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GSG 9

German Federal Police unit From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GSG 9 der Bundespolizei, formerly Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (German for 'Border Protection Group 9'), is the police tactical unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei). The unit is responsible for combatting terrorism and violent crime, including organized crime.[1] In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn, it also has a base in Berlin.[1] Since 1 August 2017, it has been subordinate to the Federal Police Directorate 11.[1] The state police (Landespolizei) maintain their own regional tactical units known as the Spezialeinsatzkommando (SEK).

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GSG 9 of the Federal Police
GSG 9 der Bundespolizei
GSG 9 badge
GSG 9 badge
Active26 September 1972
Country Germany
AgencyGerman Federal Police
TypePolice tactical unit
Role
Operations jurisdiction
  • National
  • International
Part ofBundespolizeidirektion 11
HeadquartersSankt Augustin
AbbreviationGSG 9
Structure
OperatorsApprox. 400
Commanders
Current
commander		Robert Hemmerling
Notable
commanders		Ulrich Wegener
Notables
Significant operation(s)
Website
Official website
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GSG 9 is made up of approximately 400 highly trained police officers, whose identities are classified.[1][2] The specialized unit operates not only within Germany on a federal level, but also safeguards German interests located worldwide, such as embassy property and personnel.[1] Alongside the KSK and KSM military special forces of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), the GSG 9 can also be authorized to rescue citizens abroad in hostage situations.[3]

Origins

On 5 September 1972, Palestinian terrorists affiliated with Black September infiltrated the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany. They kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes, murdering two during the initial assault on the athletes' rooms in the Olympic Village. The unprecedented incident culminated when the regular Bavarian State Police, who were neither trained nor equipped for counter-terrorism operations and had underestimated the number of militants involved, attempted to rescue the athletes. The Police did not have a specialized tactical sniper team at that time. The German army had snipers, but the German Constitution did not permit the use of the German Armed Forces on German soil during peacetime.

The police rescue attempt failed, resulting in the deaths of one police officer, five of the eight terrorists, and all nine of the remaining hostages.

History

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As a consequence of the overwhelmed Bavarian State Police's mismanagement of the 1972 Munich massacre, the West German government established the GSG 9 police tactical unit in September 1972. This unit was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (Oberstleutnant) Ulrich Wegener of the Federal Border Protection (Bundesgrenzschutz), who proposed the creation of the tactical unit. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, under Federal Interior Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, to whom Wegener also served as adjutant, sanctioned and directed its formation. The goal was to ensure that future high-risk situations could be handled adequately and professionally.[4][5]

Many German politicians opposed the formation of GSG 9, fearing it would rekindle memories of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the National Socialists' misuse of the military as an instrument of domestic power. To address these concerns, the decision was made to form the unit from the Federal Border Protection (Bundesgrenzschutz), rather than the German Army. This approach differed from Israel's military special operations unit, Sayeret Matkal, which was the only known comparable unit with some experience specifically in counter-terrorism and hostage-rescue at the time. Since German federal law also expressly forbid the use of military forces against the civilian population or domestic threats, creating a police tactical unit composed of highly trained and skilled police personnel avoided this issue.

Two weeks after the Munich Olympic massacre, the GSG 9 unit was officially established on 26 September 1972. By April 1973, Wegener reported that the first two sub-units (Teileinheiten) were operationally ready. At the time, the GSG 9 was part of the Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS; Federal Border Protection), which was renamed Bundespolizei (Federal Police) in 2005.[6] The then-BGS had a paramilitary nature, using military ranks until 1976. BGS officers had combatant status, being de facto classified as combatants before 1965, with this status expressly regulated by law from 1965 to 1994. Additionally, conscripts could fulfill their military service obligation by serving in the BGS.[7]

The designation GSG 9 is derived from the structure of the Federal Border Protection (BGS, Bundesgrenzschutz), which, at the time of the unit's founding, consisted of four border protection commands with a total of eight border protection groups (GSG 1 to 7 and Sea). Since the GSG 9 was not integrated into any of the existing structures, it was designated Border Protection Group 9 (Grenzschutzgruppe 9, GSG 9).

Since its inception, many other countries have developed counter-terrorism units trained by and modeled on the GSG 9.[8][9] For example, Spain's Unidad Especial de Intervención (UEI) (Civil Guard)[9] and India's National Security Guard (NSG), which was trained and upgraded with the help of GSG 9 after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.[8][10] Additionally, many other countries have adopted various tactics, training methods, and operational strategies from GSG 9 to enhance their counter-terrorism capabilities.

