The fourth division
Bundeswehr announces the formation of a homeland security division – as an integral part of the German Army alongside three existing combat divisions. Civilians are to be conscripted in the event of war.
BERLIN (own report) - The Bundeswehr has announced the formation of a Homeland Security Division, which is to become an integral part of the German Army. An armed forces spokesperson has said that this new “Heimatschutzdivision“ would combine all the existing homeland security companies and regiments, generally made up of reservists and organised regionally under commands based in Germany’s individual states. The new division will be put on an equal footing with the three combat divisions which are readying for frontline deployment, presumably to the east, in the event of war. The Homeland Security Division is tasked with guarding key military infrastructure in Germany and protecting militarily relevant infrastructure, including railways, bridges and digital infrastructure. The overall number of troops currently available for homeland security operations comes to around 6,000, which is not nearly enough for its remit, according to military planners. What is needed is “at least a high five-digit number”. In principle, the required division size could be made up largely of reservists, as is the current situation in the vast majority of existing homeland security units. And, claim military leaders, it will not be difficult to train civilians as reservists. To this end, military planners have long been looking at the reintroduction of compulsory military service. In the event of war, of course, a mass mobilisation of civilians to support homeland security forces is firmly planned.
The homeland security regiments
Just last year the Bundeswehr created two new homeland security regiments. Each regiment has four to ten companies assigned to it. A total of 42 homeland security companies are now planned.[1] Homeland Security Regiment 1 was established in Bavaria in August 2021; regiment 2 in North Rhine-Westphalia in February 2022; and regiment 3 in Lower Saxony in October 2023. In September 2024, regiment 4 was commissioned in Schwerin. It includes three homeland security companies from Neubrandenburg, Schwerin and Parow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), three more from Hamburg, where a fourth is due to enter service shortly, and two homeland defence companies from Husum and Eutin (Schleswig-Holstein). Homeland Security Regiment 4 is based in Alt Duvenstedt, not far from Rendsburg (Schleswig-Holstein). This move was followed in October 2024 by the formation of Homeland Security Regiment 5, which is based in Ohrdruf in Thuringia and is commanded by homeland security companies from northern Hesse (Frankenberg/Eder), central Hesse and southern Hesse (Frankfurt/Main). Homeland Security Regiment 6 is to be set up this year and will be based in Berlin.
The core task
Last year, the newly established homeland security troops took part for the first time in a Germany-wide manoeuvre (Quadriga, as reported in german-foreign-policy.com [2]). This was organised as an integral part of Steadfast Defender, NATO’s largest military exercise since the Cold War. The underlying scenario was the deployment of NATO troops to the eastern flank of the alliance, as would occur in the event of a potential war with Russia. Germany would then serve as the NATO hub for the eastward transportation of troops and materiel. In order to cover the backs of the Bundeswehr’s combat units, the various homeland forces in the new Division will take on the task of “protecting and securing defence-critical infrastructure”. Indeed, this is officially designated as their “core mission”.[3] The Bundeswehr has stated more specifically that the mission involves protecting “ammunition and materiel depots, seaports, loading stations” and “convoy support centres” (transfer points for troops engaged in large-scale movements). An example of these activities was seen in the National Guardian exercise, a homeland security segment of wider manoeuvres. Here, units from Homeland Security Regiment 4, which was only officially established in September, were required to “secure the relocation and loading” of 160 tanks and military vehicles. As part of the Quadriga manoeuvre, the military hardware was loaded onto ships bound for Lithuania in the port of Rostock.[4]
Interlocking with the combat troops
The Bundeswehr has announced that all the various homeland security units will be merged into the new division on 1 April. As part of the territorial reserve, they have previously been subordinate to the Bundeswehr commands based in the various states. The centralisation is part of the restructuring of the German armed forces announced by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius last year. The new Homeland Security Division is now to be directly subordinate to the national army command. The army currently has three divisions, each with around 20,000 soldiers. These are the two armoured divisions (the 1st and 10th Armoured Division) and the lighter Rapid Forces Division (DSK). They will be joined by the Homeland Security Division as the fourth. The motive is to make it easier, in the event of war, to connect warfare in the east with the necessary logistics and supporting activities at home. All military activities will be networked under a standardised, streamlined command. “The dovetailing of reserve and active troops is an important component of future national and Alliance defence,” says Nils Gründer, FDP parliamentarian in the Bundestag and member of the defence committee.[5] Already beginning in March, the formation of the new division is, he contends, “a step in the right direction.”
