Kommando Spezialkräfte
KSK Beret Badge.
Active	1996 (Created) 1997 (Activated) - Present
Country	Germany
Branch	German Army
Type	Special Forces
Role	Hostage rescue, Airborne operations, Raids, Unconventional Warfare, Counter-Insurgency, Anti-Terror, Covert Operations
Size	1100 soldiers, 200-300 participate in combat operations
Garrison/HQ	Calw, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Engagements	Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo War, Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Anaconda, ISAF)
Decorations	Navy Presidential Unit Citation for KSK-members of Task Force K-Bar
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier General (Brigadegeneral) Hans-Christoph Ammon

The Kommando Spezialkräfte (Special Forces Command, KSK) is part of Germany's Special Forces. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. In most countries special forces (SF is a generic term for highly-trained Military teams/units that conduct specialized operations such as Reconnaissance Organized under the Special Operations Division (Div. Spezielle Operationen, DSO), it is closely modeled on the British Special Air Service (SAS). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Special Air Service ( SAS) is a Special forces regiment within the British Army which has served as a model and inspiration for the special

Contents 1 History 2 Structure 3 Selection and training 4 Equipment 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

Prior to KSK’s formation in 1996, Germany, and before it West Germany, placed little emphasis on special operations beyond the counter-terrorist police unit GSG 9. The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei (originally the German abbreviation of Grenzschutzgruppe 9 or Border Guard Group 9 is the elite Counter-terrorism and special At the time, the airborne brigade commandos and Fernspäher companies were the only army units comparable to Special Forces (the navy already had its Kampfschwimmer company for years). Fernspäher are members of Germany's elite reconnaissance units This article is about Germany's commando frogmenFor other nations' commando frogmen and information about frogmen in general see Frogman. All the early specialised army units except for Fernspäherkompanie 200 have been disbanded or merged into the KSK since its activation on April 1, 1997. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar

Like all German military units, KSK deployment requires parliamentary authorization, providing evidence of operations in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Afghanistan. The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany. Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Specific operational details, such as success or casualty rates, are top secret and withheld even from members of parliament. This practice drew heavy criticism, resulting in plans to increase transparency and accountability by relaying mission details to selected members of the Bundestag. The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany.

Structure

The fighting units are divided into four commando companies of about 100 men each and the special commando company with veteran members, taking supporting tasks. In Military science, the term commando can refer to an individual a Military unit, or a raiding style of military operation. Each of the four commando companies has five specialized platoons:

• 1st platoon: land insertions
• 2nd platoon: airborne operations
• 3rd platoon: amphibious operations
• 4th platoon: operations in special geographic or meteorological surroundings (e. g. mountains or polar regions)
• 5th platoon: reconnaissance, sniper and counter-sniper operations
• Command Platoon

There are four commando squads in every platoon. READ DISCUSSION PAGE BEFORE MAKING ANY EDITS TO CAPTION BELOW http//en The occurrence of Sniper Warfare has led to the evolution of many counter-sniper tactics in modern military strategies. Each of these groups consists of about four equally skilled soldiers. One of each group is specially trained as weapons expert, medic, combat engineer or communications expert respectively. Medic is a general term for a person involved in medicine especially emergency or first-response medicine such as an Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, or Combat engineering is a Combat service support role of using the knowledge tools and techniques of Engineering by troops in peace and war but specifically in Additionally a group can contain other specialists, e. g. heavy weapons or language experts.

Selection and training

Initially, only officers and non-commissioned officers of the Bundeswehr could apply to the KSK. The basic Bundeswehr Commando course ("Einzelkämpferlehrgang") was a prerequisite for application. Since 2005, application is also open for civilians and enlisted personnel, who have to complete an 18-month Long Range Surveillance training before the KSK selection phases. Long Range Surveillance, or LRS (pronounced "lurse" units (LRSU'S are specially employed elite surveillance units of the United States Army that are utilized by Military

The selection is divided into two phases, a three-week-long first phase with a fitness and psychological test (about 50% pass rate) and a three-month-long second phase testing physical endurance (8 - 10% pass rate). The KSK use the Black Forest as a testing area for this phase. For the suburb of Adelaide, please see Black Forest South Australia; for the CDP in Colorado, please see Black Forest Colorado. In this time the candidates must undergo a 90-hour long distance cross-country run. Then they have to go through a three week international survival, escape and evasion course called Combat Survival Course at the German Special Operations Training Centre (formerly the International Long Range Reconnaissance School) in Pfullendorf. Pfullendorf is a small historic city in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

If candidates have passed these tests, they can begin their 2 to 3 year training in the KSK. This training includes about 20 Jungle, Desert, Urban and Counter-terrorism specialist courses at over 17 schools worldwide, e. g. in Norway (Arctic), Austria (Mountains), El Paso/Texas or Israel (Desert), San Diego (Water) or Belize (Jungle). Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Belize (bəˈliːz formerly British Honduras, is a country in Central America.

According to press releases from May 2008, the Bundeswehr aims to advance the attractivity of service in the KSK to women^[1]. This is in part due to the fact that the KSK could never reach its targeted number of troops in the past^[2]. Although the KSK wasn't explicitly restricted to male troops since the Bundeswehr opened all units to women in 2001, so far no woman has been able to pass the physical requirements of the KSK.

