Is it enough to drive out the unfortunate corps spirit of the Special Forces Command? In any case, the “owner of the command and command authority”, the Minister of Defense, grabbed it. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer certainly does not want to be said that she is too soft; that would also be devastating: for their reputation, their authority and the morale of the whole force, beyond the KSK. That’s why nobody can afford to go unpunished: extremism. Right-wing extremism!
It is at least that one of the four KSK operations companies in which German commandos serve is dissolved. especially since it has been the company in which extremism has shown itself for years. Where pig heads fly and Hitler greetings can be seen, where appropriate songs are heard, AKK should have cracked down even before the term in office.
Well, the MAD, the military screening service, has since investigated, the facts are clear, the actions too. The response had to be the same. Let’s call it “flexible deterrence”. What comes along as a reform plan is firstly a last chance for the command, but secondly also a suspended sentence.
The Minister, the Inspector General, the Army Inspector and State Secretary Gerd Hoofe have dealt with everything, starting with the hiring and ending – if the KSK under its commanding officer, who remains in office, does not perform excellently – with a completely new structure.
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In any case, it will be tightened with a critical eye from outside, outside the social force. Transparency for those who have the say in the Bundeswehr means that the KSK should be enough for itself should no longer happen. Let’s hope.
The Bundeswehr needs a special unit
In principle, the German army also needs such a unit. For the British it is called Special Air Service, SAS, for Americans it is called US Special Operations Forces; these are the role models. And the GSG 9 of the federal police.
Special operations, command actions, reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, rescue, evacuation – the 1,400 soldiers who hunted war criminals in crumbling Yugoslavia have proven themselves in operations in Afghanistan. They are valued as fighters by their NATO partners.
Committed to democratic values
Now, despite all the peculiarities of their duties, the commandos are members of an army of democracy. They are committed to their values, and at the same time they are international ambassadors for a parliamentary army and stand for their performance. That is the ethos of a citizen in uniform.
The KSK has to fight against it all the more: against comradeship, conceit, against extremism. The command must be characterized by the correct, prudent handling of extreme situations. And if not – the situation assessment, to put it militarily, that the special force will not be completely dissolved, is therefore also a snapshot. It is still possible.
