Grenzschutzgruppe 9 der Bundespolizei, commonly abbreviated GSG 9 is a German
counter-terrorism and special operations unit.
Origins On September 5, 1972, the Palestinian
terrorist movement Black September infiltrated the Summer Olympic Games in
Munich, West Germany, to kidnap 11 Israeli athletes, killing two in the
Olympic Village in the initial assault on the athletes' rooms. The incident
culminated when German police, neither trained nor equipped for
counter-terrorism operations, and underestimating the number of terrorists
involved, attempted to rescue the athletes. Police did not have a
specialized tactical sniper team at that time. The army had snipers, but the
German Constitution did not allow the use of the German Armed Forces on German
soil. The police rescue failed and the operation led to the deaths of one
policeman, five of the eight kidnappers and all of the remaining nine hostages.
Apart from the human tragedy, Germany's law enforcement found itself severely
compromised, in part due to Germany's historic relationship to Jews and
Israel. History and name
As a consequence of the mismanagement of the Olympic tragedy, the West German
government created the GSG 9 under the leadership of then Oberstleutnant Ulrich
Wegener so that similar situations in the future could be responded to
adequately and professionally. Many German politicians opposed its
formation, fearing GSG 9 would rekindle memories of the Nazi Party's
Schutzstaffel. The decision was taken to form the unit from police forces on the
ground that German federal law expressly forbids the use of the military forces
against the civilian population. Composing the special force from police
personnel would avoid this difficulty. The unit was officially established on
April 17, 1973 as a part of Germany's federal police agency, the
Bundesgrenzschutz. The name GSG 9 stood for Grenzschutzgruppe 9 and was chosen
simply because the BGS had eight regular border guard groups at the time. After
the 2005 renaming, the abbreviation "GSG 9" was kept due to the fame of the unit
and is now the official way to refer to the unit. Its formation was based on the
expertise of the British SAS Counter Terrorist Units and Israeli Special
Operations. Operations
GSG 9 is deployed in cases of hostage-taking, kidnapping, terrorism
and extortion. The group may also be used to secure locations, neutralize
targets, track down fugitives and sometimes conduct sniper operations. The
unit is very active in developing and testing methods and tactics for these
missions. Finally, the group may provide advice to the different Länder,
ministries and international allies. The group assists the Bundespolizei and
other federal and local agencies on request. At the time of the 1977
Mogadishu mission, the Commander of the Israeli Border Police Tzvi War described
GSG 9 as "The best anti-terrorist group in the world."
From 1972 to 2003 they reportedly completed over 1,500 missions,
discharging their weapons on only five occasions. At the SWAT World Challenge
in 2005, GSG 9 won eight out of eight events, beating 17 other teams. GSG 9
defended its championship the following year, and placed fifth in 2007.
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. Further help was provided to the
Mumbai Police so that they could raise a SWAT team.
Missions Its first mission, "Operation
Feuerzauber", immediately established the GSG 9's reputation as an elite unit.
It was carried out in 1977 when Palestinian terrorists hijacked the
Landshut, a Lufthansa plane on the way from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt,
demanding that imprisoned members of the German Red Army Fraction terrorist group
be freed in exchange for the passengers and crew who would be held as hostages.
The aircraft was then 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
signalled they would be released. In the night between October 17 and October 18,
Somalian ranger units created a distraction, while members of the GSG 9
stormed the plane. The operation lasted seven minutes and
was successful with all of the hostages rescued. Three hijackers died, the
fourth was seriously injured. Only one GSG 9 member and one flight attendant
were injured. The international counter-terrorism community applauded
the GSG 9 for the excellent and professional handling of the situation,
as assaults on planes are considered to be one of the most difficult operations
that a hostage rescue force is likely to need to do. To support the GSG 9 action,
two accompanying British SAS advisers provided some newly developed flash bang
grenades, but ultimately the flash bangs were never used due to the fire risk
inside the aircraft cabin. = Publicly known missions=
October 17–18, 1977: Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked by four Palestinian
terrorists demanding the release of Red Army Faction members. GSG 9 officers
stormed the aircraft on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia with help from the
Somali Army and British SAS, and freed all 86 hostages, killing three
terrorists and capturing the remaining one.
