Military Counterintelligence Service (Germany)

Last updated • 6 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Military Counterintelligence Service
Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD)
MAD Logo.svg
Logo of the MAD
Activesince 1956
CountryFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
BranchFederal Ministry of Defense
Type Military intelligence
Size~ 1250 (2021) to be increased to 1800
Part of Federal Ministry of Defence
Headquarters Cologne
Commanders
PresidentMartina Rosenberg

The Military Counterintelligence Service (German : Militärischer Abschirmdienst; MAD) is one of the three federal intelligence agencies in Germany, and is responsible for military counterintelligence within Bundeswehr. The MAD is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Defense.

Contents

The primary tasks of the MAD include securing German troops, camps and facilities against external threats. This is primarily about defensive military intelligence, i.e. the collection of strategic information nationally and at deployments abroad. The MAD is responsible for vetting new members of the armed forces and monitors them for extremism and possible espionage.

The headquarters of the MAD are in Cologne, with twelve offices located in cities throughout Germany. These MAD offices are collectively known to be the Militärischer Abschirmdienst. The agency has about 1,300 military and civilian employees and in 2019 the budget was €113,252,000.

Its formal name is Bundesamt für den Militärischen Abschirmdienst, changed from the former name Amt für die Sicherheit der Bundeswehr. [1]

Duties

As a domestic intelligence service, it has similar functions within the military as the civil Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz and works closely together with the BfV. The main duties of the MAD are counterintelligence and detection of anticonstitutional activities within the Bundeswehr. Other duties include the protection of Bundeswehr properties from sabotage and foreign espionage. [2] Members of the MAD are also involved in planning and construction of buildings with high security requirements.

MAD is not involved in stratec reconnaissance. For Reconnaissance and SIGINT of enemy forces, Bundeswehr runs Cyber and Information Domain Service (CIR) and the Strategic Reconnaissance Command, KSA. The KSA works closely with the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

MAD has no prosecution power; prosecution in cases of espionage and betrayal of secrets is executed by the Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice, GBA,

The lead agency for the German military intelligence operations as well as strategic defense-related intelligence is the Bundesverteidigungsministerium (Ministry of Defense) in Berlin.

The legal basis for the MAD is the MAD Law of December 20, 1990, [3] as amended by Article 8 of the law of April 22, 2005. [4]

Organization

The organization of MAD: President of MAD, Martina Rosenberger [5]

MAD has eight regional offices [2] in:

The formerly offices in Leipzig, Mainz, Rostock were defunct.

The training of MAD employees takes place in the military part of the BfV's Academy for the Protection of the Constitution. [2]

History

The MAD developed out of "liaison" offices between the Allies and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany within the Blank Agency  [ de ] and was founded in its present form in 1956, [6] after the establishment of the Bundeswehr on 12 November 1955. Until 1984 its headquarters was called Amt für Sicherheit der Bundeswehr (ASBw, Federal armed forces office of security).

The MAD has been involved in a number of scandals, including the secret surveillance from 1974 onwards of the home of Hildegard Holz, the secretary of then minister of defence Georg Leber (SPD), without Leber's knowledge. Holz was suspected, incorrectly, of espionage for the East German Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry of State Security or Stasi). Leber, though informed of the illegal surveillance at the beginning of 1978, did not inform the Bundestag until the magazineQuick published an article on 26 January 1978. Georg Leber resigned from his position on 16 February 1978, against the wishes of chancellor Helmut Schmidt, taking sole responsibility for the surveillance scandal.

1980 - 2017

Another scandal was the Kießling Affair in 1983, when the MAD investigated Günter Kießling, a Bundeswehr four-star general working in NATO as Commander of NATO land forces and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. The general was deemed a security risk based on Stasi-leaked allegations of homosexuality, and was given early retirement by the then defence minister Manfred Wörner (CDU). The general was rehabilitated in February 1984. The affair had significant consequences for the service: the commander was removed, and a commission was set up under the former minister of the interior Hermann Höcherl (CSU) which investigated the way in which the MAD operated, and made recommendations for improvement which were implemented speedily.

As of September 1984, on the basis of the Höcherl report, the service was restructured and more civilian positions were established.

After the former East German armed forces, the NVA (the National People's Army), was incorporated into the Bundeswehr in October 1990, the MAD had 7 groups and 28 regional offices. The number of regional offices shrank to 14 in 1994 when there was a reduction of the armed forces.

