GSG 9

After renaming the Bundesgrenzschutz to Bundespolizei in 2005, the abbreviation "GSG 9" was kept because of the fame of the unit even though Border Protection Units became obsolete. The official way to refer to the unit is GSG9 der Bundespolizei (abbreviated GSG9 BPOL or GSG9).[4]

Following the successful rescue operation of Lufthansa Flight 181, GSG 9 received numerous requests from different nations for training their respective special operations units. For instance GSG 9 was consulted among other units in the creation of the US Army's Delta Force.[8]

Germany offered to render assistance to India in the wake of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. GSG 9 helped train and upgrade the National Security Guards, the primary Indian counter-terrorism unit.[9] Further help was provided to the Mumbai Police so that they could raise a police tactical unit.[10]

The suspected involvement of retired GSG 9 operators in training Libyan security forces in 2008 led to harsh criticism in German media coverage.[11] The assistance in training Belarusian security forces from 2008 to 2011 by GSG9 has also been heavily criticized.[12][13]

In 2015, GSG9 commenced training the specialised BFE+ operators of the Arrest units of the German Federal Police.

• 17–18 October 1977: Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked by four Palestinian terrorists demanding the release of Red Army Faction (RAF) members. GSG 9 officers stormed the aircraft on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, and freed all 86 hostages, killing three terrorists and capturing the remaining one.
• 1982: Arrest of RAF terrorists Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Adelheid Schulz.
• 27 June 1993: Arrest of RAF terrorists 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 Rote Zellen (Red 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 terrorists 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 network.
• 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 travelling from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad. The men, aged 25 and 38, were travelling 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 armoured 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.[16] 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.[17]
• 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.[18]
• 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.[19]
• 2016: GSG 9 was deployed to assist with the 2016 Munich shooting.[20][21]
• 2021: GSG 9 was participating in the search for Jürgen Conings, Belgium.[22]
• 2022: GSG 9 units were involved in raids to arrest members of the Reichsbürger movement suspected of plotting to overthrow the German government.[23]

Note: The majority of this unit's missions are confidential and public information is not available. Since its inception, GSG 9 has participated in over 1,500 missions, yet reportedly fired shots only on five occasions (official count, prior to the 2003 Iraq War). These occasions were Mogadishu in 1977, Bad Kleinen in 1993, Aachen in 1999 and two more missions where firearms were used to shoot dogs of the persons being arrested.

After undergoing a process of reorganizing, the GSG 9's operational section is divided into four sub-groups called Einsatzeinheiten.[25] All groups are capable to conducting regular operations which may involve cases of hostage taking, defusing bombs, kidnapping, terrorism or extortion. The group may also be used to secure locations, neutralize targets, sniping, and tracking fugitives.

Three of the four units are further specialized in the following fields:[26]

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 in order to respond to attacks such as the November 2015 Paris attacks. In 2017, the GSG9 announced that a CT unit will be specialized in handling CBRN situations.[27] In 2018, it was announced that more staff were being recruited to better handle CT situations in the city.[28]

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 ex. surgeries in the field.[29]

Central services

This service group maintains the GSG 9 armoury 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 station was established for one of the four GSG9 operational units in Berlin in order to reduce response times for missions in or near Berlin.[25][30]

The respective commanders of the GSG9 are the only members appearing publicly with their identity. All commanders have previously served as active operators.

• 1972–1980 Ulrich Wegener
• 1980–1982 Klaus Blätte
• 1982–1991 Uwe Dee
• 1991–1997 Jürgen Bischoff
• 1997–2005 Friedrich Eichele
• 2005–2014 Olaf Lindner
• since 2014 Jérôme Fuchs

Candidates for the GSG 9 undergo five days of assessment in order to be accepted into the training cycle. The tests include medical examinations, psychological assessments, marksmanship training with pistol and submachine gun, oral interviews and a physical test which includes:[31]

• Cooper test
• 100 metres sprint
• Standing long jump
• A minimum of ten pull-ups
• Bench press: Minimum of ten repetitions of 75% of the candidate's body weight
• Obstacle course
• Agility test
• Resistance test against vertigo[31]

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

The subsequent 4.5-month training period includes the basic and specialized training.[32] During the basic training section candidates undergo vigorous training which prepares them for their tasks as operators in the GSG9. The training includes marksmanship training, tactical courses, close quarter combat, land navigation, climbing, rappelling and medical training. The basic training concludes with the final week of rigorous testing where candidates are forced to demonstrate their skills under enormous stress.

Upon successful completion of the basic training, candidates undergo various training sections for their respective specialisation. These may include parachuting, maritime operations, advanced marksmanship, advanced medical skills or EOD techniques.

Successful completion of all training cycles allows GSG9 operators to wear the GSG9 badge on their uniforms and given the title police officer for special purposes in accordance with their rank.[32]

Further training often involves co-operation with other allied counter-terrorism units like 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.[33][34]