Name change

After renaming the Bundesgrenzschutz to Bundespolizei in 2005, the abbreviation "GSG 9" was retained due to the unit's fame, reflecting the name change rather than any functional obsolescence. The contemporary official designation for the unit is GSG 9 der Bundespolizei (abbreviated GSG 9 BPOL or simply GSG 9).[11]

Operations

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GSG 9 is deployed for counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, and high-risk law enforcement operations, including responses to kidnapping, extortion, and serious organized crime. An increasing number of arrests by GSG 9 are conducted in the area of cybercrime, which often requires quick action to preserve evidence. The number of deployments in cases of threats to public safety has also increased. The unit is very active in developing and testing methods and tactics for these missions. In total, the GSG 9 completes around 50-60 missions every year.[3]

In contrast to the Spezialeinsatzkommandos (SEK) units in each of the regional states of Germany, which are trained and equipped for similar missions, GSG 9, which operates on a federal level, can only conduct operations within a state's jurisdiction with the state's consent. Operations on a federal level outside the Federal Republic of Germany require the foreign nation's consent, such as in a rescue operation of German citizens in a foreign country. Despite the paramilitary nature of the unit, GSG 9 officers are strictly limited to policing and tactical intervention operations and cannot engage in military conflict, as they are considered non-combatants under international law.

Until 2009, GSG 9 was regularly deployed in foreign countries as part of a security detail for German embassies in hazardous regions. Due to the workload from these deployments, the PSA BPOL was created.[12]

From 1972 to 2003, GSG 9 reportedly completed over 1,500 missions,[13] discharging their weapons on only five occasions. At the SWAT World Challenge in 2005, GSG 9 won all eight events, beating 17 other teams. They defended their championship the following year[14] and placed fifth in 2007.

Assistance and training of other units

Following the successful rescue operation of Lufthansa Flight 181, GSG 9 received numerous requests from various countries to help train their special operations units. One example is when GSG 9 was consulted, among other units, during the creation of the US Army's Delta Force.[15]

Germany offered to assist India in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. GSG 9 helped train and upgrade the National Security Guard, the primary Indian counter-terrorism unit.[16] Further assistance was provided to the Mumbai Police to help them establish a police tactical unit.[17]

The suspected involvement of retired GSG 9 operators in training Libyan security forces in 2008 led to harsh criticism in German media coverage.[18] Additionally, GSG 9's assistance in training Belarusian security forces from 2008 to 2011 has also been heavily criticized.[19][20]

In 2015, GSG 9 commenced training the specialized "BFE+" operators of the Arrest units of the German Federal Police.

Missions

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After the successful hostage rescue operation on Lufthansa Flight 181 at Mogadishu International Airport in 1977, a special aircraft carrying State Minister Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski and the GSG 9 commandos return to Cologne Bonn Airport.
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A GSG 9 exercise in 2005
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GSG 9 operators rappel on a building of the German Bundeskriminalamt.

Its first mission, "Operation Feuerzauber" (Operation "Magic Fire"),[21] immediately established GSG 9's reputation as an elite unit. This mission took place in 1977 when Palestinian militants hijacked the Landshut, a Lufthansa plane traveling from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt. They demanded the release of imprisoned members of the German Red Army Faction in exchange for the passengers and crew. The aircraft was flown to several destinations throughout the Middle East. During this time, the Lufthansa captain Jürgen Schumann was murdered by the leader of the hijackers in Aden.

However, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt negotiated an agreement with Somali President Siad Barre, allowing the West German tactical unit GSG 9 to take control of the crisis and storm the plane. Special envoy Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski and GSG 9 commander Ulrich Wegener traveled to Mogadishu with approximately 60 GSG 9 commandos, organized into two units.[22]

Following a four-day odyssey, the hijackers directed the Boeing 737 to Mogadishu, Somalia, where they waited for the arrival of the Red Army Faction members after the German government had (falsely) signaled they would be released. On the night between October 17 and 18, Somali ranger units created a distraction while members of GSG 9 stormed the plane.[23]

The operation lasted seven minutes and was successful, with all hostages rescued. Three hijackers were killed, and the fourth was critically wounded. Only one GSG 9 member and one flight attendant were slightly injured. The international counter-terrorism community applauded GSG 9 for their excellent and professional handling of the situation, as assaults on planes are considered to be one of the most difficult operations a hostage rescue force can attempt. To support the GSG 9 action, two accompanying British SAS advisers provided some newly developed flash bang grenades, but these were ultimately not used due to the fire risk inside the aircraft cabin.