New structure and tasks up from 2017

In 2017, the service was tied more closely to the German Ministry of Defense. Until then, the MAD was subordinate to the inspector of the armed forces base. According to the daily order from Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), MAD should be equal to the Federal Intelligence Service and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Since August 1, 2017., MAD has been directly subordinate to the Ministry of Defense as the higher civil federal authority. The impetus for the realignment was the goal of upgrading and professionalizing the service as a federal intelligence service and achieving deeper integration into the federal government's common security architecture. In connection with this, the MAD was given new tasks - for example in connection with strengthening cyber defense. [7]

After several right-wing extremist incidents in the special forces unit KSK, the Federal Ministry of Defense examined the unit more closely, involving also the MAD. In 2020 it became known that an MAD officer had revealed information to up to eight KSK soldiers. He had shown photos of illegal weapons found among KSK members at least to one KSK officer he knew. He warned him that his service might also be interested in him. The MAD lieutenant colonel is suspended and should no longer have access to the secret service's property. [8]

In the annual report 2020 MAD mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic is being used by intelligence services of foreign countries to influence public opinion in FRG. Representatives of the People's Republic of China tried to "win multipliers for Chinese narratives" with targeted letters to the Ministry of Defense's divisions. [9]

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, MAD has to protect the German support of the Ukrainian defence capabilities by Bundeswehr against Russian sabotage. In 2023, with the help of the MAD, an officer from the Bundeswehr procurement authority BAAINBw was arrested on suspicion of being spying for Russia. The BfV observed that the man visited the Russian consulate several times and contacted the MAD. The spy is a sympathizer of the AfD and its Russia policy. [10] [11] [12]

In 2024 Russian state media leaked an intercepted Luftwaffe Communication about the possibility of German Taurus missles for Ukraine. MAD get the order to investigate where the communication get intercepted. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bundeswehr</i> Combined military forces of Germany

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kommando Spezialkräfte</span> German special forces command

The Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) is a special forces unit and a large brigade-level unit of the German Army for special operations and commando warfare, reconnaissance, counterterrorism, combat search and rescue as well as military advisor. The KSK is under the command and control of the Rapid Response Forces Division (DSK) when on routine duty and is stationed in the Graf Zeppelin barracks in Calw, Baden-Württemberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution</span> Federal domestic intelligence agency of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungsschutz (LfV) at the state level, the federal agency is tasked with intelligence-gathering on efforts against the liberal democratic basic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples; with counter-intelligence; and with protective security and counter-sabotage. The BfV reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and tasks and powers are regulated in the Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz. The President is Thomas Haldenwang; he was appointed in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)</span> Federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Ministry of Defence, abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe district in Bonn and has a second office in the Bendlerblock building in Berlin, which is occasionally used as a metonym to denote the entire Ministry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint Support Service (Germany)</span> Logistics branch of the Bundeswehr

The Joint Support and Enabling Service is a branch of the German Bundeswehr established in October 2000 as a result of major reforms of the Bundeswehr. It handles various logistic and organisational tasks of the Bundeswehr. The SKB is one of six components of the Bundeswehr, the other five being the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service. As of April 2020, the force is composed of 27,840 personnel. In May 2021 the minister of defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer together with inspector general Eberhard Zorn published a plan to dissolve the Joint Support and Enabling Service and to reintegrate its units into the army, navy, airforce and cyber command.

The counter-terrorism page primarily deals with special police or military organizations that carry out arrest or direct combat with terrorists.

The Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution is an annual report on the activities of far right, far left, and Islamic extremist circles and on espionage activities in Germany.

The German special forces include the Special Operations Forces 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nationales Cyber-Abwehrzentrum</span>

The National Cyber Defence Centre is a cooperation, communication and coordination platform of German Federal agencies and other institutions from different ministries dealing in particular with cyber-related matters of nationwide relevance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft</span> Military unit

The Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft or is one of several testing centres of the German Armed Forces. Its tasks are the testing and evaluating of military aircraft and aerial weapon systems. The centre is also responsible for certifications and inspections of modifications made on aircraft already in service with the German Armed Forces. The Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft is not integrated into the command structure of the military branches of the German Armed Forces but is a branch of Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support which is directly subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Defence. Founded in 1957, the centre is based at Manching Air Base. The unit has a strength of about 650 personnel, 50 of which are members of the armed forces, the rest are civilian.

