A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of airborne forces. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation. Paratroopers are often used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges.
The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operations to seize terrain. These operations can be conducted by mobile teams covering large distances, fighting behind enemy lines, and working in austere environments with limited or degraded infrastructure. It was active in, for example, foreign internal defense and counterterrorism operations in Iraq, in Afghanistan in 2015–2016, and in Syria, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2018–2021.
Jäger is a German military term referring to specific light infantry units.
The Bundeswehr is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr together with the Marine and the Luftwaffe. As of January 2022, the German Army had a strength of 62,766 soldiers.
The Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) is the special forces military unit and a large brigade-level unit of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) for special operations and commando warfare, reconnaissance, counterterrorism, combat search and rescue as well as military advisor. The KSK reports to the Rapid Forces Division (DSK) and is stationed in the Graf Zeppelin barracks in Calw, Baden-Württemberg.
Operation Varsity was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it is the largest airborne operation ever conducted on a single day and in one location.
The red beret is a military beret worn by many military police, paramilitary, commando, and police forces and should not be confused with the maroon beret worn by airborne troops all around the world.
The 1st Panzer Division(German: "1. Panzerdivision", short: "1. PzDiv") is an armoured division of the German Army. Its headquarter is based in Oldenburg. In the course of the last reorganisation of the Bundeswehr it became the backbone of Germany's newly formed intervention forces with a manpower of 35,000 soldiers. The division is equipped and trained for high intensity combat operations against militarily organized enemies as well as peacekeeping missions. The majority of all German troops assigned to EU-Battlegroups and Nato Response Forces will come from this division. It also represents Germany's permanent contribution to the binational I. German/Dutch Corps.
Jäger Regiment 1 was an air assault infantry regiment of the German Army. 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 in 2015.
The Rapid Forces Division, formerly Special Operations Division, is an airborne division of the German Army that was activated in 2001 and received its current designation in 2014.
The 9th Panzerlehr Brigade is a formation of about 5,000 men strong within the German Armed Forces or Bundeswehr, which is subordinated to the 1st Panzer Division in Hanover. The bulk of the brigade is stationed in Munster. Two battalions are based in Neustadt am Rübenberge. The brigade has become the "showcase of the German Army" as a result of its German Army Combat Vehicle and Aircraft Demonstration Exercises which it has conducted for decades. These exercises demonstrate the capability of the Army's fighting vehicles and aircraft and how they operate jointly in various scenarios. The formation is classified as an armoured brigade within the Bundeswehr's intervention forces.
The German special forces include the Special Operations Command of the German Army and the Naval Special Forces Command of the German Navy. Both are regular units and fully integrated into the branches of the German Armed Forces. During operations, special forces personnel are under the command of the special operations division of the Armed Forces Operations Command in Potsdam, a branch of the Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis).
The Army Forces Command in Falckenstein Barracks in Koblenz was one of the two leadership pillars of the German Army, together with the German Army Office, before it was merged into the Army Command.
The Paratrooper Battalion 261 was one of the three combat battalions of the German Army's Airborne Brigade 26, which was a part of the Special Operations Division. Paratrooper Battalion 261 was fully airmobile and could act both as air assault infantry or be dropped by parachute into the area of operations.
III Corps was a corps of the German Army active from 1957 to 1994.
The intervention forces are one of the three categories of force within the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), the others being stabilisation forces and support forces. The formations within the intervention forces which have a total of 35,000 soldiers are primarily intended for crisis intervention and provide the German contributions to the intervention forces such as the NATO Response Force and the forces for rescue and evacuation operations that are fundamentally a national responsibility.
The 31st (Oldenburg) Airborne Brigade was a 3,600 man strong formation in the German Army with its headquarters in Oldenburg in north Germany. It was subordinated to the Special Operations Division and classified as part of the Army’s stabilisation forces. All elements of the Brigade were stationed in the state of Lower Saxony, the majority in Seedorf.
The 4th Panzergrenadier Division was a West German mechanized infantry formation. It was part of the II Corps of the Bundeswehr, which also incorporated in 1979 the 1st Mountain Division and 1st Airborne Division, and the 10th Panzer Division. II Corps was part of NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG), along with the Bundeswehr's III Corps and the American V and VII Corps. In the wake of military restructuring brought about by the end of the Cold War, the 4th Panzergrenadier Division was disbanded in 1994 with some of its forces being used to form the Airmobile Forces Command /4th Division.
The following lists German active and reserve units within the structure of the German Army. Reserve units do not possess any heavy equipment and their personnel is intended as replacements for losses sustained by regular units.
Germany 
Bundeswehr 
26th Airborne Brigade (Luftlandebrigade 26)
Staff/Headquarters company
310 Airborne Recce Company (Luftlandeaufklärungskomppanie 310)
