the Baltic Sea region. DEU MARFOR personnel serves as its core staff due to their multinational composition and experience as well as their regional expertise.
This tactical level headquarters, made available to NATO, has the following main tasks:
Leading large-scale, multinational naval exercises is part of DEU MARFOR’s core mission. Here (from left to right) a Swedish and a German corvette and a French frigate during exercise Northern Coasts 2019 in the Baltic Sea.
Bundeswehr
Situation briefing of staff from different navies during Northern Coasts 2019. Working at DEU MARFOR creates mutual understanding and trains transnational cooperation for emergencies.
Bundeswehr/Björn Wilke
DEU MARFOR organises complex exercise scenarios down to the last detail. For example, so-called action drills during Northern Coasts 2019 with a target display aircraft simulating an attacker, ...
Bundeswehr/Marcel Kröncke
... or with simulated hits on warships, to which the teams in the fire and damage control centres on board have to react correctly.
Bundeswehr/Marcel Kröncke
The staff's planning also includes highly complex amphibious exercises. Here, a mine-clearance diver from the German Navy’s naval infantry battalion defuses a simulated explosive device on a beach before soldiers arrive there from sea.
Bundeswehr/Björn Wilke
International staff are key at DEU MARFOR in view of such demanding projects. Here, a liaison officer from the British Royal Navy on the operations staff
Bundeswehr/Marcel Kröncke
DEU MARFOR insignia: The griffin shows attachment to the location of the headquarters, the Hanseatic city of Rostock. Feather and trident symbolise the work in a naval staff. Two stars signalise: a Rear Admiral commands this staff.
Bundeswehr/Björn WilkeBrochure DEU MARFOR PDF, not barrier-free, 3.5 MB
DEU MARFOR
Hanse-Kaserne
Kopernikusstrasse 1
D-18057 Rostock
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Germany
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