Jäger Regiment 1 was an

air assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy l ...

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment of the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

. While it comes from the old German tradition of '' Jäger'', it was a relatively recently formed air assault formation, established in 2006. The regiment was part of Airmobile Operations Division, and became subordinate to 21st Armoured Brigade on 19 December 2012. Soldiers of this unit were deployed to the combat zone by helicopters which are supposed to provide fire support as well. Until creation of the Jäger Regiment 1, the Bundeswehr had no air assault capability. The regiment was disbanded and partly replaced by a new

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

in 2015.

History

The regiment was activated in late 2006 and grew to its planned strength until 2008. In March 2008, Jäger Regiment 1 assumed its first operational role and deployed 600 soldiers to

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

as part of an operational reserve for ongoing operations of

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States, * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defun ...

-troops in the region. In 2009, the entire regiment was deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

for twelve months. During that time, Jäger Regiment 1 formed the quick reaction force for ISAF's Regional Command North and saw intense action against insurgents in the northern

Kunduz Province Kunduz () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethnically ...

. A member of Jäger Regiment 1 was awarded Germany's highest military decoration for gallantry, the Honour Cross for Bravery on January 22, 2010. Sergeant First Class Steffen Knoska rescued a seriously wounded comrade from incoming fire during an ambush in Afghanistan's

on June 7, 2009. The casualty had been struck by a bullet and was lying defenceless on the ground when Knoska charged into hostile fire. Although having been hit by incoming bullets, Knoska refused to give in and eventually was able to drag the man into safety. In October 2011 the German Federal Ministry of Defence announced a reorganisation/reduction of the German Armed Forces. As a consequence, Jäger Regiment 1 was disbanded. The units based in Hammelburg were completely disbanded whereas at Schwarzenborn two companies were disbanded. On 1 July 2015, the remainder formed the newly created Jäger Battalion 1.Quoted from , PDF-file "Stationing of the Bundeswehr in Germany", 54, 73

Structure

Unlike many other regiments, Jäger Regiment 1 was not divided into

s but directly into companies. The regiment consisted of 10 companies: *1. / HQ company *2. /

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

company *3. / light infantry company *4. / light infantry company (equipped with APCs) *5. / heavy infantry company *6. / heavy infantry company *7. / engineer company ** combat engineer platoon ** combat engineer platoon ** field engineer platoon *8. / light air defence battery ** air defense platoon ** air defense platoon ** NBC-Defence platoon *9. / logistic company *10. / support company

Equipment

Despite its light infantry role, the regiment was also mechanized. For ground mobility, the regiment used the Wolf Light Vehicle which is the standard transport utility vehicle of the German Army. Two mechanized light infantry companies used the Armoured Weapons Carrier Wiesel in variants 1 and 2 equipped with a wide range of weapons such as a mounted

BGM-71 TOW The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, wire-guided missile, Wire-guided", pronounced ) is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more ...

guided anti-tank missile, a 20 mm autocannon, a

FIM-92 Stinger The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters and drones as th ...

system (called LeFlaSys) or a mounted 120 mm mortar. Furthermore, it was planned that the regiment would receive a certain number of GTK Boxer

Armoured Fighting Vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...

s and

Mungo ESK The Mungo ESK (Einsatzfahrzeug Spezialisierte Kräfte) is an air-transportable, armoured multirole transport vehicle operated by the Airmobile Operations Division and the Rapid Forces Division of the German Army. The Mungo is based on the Mul ...

Armoured Multirole Transport Vehicles. For its air assault role, the regiment could dispose of air lift capabilities in form of one light transport helicopter regiment (Light Transport Helicopter Regiment 10 based at Fassberg) within 1st Airmobile Brigade and three medium transport helicopter regiments (Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 15 based at

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt (district), Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems (river), Ems, about north of Münster ...

Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 () was a regiment in the German Army, part of the German Army Aviation Corps. It was based at Kurt Georg Kiesinger Barracks on Laupheim Air Base in the Germany, German state of Baden Württemberg, Southern G ...

based at

Laupheim Laupheim (; ) is a major district town in southern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Laupheim was first mentioned in 778 and gained city rights in 1869. One of the main trading routes, from Ulm to Ravensburg and then on towards Lake ...

and Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 based at Niederstetten) of its superordinate division. These regiments are currently equipped with the

UH-1D The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of Bell Helicopter's prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and Y ...

utility helicopter and the CH-53G(A)(S) medium transport helicopter, a part of which are about to be replaced by the new

NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a European medium-sized, twin-engine, multirole military helicopter. It was the first production helicopter to feature entirely fly-by-wire flight controls.Perry, Dominic"Rotor club: Our top 10 most influential helico ...

helicopter.

References

External links

Jäger Regiment 1
on the German Army website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jager Regiment 1 (Bundeswehr) Airborne units and formations of Germany Military units and formations established in 2006 Infantry regiments of Germany Units and formations of the German Army (1956–present) Military units and formations disestablished in 2015

History

Structure

Equipment

See also

References

External links