Equipment

• H&K P8 semi-automatic pistol
• HK USP Tactical
• HK Mark 23
• H&K 416 assault rifles
• H&K G36 assault rifle with AG36 grenade launcher, in different versions including the G36C
• H&K G3
• H&K MP5 submachine gun in various versions including the H&K MP5K
• H&K MP7 submachine gun
• H&K UMP submachine gun
• G22 sniper rifle
• G24 sniper rifle
• H&K PSG-1 sniper rifle
• Panzerfaust 3 rocket propelled grenade
• H&K MG4 squad automatic weapon
• H&K 21 general purpose machine gun
• Rheinmetall MG3 general purpose machine gun
• H&K GMG automatic grenade launcher
• Mercedes-Benz G-Class utility vehicles
• AGF (Light infantry vehicle)
• Snowmobiles
• Klepper canoes
• Round parachute and HALO/HAHO equipment

See also

• Kampfschwimmer
• GSG 9
• Fernspäher
• Spezialeinsatzkommando
• Brandenburgers (disputed heritage)

References

1. ^ Der Spiegel of May 20, 2008: Bundeswehr-Elitetruppe will Soldatinnen an die Front schicken (Bundeswehr Elite Unit to send Women to Front, german)
2. ^ Die Welt of May 20, 2008: Frauen dürfen bald bei der KSK-Truppe Dienst tun (Women soon to serve with KSK, german)

External links

• (German) Official site

The Heckler & Koch USP ( U niverselle S elbstlade' p' istole, or "Universal Self-loading Pistol" is a semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of Handgun that can be fired in semi-automatic mode firing one cartridge for each pull of the trigger The Heckler & Koch USP ( U niverselle S elbstlade' p' istole, or "Universal Self-loading Pistol" is a semi-automatic pistol The Heckler & Koch MK23 Mod 0 is a Handgun consisting of a Match grade semi-automatic Pistol, a laser aiming module (LAM and The HK416 is an Assault rifle designed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. An assault rifle is a Selective fire Rifle or Carbine (not to be confused with a semi-automatic only replica firing Ammunition with muzzle The G36 is a German 556 mm Assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K and accepted into service with the An assault rifle is a Selective fire Rifle or Carbine (not to be confused with a semi-automatic only replica firing Ammunition with muzzle The AG36 is a single-shot 40 mm Grenade launcher designed primarily for installation on the G36 Assault rifle, designed by the German The G36 is a German 556 mm Assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K and accepted into service with the The G3 is a 762 mm Automatic rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK in collaboration The MP5 is a 9 mm Submachine gun of German design developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the West German arms manufacturer A submachine gun (SMG is a Firearm that combines the automatic fire of a Machine gun with the cartridge of a Pistol, and is The MP5 is a 9 mm Submachine gun of German design developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the West German arms manufacturer The UMP ( Universale Maschinenpistole, German for "Universal Submachine Gun" is a Submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler The AWM ( Arctic Warfare Magnum) is a Sniper rifle manufactured by Accuracy International. In Military and Law enforcement terminology a sniper rifle is a Rifle used to ensure Accurate placement of Bullets at longer The AW50 is a.50 BMG anti-materiel rifle used by the British German and Irish Armed Forces The Panzerfaust 3 is a modern and disposable recoilless Anti-tank weapon developed between 1978 and 1985 and put into service by the Bundeswehr in 1992 RPG or rocket-propelled grenade, is a loose term describing hand-held shoulder-launched Anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided The MG4 is a belt-fed 556 mm Light machine gun designed and developed by the German company Heckler & Koch. For the weapon known in British Forces service as the LSW see SA80 For the weapon known in American service as the SAW see M249 A squad automatic The HK21 is a German 762 mm General purpose machine gun, developed in 1961 by arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch and based on the 7 A general purpose machine gun ( GPMG) in concept is a multi-purpose weapon a Machine gun intended to fill the role of either a Light machine gun or The MG3 is a German air-cooled belt-fed General purpose machine gun chambered in the 7 A general purpose machine gun ( GPMG) in concept is a multi-purpose weapon a Machine gun intended to fill the role of either a Light machine gun or The Granatmaschinenwaffe (HK GMW or grenade machine gun (HK GMG is an automatic Grenade launcher developed by Heckler & Koch for the An automatic firearm is a Firearm that automatically extracts and ejects the fired cartridge case and loads a new case usually through the energy of the fired A grenade launcher is a Weapon that launches a Grenade with more accuracy higher velocity and to greater distances than a soldier could throw it by hand For G-class stars see Stellar classification. The Mercedes-Benz G-Class or G-Wagen, short for Geländewagen (or cross-country vehicle The Aufklärungs- und Gefechtsfahrzeug ("reconnaissance and combat vehicle" sometimes also called the Serval, is a significantly modified version of the A snowmobile (known locally as snowmachine, snowsled or by the Brandname Ski-Doo) is a land vehicle that is commonly propelled by A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit Kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. HALO/HAHO are Acronyms that describe methods of delivering personnel equipment and supplies from a Transport aircraft at a high Altitude via Free-fall This article is about Germany's commando frogmenFor other nations' commando frogmen and information about frogmen in general see Frogman. The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei (originally the German abbreviation of Grenzschutzgruppe 9 or Border Guard Group 9 is the elite Counter-terrorism and special Fernspäher are members of Germany's elite reconnaissance units Spezialeinsatzkommandos (SEK (previously also known as Sondereinsatzkommando) are the special response units of the German state police forces The Brandenburgers were members of the Brandenburg German Commando unit during World War II.

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