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 KSKmilitaryspecial forces of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), the GSG 9 can also be authorized to rescue citizens abroad in hostage situations.[3]
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
As a consequence of the overwhelmed Bavarian State Police's mismanagement of the 1972 Olympic tragedy, 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
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]
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.
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 militantshijacked 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.
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.
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.
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 (50mi) from the German freighter. The United States Navyhelicopter carrierUSSBoxer 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 HanoverHells 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]
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
The unit is part of the GermanBundespolizei (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]
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:
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.
In 1975, the health resort municipality of Bischofsgrün in the Fichtel Mountains, Bavaria, became the sponsoring community (Patenschaft) responsible for the duty of care of GSG 9.[44]
Since 1983, GSG 9 has hosted the Combat Team Conference (CTC) every four years. The CTC is a competition for international special forces units.[45]
The GSG 9 Kameradschaft e.V. in Sankt Augustin is an association for former GSG 9 operators.[46]
Ulrich Klaus Wegener was a German police officer of the Federal Border Protection. He was also the commander and founding member of the federal counter-terrorism force GSG 9.
The GIGN is the elite police tactical unit of the National Gendarmerie of France. Among its missions are counterterrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, critical site protection, and targeting organized crime.
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EKO Cobra is the tier one police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is directly under the control of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Lufthansa Flight 181, a Boeing 737-230C jet airliner named Landshut, was hijacked on 13 October 1977 by four militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine while en route from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. The hijacking aimed to secure the release of eleven notorious Red Army Faction leaders held in West German prisons and two Palestinians held in Turkey. This event was part of the so-called German Autumn, intended to increase pressure on the West German government. The hijackers diverted the flight to several locations before ending in Mogadishu, Somalia, where the crisis concluded in the early morning hours of 18 October 1977 under the cover of darkness. The West German counter-terrorism unit GSG 9, with ground support from the Somali Armed Forces, stormed the aircraft, rescuing all 87 passengers and four crew members. The captain of the flight was killed by the hijackers earlier in the ordeal.
The Special Operations Group is the police tactical unit of the Public Security Police (PSP), the national police force of Portugal. GOE was created in 1982 and has around 200 operatives. Although a police unit, the GOE is employed worldwide, similar to the French GIGN or to the German GSG 9.
GSG 9 is a German TV series about the special unit GSG 9 der Bundespolizei of the German Federal Police. It premiered in the spring of 2007.
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The Grupo de Ações Táticas Especiais, mostly known by its acronym GATE, is a hostage rescue, bomb disposal and Counter-terrorism unit of the Military Police of São Paulo State in Brazil. It is made up of the 4th, 5th and 6th Companies of the 4th Shock Police Battalion. It's operators are tier 1 of PMESP. GATE is the special operations unit most active in hostage rescue in the world.
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The hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615 occurred on 29 October 1972 and was aimed at the liberation of the three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre from a West German prison.
The Combat Team Conference (CTC) is a competition of military and law enforcement special operations units. Founded in 1983, it is hosted every four years by the GSG 9 of the German Federal Police in Sankt Augustin in Germany.
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Mogadischu is a 2008 German made-for-TV thriller film chronicling the events surrounding the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1977. Directed by Roland Suso Richter, it was first shown on public broadcasting channel Das Erste on 30 November 2008.
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↑ This norm, for a long time merely theoretical – possibly the only German law with monetary values in Deutsche Mark not amended to euros – has outlasted even the draft suspension of 2011 and is theoretically still applicable.
↑ GSG 9 Kameradschaft e.V. "Patengemeinde: Bischofsgrün im Fichtelgebirge"[Sponsoring Community: Bischofsgrün in the Fichtel Mountains] (in German). Sankt Augustin. Retrieved 26 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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