‘A high five-figure number’
One job of the new Homeland Security Division will be to protect bridges, railway systems, transport hubs and pipelines in the event of military tensions or actual war. German military leaders and military policymakers are concerned about the insufficient numbers of serving personnel. The current strength of the various homeland security units is, they say, far from sufficient for the wide range of tasks. The 6,000 or so men and women available to date would, they argue, fall well short of what is needed to protect critical infrastructure across the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Indeed, “military planners” consider “at least a high five-digit number of homeland defenders to be necessary”. They clearly back the policy of “reintroducing military service” already mooted by Defence Minister Pistorius.[6] Another defence committee member, CDU politician Henning Otte, reinforces this view. Pistorius is, he explains, creating “hollow structures” that need to be filled. Not only must the military budget be ramped up but also efforts to ensure “implementation of quota-driven compulsory military service.”[7] The FDP’s military policy spokesperson, Gründer, also demands that Berlin does everything it can “to make sure this division does not stand empty”. This means that, “training capacities for non-service background personnel in the reserve must, at long last, be increased.”[8]
The economy in war
The Homeland Security Division will, in any case, be empowered to enlist civilian forces to support military activities in the event of military tension and war. As part of the National Guardian exercise the homeland security forces have already been cooperating with the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), the German Red Cross and seaport operators.[9] Private companies, too, have long been involved in preparations for a possible war. Lieutenant Colonel Jörn Plischke, Commander of the Bundeswehr Regional Command in Hamburg, advised a meeting of local entrepreneurs in November to assign individual employees to homeland security operations, saying, “It will cost you just a few days a year to support this,” but “in a crisis” you will then have “a direct link to the people who will be protecting Hamburg.”[10] He has also recommended companies to train “at least five additional lorry drivers for every hundred employees.” This is because some 70 per cent of all lorry drivers working in Germany are Eastern Europeans, and these are likely to be drafted into the armed forces of their home countries in the event of war. Plischke wants companies to think about answers to questions such as: “What should we do if allied troops have to pass through our city? What should we do if access to the Elbe is blocked and the railway network is under attack? What do we do if Rewe and Aldi can’t open due to electricity outage, if the roads are being used by military columns, and if water no longer comes out of the tap?”
War economy
Experts are pointing out that in the event of war the state is able to have direct access to private companies at any time. “If it should be essential to avert serious danger,”[11], states the managing director of the Bavarian Business Association (vbw), “the regulations even allow the entire economy to be converted into a planned economy by the state.” In other words: into a direct war economy.
[1] Heimatschutzregiment 4. bundeswehr.de.
[2] See: Die künftige Ostfront and Ein halbes Jahr Aufmarschmanöver.
[3] National Guardian. bundeswehr.de.
[4] Heimatschutzregiment 4. bundeswehr.de.
[5] Bundeswehr stellt Division für Heimatschutz auf. tagesschau.de 11.01.2025.
[6] Bundeswehr stellt Division für Heimatschutz auf. faz.de 11.01.2025.
[7] Bundeswehr stellt Heimatschutz-Division auf. rp-online.de 11.01.2025.
[8] Bundeswehr stellt Division für Heimatschutz auf. tagesschau.de 11.01.2025.
[9] See: Ein halbes Jahr Aufmarschmanöver.
[10], [11] Susanne Preuß: Bundeswehr bereitet Unternehmen auf den Kriegsfall vor. faz.net 21.11.2024.