1982: Arrest of RAF terrorists Mohnhaupt and Schulz.
June 27, 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 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 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 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 April 7, 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. 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. 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 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.
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. 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. 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.
Organization The unit forms part of the German
Bundespolizei, and thus has normal police powers, including, for example,
the power of arrest. The Federal Police of Germany is under the control of the
Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Bundespolizei also provides aerial
transportation for the GSG 9. In contrast, regular police forces are
subordinate to the various States or Länder, as are their
Spezialeinsatzkommando teams, while the military is responsible for the Kommando
Spezialkräfte and the Kampfschwimmer. The GSG 9 is based in Sankt
Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn and is currently under the command of Olaf
Lindner. Previous commanders were Ulrich Wegener, Uwe Dee, Jürgen Bischoff and
Friedrich Eichele. GSG 9 consists of three main sub-groups, plus a number of
support groups: Airborne operations
The third sub-group of the GSG 9 is used for airborne operations, including
parachuting and helicopter landings. 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. Maritime operations
The second sub-group of the GSG 9 is used for operations at sea, for example
the hijacking of ships or oil platforms. Operations staff
Handles the administration of GSG 9. Regular operations
The first sub-group of the GSG 9 is used for regular land-based counter-terrorism
actions. This 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.
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, and selects, recruits and trains new
members. Recruitment and training
Members of the Bundespolizei and other German police services with at least two
years of service can apply for the selection process of the GSG 9. The test
consists of: Final interview
Marksmanship test with duty pistol and submachine gun
Medical examination Physical tests which includes 5000
meters run, 100 meters sprint, jump, chin-ups, bench press and an obstacle
course Psychological examination
The subsequent 22-week training period includes thirteen weeks of basic
training and nine weeks of specialized training. The identity of GSG 9 members
is classified as top secret. Further training often involves co-operation
with other allied counter-terrorism units, e.g. Israel's Yamam. Only one in
five pass the training course. Equipment
AMP Technical Services DSR-1 Fabrique Nationale de Herstal SCAR
assault rifle family Glock 17
Glock knife GSG9 Tactical Boot
Heckler & Koch 416 Commando Heckler & Koch 417 Commando
Heckler & Koch G36 G8
Heckler & Koch MP5, in various versions/configurations.
Heckler & Koch MP7A1 Heckler & Koch MZP-1
Heckler & Koch PSG1 Remington 870
SIG Sauer SG 550 assault rifle family Steyr AUG A3
Heckler & Koch USP Sinn UX GSG 9 diving watch
Smith & Wesson model 19 Trivia
GSG9 is a member of the ATLAS Network. In 1975 the commune Bischofsgrün in
Bavaria assumed a sponsorship of the GSG 9.
Since 1983 the GSG 9 hosts the Combat Team Conference on a four year basis.
The CTC is a competition of international special forces units.
The GSG-9-Kameradschaft e. V. is an association of former GSG 9 operators.
A similar unit with the name Diensteinheit IX existed in East
Germany. Public Security Section 9 is a fictional
intelligence department from Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell anime and
manga series. In the series, the group was designed and named after GSG9.
See also ATLAS Network
Bereitschaftspolizei, German state police forces' riot police units.
Kampfschwimmer, special forces unit of the German Navy
Kommando Spezialkräfte, special forces unit of the Bundeswehr
List of law enforcement agencies in Germany
Spezialeinsatzkommando, German state police forces' SWAT units.
Zentrale Unterstützungsgruppe Zoll, Special Support Team for Customs.
= Comparable counter terrorism units= List of special response units
References New link to replace dead link Federal
Police Duties and Responsibilities lice_force_en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
External links Official GSG 9 page of the German
Federal Police Site of the GSG 9 companionship
GSG 9 SpecialOperations.com Demonstration video