Publicly known missions

  • 13–18 October 1977: Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked by four Palestinian militants demanding the release of imprisoned Red Army Faction (RAF) members. After an odyssey through the Middle East, GSG 9 officers stormed the aircraft on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 87 hostages and four of the five crew members. They killed three hijackers and captured the remaining one, who was critically wounded.
  • 1982: Arrest of RAF militants Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Adelheid Schulz.
  • 27 June 1993: Arrest of RAF militants Birgit Hogefeld and Wolfgang Grams in Bad Kleinen. The theory that Wolfgang Grams was executed in revenge for the death of GSG 9 operative Michael Newrzella during the mission (Grams had shot and killed Newrzella when Newrzella tried to tackle him) was discredited by the official investigation which found that Grams committed suicide.
  • 1993: Ending of the hijacking of a KLM flight from Tunis to Amsterdam, redirected to Düsseldorf, without firing a single shot.
  • 1994: Ended a hostage situation in the Kassel Penitentiary.
  • 1994: Involved in the search for the kidnappers Albert and Polak.
  • 1998: Arrest of a man trying to extort money from the German railway company Deutsche Bahn.
  • 1999: Arrest of Metin Kaplan in Cologne.
  • 1999: Arrest of two suspected members of the Revolutionäre Zellen (Revolutionary Cells) in Berlin.
  • 1999: Involved in ending the hostage situation in the central bank in Aachen.
  • 2000: Advised the Philippines in relation to a hostage situation.
  • 2001: Arrested two spies in Heidelberg.
  • 2001: Assisted in the liberation of four German tourists in Egypt.
  • 2002: Arrested a number of suspects related to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
  • 2003: Protection of the four members of the German Technisches Hilfswerk (THW – the civil protection organization of Germany) in Baghdad, Iraq. The THW's mission was to repair the water distribution system.
  • 2004: GSG 9 is responsible for protecting German embassy property and personnel, including the embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. On 7 April 2004, two members were attacked and killed near Fallujah while in a convoy traveling from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad. The men, aged 25 and 38, were traveling in a car at the rear of the convoy and therefore received most of the enemy fire after passing the ambush. The men were shot after their armored Mitsubishi Pajero/Shogun was hit and stopped by RPGs. In a later statement, the attackers apologized for mistaking the German convoy for an American convoy. One of the bodies is still missing.
  • 2007: Three suspected terrorists were seized on Tuesday, 4 September 2007 for planning huge bomb attacks on targets in Germany. The bombs they were planning to make would have had more explosive power than those used in the Madrid and London terror attacks.[24] They wanted to build a bomb in southern Germany capable of killing as many as possible. Fritz Gelowicz, 29, Adem Yilmaz, 29, and Daniel Schneider, 22, were charged with membership in a terrorist organization, making preparations for a crime involving explosives, and, in Schneider's case, attempted murder.[25]
  • 2009: The GSG 9 were on the verge of boarding a German freighter, the MV Hansa Stavanger, which had been hijacked by Somali pirates. The case of the Hansa Stavanger, at this time off the Somali coast seemed sufficiently symbolic to justify another potentially successful rescue operation, though on a much larger scale. More than 200 GSG 9, equipped with helicopters, speedboats, and advanced weapons, had been secretly brought, via Kenya, to a location 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the German freighter. The United States Navy helicopter carrier USS Boxer was lent to the Germans to act as their flagship, and a screen of German Navy warships flanked the Boxer. The ships had been patrolling near the Hansa Stavanger for days, waiting at a distance to evade detection on the pirates' radar screens. But the operation was called off before the rescue effort could begin. US National Security Advisor James L. Jones had called the Chancellery to cancel the operation. The US government, worried that the operation could turn into a suicide mission, was sending the USS Boxer back to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, where the German forces were to disembark. Officials at the German Federal Police headquarters in Potsdam, outside Berlin, concerned about the potential for a bloodbath, had also spoken out against the operation.[26]
  • 2012: GSG 9 was involved in a raid on the Hanover Hells Angels chapter leader Frank Hanebuth's house, as part of a crackdown on the group. During the raid, they knocked down the wooden gate and rappelled from a helicopter onto his residence. They are also reported to have shot a dog on the premises belonging to Hanebuth.[27]
  • 2016: GSG 9 was deployed to assist with the 2016 Munich shooting.[28][29]
  • 2021: GSG 9 was participating in the search for Jürgen Conings, Belgium.[30]
  • 2022: GSG 9 units were involved in raids to arrest members of the Reichsbürger movement suspected of plotting to overthrow the German government.[31]

The majority of GSG 9's missions are classified, with limited public information available. Since its inception, GSG 9 has participated in over 1,500 missions, yet reportedly fired shots on only five occasions (official count before the 2003 Iraq War). These occasions include Mogadishu in 1977, Bad Kleinen in 1993, Aachen in 1999, and two more missions where firearms were discharged to neutralize dogs of the persons being arrested.