The Nachrichtendienstliches Informationssystem (NADIS) is a searchable database operated by the German domestic security agency Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV). Data stored in the system is readily assessible by the BfV, the foreign intelligence agency Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), and the military intelligence agency Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support</span> Agency of the German armed forces

The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support is a German government agency for equipping the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) with modern weapon systems considering cost efficiency aspects. In doing so, it is responsible for developing, assessing and procuring weapon systems.It was founded in 2012 by merging the Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung (BWB) and Bundesamt für Informationsmanagement und Informationstechnik (IT-AmtBw) with the goal of producing synergies. The Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft is a branch of the agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyber and Information Domain Service</span> Electronic warfare branch of the German Armed Forces

The Cyber and Information Domain Service (CIDS) (German: Cyber- und Informationsraum, German pronunciation:[ˈsaɪ̯bɐʊntɪnfɔʁmaˈt͡si̯oːnsˌʁaʊ̯m] ; CIR) is the youngest branch of the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr. The decision to form an organizational unit was presented by Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on 26 April 2016, becoming operational on 1 April 2017. It is headquartered in Bonn.

The German Intelligence Community is the collective of intelligence agencies in Germany. Germany has three federal intelligence services and 16 state intelligence services. Because they do not form a single entity and because their responsibilities are split between multiple government ministries and even jurisdictions, this is an informal term for all government agencies and components with intelligence duties, used by commentators, scholars and journalists.

The Day X plot refers to plans allegedly formulated in 2017 by elements within the Kommando Spezialkräfte of Germany's Bundeswehr to assassinate several left-leaning politicians including Dietmar Bartsch. Others have dismissed the allegations as a conspiracy theory, saying a more routine criminal matter was exaggerated in order to embarrass the ruling Christian Democratic Union of Germany in advance of the 2017 German federal election.

Hannes Gnauck is a German Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician. He is the federal chairman of the far-right youth organization of the AfD, Young Alternative for Germany (JA) and has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021.

References

  1. Adams, Jefferson (2009-09-01). Historical Dictionary of German Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-0-8108-6320-0.
  2. 1 2 3 "MAD: Der Geheimdienst des Verteidigungsmisteriums - Anwalt.org". Anwalt.org - Finden Sie den richtigen Anwalt! (in German). 2018-04-15. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  3. Federal Official Gazette (BGBl) I pp 2954, 2977
  4. Federal Official Gazette (BGBl) I p 1106.
  5. "Militärischer Abschirmdienst". www.bundeswehr.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  6. Lange, Hans-Jürgen; Frevel, Bernhard (26 February 2009) [2008]. "Innerer Sicherheit im Bund, in den Landern, und in den Kommunen". In Lange, Hans-Jürgen; Ohly, H. Peter; Reichert, Jo (eds.). Auf der Suche nach neuer Sicherheit: Fakten, Theorien und Folgen. Sozialwissenschaften im Überblick (in German). Wiesbaden: Springer-Verlag. p. 122. ISBN   9783531912127 . Retrieved 29 June 2023. Der Militärische Abschirmdienst (MAD) untersteht dem Bundesministerium für Verteidigung (BMVg). Gegründet wurde er 1956 durch einen Erlass. Als Vorläuferorganisation fungierte von 1950 bis 1956 die „Sicherungsgruppe im Amt Blank".
  7. "MAD: Umbau im Bundesamt für den Militärischen Abschirmdienst". www.bmvg.de (in German). 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  8. Mascolo, Georg; Flade, Florian; Steinke, Ronen (2020-06-19). "Bundeswehr - MAD-Informationen flossen an mehr KSK-Sold". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  9. "MAD-Bericht zeigt mehr Verdachtsfälle wegen Rechtsextremismus". Der Spiegel (in German). 2021-10-26. ISSN   2195-1349 . Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. Deutschland, RedaktionsNetzwerk (2023-08-10). "Russland-Spion Thomas H. ist Bundeswehroffizier und sympathisiert offenbar mit der AfD". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  11. "German military officer under arrest over espionage charges". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  12. "Hauptmann des Beschaffungsamtes unter Spionageverdacht - bundeswehr-journal". 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  13. "Wurde die Kommunikation der Luftwaffe abgehört?". FLZ.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-03-01.