An Irishman's Diary: Operationsplan Deutschland
German military's new plans to ready society for military conflict
For those readers who remain somewhat sceptical of the chosen subtitle for these Irishman’s writings, namely, “In times of war and pestilence”, today’s post is a report on a remarkably frank interview with Lieutenant General André Bodemann who is Commander of the Territorial Central Command of the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) and as such was responsible for drawing up Operationsplan Deutschland "Operation Plan Germany”. He is a man who thinks and speaks about Europe and preparations for war quite openly.
Original 15 minute interview (auf Deutsch) from earlier this week recorded by n-tv, a German 24-hour news channel, can be found here. Translation is primarily of You Tube’s transcript with use of DeepL.com before cleaning up for ease of reading. Any emphasis is mine, square brackets indicate my in-line commentary, some reflections follow at end.
Interviewer: Lieutenant General Bodemann you have been tasked with drawing up an operational plan for Germany. What exactly is that, what exactly lies behind it?
General Bodemann: Hello Mrs. Bilic, I am pleased to be with you here today. The operational plan for Germany is a very concrete paper, in contrast to the framework directive on overall defence, which is also very important, but at the conceptual level. The operational plan states very clearly what is to be done, who is to do it, and how to do it when it is necessary. Based on the current security situation, what needs to be done in Germany to protect Germany: in peacetime, crisis, and.. in wartime.
Interviewer: Who exactly does this concern, can you give a concrete example? So who is affected by this operational plan?
General Bodemann: Germany. It affects all of us, the Operational Plan Germany. The defence of Germany is a task that is overarching as a whole state and society as a whole. So, to give you a very concrete example: American troops land in Vlissingen [a harbour city] in the Netherlands, march through the Netherlands by various routes: via rail, via road, via motorway, or air transportation, via airfields. And then they also have to pass through Germany, and they have to be supplied. Each of us takes a break on the motorway, at a rest stop - the American convoys have to do this too. In their case, we call the stops, Convoy Support Centers, and there during the rest stop they are supplied with fuel, with rations, with fresh water, and perhaps also with the necessary medical care. [that is a very concrete example]
Interviewer: But they are not supplied by the Bundeswehr, but by the civil defence, if I have understood this correctly. So it is not about soldiers at all, but about all kinds of people.
General Bodemann: Exactly. So that would of course be very nice if I had enough soldiers who could carry out exactly these activities to support our allied partners in Germany. But I am assuming that essential parts of the Bundeswehr, the active parts of the Bundeswehr are then either already on NATO's eastern flank or are on their way there. And that means we are are working with the principle of maximum civilian service provision. To stay with the example of the the American convoy [he does like this “example”], which would then not be supplied by a Bundeswehr fuel truck but by a fuel truck from a commercial fuel company in Germany. The medical care would not be provided by the Bundeswehr paramedics, but by the Order of Malta, St John’s Ambulance, or through the German Red Cross, and the catering will not be provided by the army kitchen of the Bundeswehr, but by a civilian caterer, to mention but a few examples.
Interviewer: Therefore your task in the drawing up this Operational Plan Germany was actually to talk to all these players and agree all that in one plan?
General Bodemann: Yes, we have now completed a first iteration of this plan and presented it for approval before Easter to the Inspector General, who also approved it, and the plan now comes into force on 1.1.2025. And there we worked with 150 people within the Bundeswehr but also outside the Bundeswehr with all departments with all the federal states, which play an essential role, but also at times with the emergency services, and we also spoke with economic stakeholders. We’ve spent 100 days this year in secret meetings where we developed this plan, and the result is a package of about 1000 pages. That in itself shows the complexity of this topic where we’ve drafted the first draft and set down how it should work.
Interviewer: The plan is actually secret, but are you allowed to reveal anything of these 1000 pages?
