The Naval Special Forces Command (KSM) of the German Armed Forces has a new commander. Captain Jörg Buddenbohm took over command from his predecessor, frigate captain Sebastian Schuldt, on March 26. This marks the end of Schuldt’s time in command after two and a half years; he is moving to the Federal Ministry of Defense.
Schuldt’s time at the helm of the KSM was characterized by major changes: “The change from a permanent commitment in the Sahel in the context of international crisis management to a focus on the extended Baltic Sea region against the backdrop of the turning point has shaped the Naval Special Forces Command just as much as the realignment in 2023 and the subsequent increase of almost 100 percent.” He concluded by wishing his successor “the necessary fortune” and “fair winds and following seas”.
Captain Jörg Buddenbohm is taking over the KSM from the staff of Operational Flotilla 1 in Kiel. This means that an experienced combat swimmer is taking the helm of the Eckernförde special forces, as Buddenbohm was already commander of the oldest special forces unit in the Bundeswehr from 2013 to 2016. He was the first commander of the KSM after it was restructured into an independent battalion in 2014.
The first training courses for these special forces began in January 1959 with the help of France. In August of the same year, the first German combat swimmer platoon was assigned to the naval battalion in Wilhelmshaven-Sengwarden with bases in Eckernförde and Borkum. Just under five years later, an independent company was established in Eckernförde. For some time now, the German combat swimmer has no longer been tied purely to a water mission. Instead, as with the US Navy SEALs, water and air are used to approach unnoticed. To this day, it is the soldier with the broadest training spectrum within the Bundeswehr’s combat units. Tactical diving – especially in cooperation with a submarine – is its unique selling point. In addition, the combat swimmer is also a parachutist, speedboat pilot, explosives expert, lone fighter and much more.
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