10th Panzer Division (Bundeswehr)

The 10th Armoured Division (German: 10. Panzerdivision) is an armoured division of the German Army, part of the Bundeswehr. Its staff is based at Sigmaringen. The division is a unit of the German Army's stabilization forces and specializes in conflicts of low intensity.

History


This division was founded as the ''10. Panzerdivision'' of the new German Army in 1959. Originally only consisting of armoured units, it is now also superordinate to Germany's last mountain warfare unit. For this reason the Edelweiss badge has become another commonly used insignia to denote allegiance to this formation. The 10th Armoured Division is a part of Germany's permanent contribution to Eurocorps, the other being the German contribution to the Franco-German Brigade which was subordinate to the division until 2006.

After 1993 troops of this division participated in numerous overseas deployments. Among them were the first out-of-area land deployment operations for the Bundeswehr (in fact of any German military unit after World War II). Troops were deployed to Somalia (UNOSOM II) from 1993 to 1994 and to Bosnia and Herzegovina (IFOR) from 1995 to 1996 and stayed in this country until 1998 (SFOR). Soldiers of the 10th Armoured Division's SFOR contingent were also involved in the Bundeswehr's first combat operation in 1997 (Operation Libelle). In 2000, the 10th Armoured Division deployed more than 8,000 personnel to the Balkans. Between 2002 and 2003, it deployed to various operations in the Balkans and in Afghanistan.

Its designation (10. Panzerdivision) and the name of its HQ garrison (Graf-Stauffenberg-Kaserne) is a historical reference to key members of the German Resistance and July 20 Plot who had served in the preceding 1939-1943 10. Panzer Division of Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II.

Organisation

 * 10th Armoured Division
 * Staff Company
 * Army Band 10
 * Armored Brigade 12 "Oberpfalz"
 * Staff Company
 * Armoured Battalion 104
 * Mechanized Infantry Battalion 112
 * Mechanized Infantry Battalion 122
 * Reconnaissance Battalion 8
 * Armoured Engineer Battalion 4
 * Signal Battalion 4
 * Logistics Battalion 4


 * Mountain Infantry Brigade 23 "Bayern"
 * Staff company
 * Mountain Infantry Battalion 231
 * Mountain Infantry Battalion 232
 * Mountain Infantry Battalion 233
 * Mountain Reconnaissance Battalion 230
 * Mountain Engineer Battalion 8
 * Mountain Signals Battalion 210
 * Mountain Logistics Battalion 8
 * Mule Company 230