General Bodemann: Yes, [but he wants us all to know about it!] in principle the plan is secret, when we talk about specific figures, talk about specific places, about what we do, and how we do it, all that is secret. But in principle it is about serving the so-called German hub, i.e. the hub of Germany as the central point where the allied forces have to march through. We not only have to as the so-called host nation provide support to the allied forces with the aforementioned fresh water, fuel, and meals, but it’s also about the protection of critical and defence-critical infrastructure. [so-called German hub; so-called host nation; so-called sovereignty?]
Interviewer: That means a thousand-page plan that details civil defence. What do we actually need it for - we don’t currently find ourselves at war.
General Bodemann: We are not at war, we are not formally at war, not legally [note his careful choice of wording!] as Germany, which is a good thing. But in my opinion we have not been at peace for a long time, because we are attacked daily. We are in an intermediate phase, call it a grey zone, a hybrid phase, whatever. Hybrid fits quite well because we are especially threatened at the moment already by hybrid attacks. [sounds a bit like cold-war paranoia]
I always mention four different things that are already happening in Germany right now. One thing is, of course, disinformation, fake news, which we see see every day, - especially, of course, in social media [really, that’s his number one?]. The second is cyberattacks - cyberattacks on the federal government, on large companies, energy companies. And with both, it is very difficult to attribute who is actually attacking us. But the attacks are there, the effects are there, and the plan is mainly concerned with the effects. So how do we want to counter these effects, because in the end it doesn't matter whether a state like Russia or China attacks us, with terrorist organisations or organised crime, we have to defend and protect ourselves against these threats.
And then there are two more, spying and espionage, which we unfortunately experience every day, especially over the training locations of the Ukrainian soldiers. Soldiers have experienced sightings of drones in the past years which have increased very exponentially trying to find out what we are training on and how we train [casually relates how Ukrainian soldiers are actively being trained in Germany]. And they are also attempts to intercept mobile telephone data in order to see in Ukraine if this mobile phone had been on during training here, for example of the Panzerhaubitze 2000 [a type of tank], and if they then see the same mobile phone in Ukraine they think that same weapon system must be in deployment and so it can be countered. And you can also see it in other places, for example in the Baltic Sea where a Russian spy ship is moving around there, which should only take 10 days for a passage, but was actually over 300 days in the in the Baltic Sea. And if you locate where that ship stayed for longer periods, then it is precisely the critical infrastructures over the sea pipelines, pipes, cables etc. and that speaks to it [espionage].
The fourth area is sabotage [this is his number 4?], not daily, but we do have sabotage in Germany. Think about North Stream 2, [oh I have done, Herr Generalleutnant, read my article here] think of the drilling in the pipelines of the LNG terminals, think of the the railroad lines that have been have been attacked - of course those are not always acts of violence, sometimes theft of iron, or steel, or whatever - but partly also with a clear direction that it is a threat which comes from the other side [here I think he means Russia]. And explosives along NATO pipelines, or us properties, where you ask yourself the question, who is the one who buried that there.
Interviewer: When you list it all off like this, it's almost a wonder that we have not long had such an Operational Plan Germany. Or is there a plan from the past that perhaps can no longer be used or how is that?
General Bodemann: Yes, on the one hand we believed for over 25 years that Germany is surrounded by friends, that war in Europe would never happen again, and we have realised that, at the latest since February 24, 2022, that this is not the case - that is one thing. So, war has has returned and we need a plan. And of course we would have liked to pull out the the plan from the 70s and 80s from the East-West conflict again, which still exists to some extent, but the situation has completely changed. Germany was a frontline state, fortunately we are no longer a frontline state but a state in which many troop movements of allied forces take place. There is the cyber threat, the hybrid threat, there is digitalisation, to name just a few examples which make it clear such an old plan cannot be implemented one-to-one again. We are already looking into the past at one or two things we can still pull out of these old plans, but it is a completely different situation now.
Interviewer: Lieutenant General Bodemann, how do you currently see the threat situation emanating from Russia, how do you assess that?
