Federal Ministry of Defense - Bundesministerium der Verteidigung
The core feature of the Federal Ministry of Defence (FMoD) is the duality of the political and military structure. The Federal Minister of Defence is the head of the FMoD which comprises about 3300 employees, and besides being a part of the Cabinettt, he serves as the official Commander in Chief in peacetime. He also presides over the German Armed Forces defence and justice administration and all directives and orders to the Armed Forces are issued in his name.
The Federal Minister of Defence, the Parliamentary State Secretaries and the Permanent State Secretaries form the Ministry’s Executive Group, as the civilian executive of the ministry. This group is supporterd by six staffs (Executive Staff, Policy Planning and Advisory Staff, Organization Staff, Press and Information Office, Information Technology, Executive Group Controlling Staff and the Special Investigation Branch)
The military counterpart of this civilian structure comprises five different branches, the Armed Forces Staff, Air Force Staff, Army Staff, Naval Staff and the Medical Service Staff. On top of the different chief of staffs presides the highest ranking military officer in Germany, the Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) who is also the direct adviser of the Federal Minister of Defence.
