1st Panzer Division (Bundeswehr)

History

This division was formed on 1 July 1956, the day of the official inauguration of the Bundeswehr. It was the first fully operational unit of the new German Army. At first referred to as 1st Grenadier Division, it was reorganized in the 1980s and made fully armoured in 1981. During this period it was part of I Corps of the Bundeswehr Heer, in turn part of NATO's Northern Army Group, Allied Forces Central Europe.

1st Panzer Division has deployed to the Balkans, Afghanistan and to several peacekeeping operations. Troops of this division were also deployed to the support of civilian agencies during large natural disasters such as the Hamburg Floods of 1962, disastrous wild fires in Northern Germany in the 1970s and the 2002 Floods in Eastern Germany.

The division cultivates a partnership with the United States Army 28th Infantry Division.

In April 2019 the division headquarters took the role of exercise High Command (HICON) for Exercise "Allied Spirit X" at Hohenfels Training Area in Bavaria. The exercise lead is routinely rotated among coalition/NATO partners. The exercise primarily involved the 21st Panzer Brigade, the Lithuanian Iron Wolf Brigade, and their subordinate units; 5,630 participants from 15 nations took part. The division already had Dutch, British and Polish officers within its ranks. The US Army's 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, took part in the exercise. Six engineering advisor teams from 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade provided hands-on experience and testing of secure communications between NATO allies and partners.

Organization

Main article: Structure of the German Army

• [[File:1. Panzerdivision (Bundeswehr).svg|30px]] 1st Panzer Division (1. Panzerdivision), in Oldenburg
  • [[File:StKp 1. PzDiv.svg|23px]] Staff and Signal Company 1st Panzer Division (Stabs- und Fernmeldekompanie 1. Panzerdivision), in Oldenburg
  • [[File:Panzerlehrbrigade 9 (Bundeswehr).svg|25px]] 9th Panzerlehr Brigade (Panzerlehrbrigade 9), in Munster
  • [[File:Panzerbrigade 21 (Bundeswehr).svg|25px]] 21st Panzer Brigade (Panzerbrigade 21), in Augustdorf
  • [[File:Panzergrenadierbrigade 41 (Bundeswehr).svg|25px]] 41st Panzergrenadier Brigade (Panzergrenadierbrigade 41), in Neubrandenburg
  • [[File:Embleem 43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade.svg|20px]] 43rd Mechanized Brigade (43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade), in Havelte
  • [[File:ArtLehrBtl 325.png|23px]] Artillery Lehr Battalion 325 (Artillerielehrbataillon 325), in Munster
  • [[File:Fernmeldebataillon 610.svg|25px]] Signal Battalion 610 (Fernmeldebataillon 610), in Prenzlau (Operationally assigned to NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast)
  • [[File:PiBtl 901..png|25px]] Heavy Engineer Battalion 901 (Schweres Pionierbataillon 901), in Havelberg (Reserve unit)
  • [[File:UstgBtl Eins 1.jpg|25px]] Security Support Battalion 1 (Sicherungsbataillon 1), in Oldenburg (Reserve unit)

Geographic Distribution

Panzergrenadier Bn. 908

References

References

1. (2024-10-09). "1. Panzerdivision".
2. (2023-03-30). "Starkes Rückgrat: Schwere Kräfte des Heeres".
3. (2024-01-04). "43. Mechanisierte Brigade".
4. [https://wwwtook.army.mil/article/219823/germanys_1st_armored_division_spearheads_allied_spirit_x Sgt. Christopher Stewart (April 8, 2019) Germany's 1st Armored Division Spearheads Allied Spirit X]{{dead link. (April 2025)
5. (2019-10-08). "Exercise brings American firepower to European partners".
6. (2019-04-26). "Intel team proves its value in multinational exercise".
7. (2019-05-01). "Combat advisor teams sharpen skills in multinational exercise". www.army.mil.
8. [A [[RIC-U]] might be used by a coalition partner to encrypt their individual networks, when interoperating with a US Army voice network.]
9. (2020-02-25). "3rd SFAB and Kurdish Peshmerga work side by side to defeat threats".