General Bodemann: There is a very clear threat from Russia at various levels via disinformation, fake news, cyber attacks, which you can see relatively clearly and can be identified from these directions. We’ve Russian consulate vehicles that are moving at or on troop training sites, there we are in the field of view. And Russia is constituting its armed forces. We expect that in about 5 to 8 years Russia will have reconstituted its armed forces, during the war in Ukraine, so that they will be quite in a position to use classical military to attack NATO territory. And Russia has said a lot in the past, Putin has said a lot in the past, things which he then actually has implemented, and, after all, he has said that he wants to restore the old territory of the Soviet Union, and that includes the Baltic states. [Did Putin actually say this?]
Interviewer: So, are you assuming a concrete threat situation in a few years. So, do you consider that to be a realistic scenario?
General Bodemann: We are already seeing threat situations from Russia would certainly be in a position to do one or another thing. Russia is particularly strong in the area of hybrid threat, very strong in movements with classic military means. I see the threat in a few years, a very concrete threat coming at us in a few years.
Interviewer: Now you are expanding civilian defence, how important is that? And perhaps an additional question: can’t the Bundeswehr manage such operations on their own?
General Bodemann: Unfortunately, we cannot do this alone and overall defence is built up from two areas. One is the military contribution, how we try to protect this state, the citizens’ freedom and democracy, the sovereignty of our national territory. On the other side, there is civil defence where there is a whole lot to do in the area of how to protect the population, how do I prepare the population for a threat, how do they protect themselves. For example, that someone should have small reserve supplies, so that one can get by for several hours without electricity. What we would have joked about a few years ago has unfortunately become a reality, we have to prepare ourselves for such scenarios [so the conspiracy theorists were right?]. And the civilian side must support us. Just as under Article 35 in the context of official and disaster relief during forest fires and floods we have helped the civilian side, we have to be supported by the civilian side in the event of a military threat to Germany.
Interviewer: How is the readiness? Within the framework of this Operations Plan Germany you have sounded it out. Just how is the willingness of the civilian side to support the Bundeswehr?
General Bodemann: So, the readiness is very, very great, it was remarkable. I didn't expect at the start that that we would be received so well. The emergency services, or the Agency for Technical Relief, Red Cross, Order of Malta, St. John’s Ambulance, and many many others are coming to us and saying, “What is our contribution, what can we do?” And it’s not just them, it’s also savings banks associations, cooperative banks, it's all the federal agencies, such as the Federal Office for Mobility and Logistics, that approach us and we approach them and we see what contribution these specific sectors can make, it’s very positive. [What, why are banks running to the army asking how they can play their part in a potential wartime?]
Interviewer: What’s your position on military service? For example, Boris Pestorius [German Federal Minister of Defence] has developed a new voluntary military service model, what do you think about it? Would that help, would that be enough, or what do you think?
General Bodemann: [he strangely hums and haws talking about Pestorius’ model] The model that our minister has put forward is not intended to make up the the difference between 180,000 soldiers and the target of 203,000 soldiers, but above all it is supposed to create a sustainable [he doesn’t mean ecologically here], an enduring army. For this we need reservists. In this respect it is good that we that we now have an approach where we can recruit people who perhaps may not previously have had any dealings with the Bundeswehr, and I think I myself am a good example of this. Myself, I joined the Bundeswehr as a conscript and if I hadn't had to join the Bundeswehr as a conscript then maybe I would not be here today. I have experienced what [military] service is like, I had great superiors, I realised that it is a very meaningful job, and I think a meaningful task. And I believe that through this path, which we are now undertaking, we have the opportunity to appeal to people who previously have not thought about it before and we can win them over. And so we actually have a chance to achieve precisely this sustainability and homeland security through more reservists.
Interviewer: But civil defence and homeland security are still needed?
