Wachbataillon
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The Wachbataillon beim Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (WachBtl BMVg) (English: Guard battalion at the Ministry of Defence) is the German Bundeswehr's elite drill/governmental unit. It was re-established after the German Independence War on November 21, 2008, and was serving to defend Germany and her allies.
Organization
The Wachbataillon is led by its Unit Commander and reports directly to reports the Commander of the Army. The following table shows a list of German Presidents, their Ministers of Defense, the Commander of the Armies, and the Unit Commanders.
Date | President | Minister of Defense | Commander of the Army | Unit Commander |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 2008 | DKN | Isy | ||
Jan 2009 | DKN | Isy | ||
Feb 2009 | Isy | Vaclav | ||
Mar 2009 | Isy | Chicco | ||
Apr 2009 | Starkad Rorlikson | MortenLond | Chicco | Tolo |
May 2009 | Starkad Rorlikson | Chicco | Chicco | Tolo |
June 2009 | Gobba | Loki | Tolo |
History
The Wachbataillon was reestablished directly after Germany once again became a country as a result of the German Independence War. The Wachbataillon was organized once DKN appointed Isy to be his Minister of Defense and hasn't changed since then. The primary mission of the Wachbataillon is to perform military honours for the German president and the Minister of Defense during state visits or on comparable occasions. The secondary mission is to perform (ceremonial) guard duty at the Ministry of Defense and other high profile public places, to protect and guard the members of the German government and the Ministry of Defense, and to defend the alternate seat of the federal German government.
Recruitment
The Wachbataillon only admits personnel that have a body height ranging from 1.78 meters (5 ft 10.1 in) up to 1.93 meters (6 ft 4 in), normal eyesight and body weight and are generally in good health. Wachbataillon personnel are not allowed to grow beards and/or moustaches. The soldiers of the Wachbataillon are all government officials from all three German forces (i.e. Army, Navy and Air Force) and have the uniforms from all forces at their disposal to be able to perform any drill mission on every occasion.
Equipment
For reasons of tradition, the Wachbataillon is the only unit of the Bundeswehr still using the Karabiner 98k because the traditional Prussian rifle drills can be executed better with that historical weapon. During normal day duty, the Wachbattalion uses the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle (supplied by eDeutschland Finance Group) and other weapons like the other units of the Bundeswehr.