Bundeswehr to stand up new operational and support commands in October

The Bundeswehr's new nuclear, biological, and chemical protection regiment, ABC-Abwehrregiment 1, stood up in Strausberg, Brandenburg, eastern Germany, on 6 April 2022, will receive equipment including the Fuchs (Fox) NBC reconnaissance vehicle. (Bundeswehr/Marco Dorow)

The Bundeswehr announced on its website on 2 August that it would stand up new operational and support commands on 1 October, aligning itself organisationally with national and alliance defence. It said the basic structure has been established for the two commands: Operative Führungskommando der Bundeswehr (OpFüKdoBw) operational command and Unterstützungskommando der Bundeswehr (UstgKdoBw) support command.

With a planned staff of 1,400, OpFüKdoBw will support Territoriales Führungskommando territorial command and Einsatzführungskommando (Joint Forces Operations Command) and prioritise and issue orders to the four service branches – army, Luftwaffe, navy, and Cyber- und Informationsraum (Cyber and Information Domain Service: CIR) – to which support forces will be assigned, such as medical; logistic; nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) defence; and military police (MP) assets. The four branches will continue to provide tactical leadership.