General Bodemann: That is necessary nevertheless, and it is good that many people in Germany are involved in the most diverse ways and means. And many are involved in several areas - that is precisely the challenge, that many reservists are at the same time also involved in the volunteer fire department, with technical relief agency, or other support organisations and we all draw on this same pool of people. And in this respect you have to be honest about how many volunteer fire department people are still there when the reservists are called up, and that's why strengthening is also necessary in this position. By the way, also financial strengthening so that civil defence is promoted and further expanded because we can only do this together as a state and society as a whole.
Interviewer: How does it actually work if we had to now move heavy artillery towards the eastern flank? [how casually she poses this question] Would that work at all if solely the Bundeswehr alone had to do it, or do we really need this civilian support?
General Bodemann: We need civilian support. In particular there is Deutsche Bahn - we are in very close contact with DB Cargo as well as with DB Sicherheit, because in the end, of course, we as the military have to prioritise which transport in each case has to be the first somewhere. That cannot be done by railways themselves, rather we have to give the specifications and that is why Deutsche Bahn, for example, is a very, very, important partner [maybe they will run more reliably and punctually then], but there are other transport companies, civilian transportation companies, because there are not enough military means of transportation to transport this mass of soldiers and especially heavy equipment through Germany to the NATO eastern flank [note it is a NATO flank]. At the same, we work with roll on roll off ships where not everything is transported through Germany via railroad or motorway, but from a port in Germany to a port in Lithuania, as we have, for example, practiced in an exercise.
Interviewer: We talk a lot about NATO about the NATO Alliance, but now we are also seeing Trump, who might become president again in the USA, we see Le Pen in France. Do we perhaps have to free ourselves a little bit free from this alliance and focus more on our own security in own security in Germany?
General Bodemann: So defence is only possible in an alliance together, no nation except the USA is in a position to ensure that. Here we all have to come together and work together, and in the end, no matter what different movements say what [he may also be referring to NATO skepticism within German party AFD]. It falls to Germany within Europe, as a strong nation, not only because of the geo-strategic position, but also because we have a corresponding status in Europe and everyone is looking at us - and the Americans are of course also looking beyond Europe to the Indo-Pacific region to China - and in this respect Germany must, in my view, for Germany itself, as well as for Europe, do more. And we are in the process of doing so, and this - Germany's operational plan - contributes to this. [There you have it, Germany must do more!]
Interviewer: Only together, says Lieutenant General Bodemann from the Territorial Command of the German Armed Forces. Thank you very much for coming
General Bodemann: Many thanks.
A lot to unpack, but I’ll mostly just let the interview speak for itself.
It is disconcerting. Though, it should be mentioned that military generals are always talking about how criticall important the military is for the security and prosperity of their nations, how many more soldiers they need, how much more funding they need, etc, etc. So, to a certain extent, Lieutenant General Bodeman is simply talking his book, BUT… and it’s a big but, because I found his talking points rather specific:
openly speaks of Germany society’s function to support and facilitate American troop movements through it’s territory
openly speaks of Germany being only formally, legally not at war
openly speaks of training Ukrainian soldiers to fight against Russia
openly speaks of preparing for war against Russia on a NATO eastern front
openly claims Russia wants to retake the Baltic states
Finally, for what it’s worth, I found the interviewer’s questions clearly scripted, so the whole thing comes across more like a press release than a real interview about a “secret” 1,000 page document that the General clearly wants us all to know about.
Goodnight from the so-called German hub.
Günther Jauch: Dear candidate, you have taken the 50-50 joker on the question "Who blew up Nordstream?", and the following options remain:
B) It was the country the soldiers of which we want to cater for as they march through our country from West to East.
D) It was the country the soldiers of which we are training on our soil.
What do you want to do?
Candidate: I think I am going to take the telephone joker and call Lieutenant General André Bodemann.
Imo the lede here is the 'civil defence.'
What is the opposite of this?
Un-civil defence.
The people of Germany are going to have to learn to be disobedient.