Organization

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The unit is part of the German Bundespolizei (Federal Police, formerly Bundesgrenzschutz) and thus has normal police powers, including the power of arrest. The Federal Police of Germany, and therefore GSG 9, is under the control of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Bundespolizei also provides aerial transportation for GSG 9.

On August 1, 2017, GSG 9 was transferred to the Federal Police Directorate 11, which was established as the supreme command for all special operations units of the German Federal Police.[32]

Personnel and stations

After undergoing a reorganization process, GSG 9's operational section is divided into four sub-groups called Einsatzeinheiten (Operational Units).[33] All groups are capable of conducting regular operations, which may involve responding to terrorism, hostage-taking, serious crimes, defusing bombs, kidnapping, or extortion. The groups may also be used to secure locations, neutralize targets, perform sniping, and track fugitives.

Three of the four units are further specialized in the following fields:[34]

1st Operational Unit
Sniping.
2nd Operational Unit
Diving and maritime operations, for example, the hijacking of ships or oil platforms.
3rd Operational Unit
Airborne operations, including parachuting and helicopter landings.
4th Operational Unit
A Berlin-based unit tasked mainly with police operations in Berlin with an emphasis on urban combat to respond to attacks such as the November 2015 Paris attacks. In 2017, the GSG 9 announced that a CT unit would be specialized in handling CBRN situations.[35] In 2018, it was announced that more staff were being recruited to better handle CT situations in the city.[36]

The operational units are supported by various support units which include:

OEM "Operative Einsatz Medizin"
The "Operative Einsatz Medizin" is a group of specialized combat Medics who deploy to the field for rescue and care for operators, hostages, or civilians. A comparable German unit exists only in the German Air Force, Kampfretter. The motto of the OEM is: "Servare Vitas". OEM also has combat doctors who can make for example surgeries in the field.[37]
Central services
This service group maintains the GSG 9 armory and is involved in testing, repairing, and purchasing weapons, ammunition, and explosives.
Documentation unit
This unit handles communications, including the testing, repairing, and purchasing of communications and surveillance equipment.
Operations staff
Handles the administration of GSG 9.
Technical unit
This unit supports other units in gaining entry to target areas and is responsible for the procurement, testing, and issuance of non-weapon equipment. The members of the technical unit are also explosive ordnance disposal experts and they are cross-trained in direct action operations. They are trained in the rendering safe and disposal of improvised explosive devices
Training unit
This unit trains existing members, selects recruits, and trains new members.

The GSG 9 is based in Sankt Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn. Since 2018, a second base has been established for one of the four GSG 9 operational units in Berlin to reduce response times for missions in or near Berlin.[33][38]

Commanders

The respective commanders of GSG 9 are the only members who appear publicly with their identities. All commanders have previously served as active operators:

Recruitment and training

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Members of the Bundespolizei and other German police services under the age of 34 with at least two years of service can apply for the GSG 9 selection process. However, members can serve in GSG 9 only until the age of 45.

Selection

Candidates for GSG 9 undergo a five-day assessment to be accepted into the training cycle. The tests include medical examinations, psychological assessments, marksmanship training with a pistol and submachine gun, oral interviews, and a physical test which includes:[40]

Approximately 10-15% of all candidates pass the selection phase and are accepted into the basic training section.

Basic training and specialisation

The subsequent 4.5-month training period includes both basic and specialized training.[41] During the basic training section, candidates undergo vigorous preparation for their tasks as operators in GSG 9. The training includes marksmanship, tactical courses, close-quarter combat, land navigation, climbing, rappelling, and medical training. The basic training concludes with a final week of rigorous testing, where candidates must demonstrate their skills under enormous stress.

On successful completion of all training stages, the candidate is awarded the GSG 9 badge and assigned to one of the operational units as a "Special Operations Officer".[41]

Upon successful completion of basic training, candidates undergo various additional qualifications tailored to their specializations for special operational situations. These may include parachuting, maritime operations, advanced marksmanship, advanced medical skills, surveillance (police investigation), operational diving, diving and skydiving in military freefall (training and further education take place at the Airborne and Air Transport School), or EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) techniques.

Individual GSG 9 officers have also participated in training courses conducted by the German Army's Special Operations Forces Command (KSK). These courses, held between 2007 and 2012, included specialized training in parachuting and demolition.

Further training often involves cooperation with other allied counter-terrorism units, such as Israel's Yamam, France’s Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale (GIGN) or National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hostage Rescue Team from the United States.[42][43]

Associations

Annual Warrior Competition

GSG 9 won the 2012 Annual Warrior Competition, defeating the defending 2011 champion, EKO Cobra.[47]

See also

References

External links

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