Bundeswehr uniforms
Uniform means “the same”. Yet that is not always the case for the Bundeswehr, which has many different kinds of uniform. They range from field dress in various kinds of camouflage and service dress in Army grey or Navy blue to special clothing for the Bundeswehr Medical Service or the special forces.
Bundeswehr uniforms – a few examples
There are many variations of the Bundeswehr’s uniforms. Each of the Bundeswehr’s armed services has its own service dress. There is also different headgear to go with each service uniform. As standard, Army personnel wear a beret, a flat, brimless cap made of felt, velvet or lined silk whose colour indicates which branch they are in. Air Force personnel usually wear a blue side cap – as opposed to the berets worn by the Guard Battalion, for example – with their basic service dress, while Navy personnel generally wear a cap with theirs.
Military personnel wear a beret or field cap with their field dress in camouflage print, but generally wear a combat helmet for armed operations.
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While the Bundeswehr has a wide variety of uniforms, there is one that every soldier wears at least once during their service period – battle dress. A combat helmet, load-carrying equipment with pockets, gloves and a weapon round out field dress.
Bundeswehr/Mario Bähr -
Field dress, which consists of a field shirt, field trousers, an undershirt (t-shirt) and combat boots, is the duty uniform for most people in the uniformed services. The 5-colour camouflage print primarily offers good camouflage in Central …
Bundeswehr/Carl Schulze -
It is best to dress in layers, which means that clothing can be adjusted to the weather. If it gets cold, personnel put on a field jacket. Cold-weather protection gear can also be worn under it.
Bundeswehr/Jane Schmidt -
The waterproof jacket and trousers protect personnel from rain. The field cap is one of many different kinds of headgear. Whether it is worn depends on the occasion and weather. As a general rule, military personnel wear a head covering when they …
Bundeswehr/Oliver Pieper -
On board a ship, Navy personnel wear shipboard and battle dress as their duty uniform. This clothing consists of a shipboard shirt and trousers, as well as non-slip shipboard shoes. The sailing personnel on deck wear seaboots for protection during …
Bundeswehr/Torsten Kraatz -
During combat and exercises, personnel wear shipboard jackets with their shipboard and battle dress. Like the shipboard trousers, they are flame-resistant to protect against burns.
Bundeswehr/Jule Peltzer -
If the weather gets rough at sea, Navy personnel put on their shipboard parkas. They are wind-resistant and waterproof. They are designed for layering with an additional lining that can be worn underneath.
Bundeswehr/Marcel Kröncke -
For arid mission areas, there is combat clothing in a sand-coloured 3-colour camouflage print. This clothing includes the combat shirt, which is worn under the protective vest. Unlike the field shirt, it has no buttons that could cause injuries.
Bundeswehr/Björn Lenz -
The boonie hat is one of many different kinds of headgear worn in the Bundeswehr. The advantage is that, unlike a field cap, it also protects the wearer’s neck from sun.
Bundeswehr/Sascha Jonack -
The beret is another kind of headgear. The Bundeswehr has berets in seven different colours, but the majority of berets worn are red. For the UNUnited Nations’s blue-helmet missions, personnel also wear light blue berets with the UNUnited Nations insignia.
Bundeswehr/Torsten Kraatz -
Navy personnel wear side caps. There is also a sand-coloured hot-weather version of shipboard and battle dress for hot parts of the world.
Bundeswehr/Steve Back -
Flight and engineering personnel receive not only field dress, but also flight overalls consisting of various flight suits with a jacket and special flight boots.
Bundeswehr/Christian Vierfuß -
There is also a sand-coloured version of the flight suit. As a general rule, hot-weather uniforms may only be worn on operations or during predeployment training.
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Service dress is worn outside of military facilities as a dress uniform and inside of military facilities for official occasions. It is the duty uniform in some Bundeswehr agencies and in the Federal Ministry of Defence.
Bundeswehr/Markus Dittrich -
There are also different versions of service dress. In summer, for example, it can be worn with a short-sleeved shirt. However, basic dress consists of a long-sleeved shirt with a tie and service coat.
Bundeswehr/Torsten Kraatz -
For roll calls, pledges and funerals, military personnel wear semi-dress uniforms. This means that they also wear a leather belt and combat boots in addition to their service dress consisting of a beret, service jacket and trousers.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Wilke -
The mountain infantry and all members of 23 Mountain Infantry Brigade wear a special service uniform, which includes not only the windbreaker, tapered trousers and mountain boots, but also the mountain cap on which the edelweiss insignia is worn.
Bundeswehr/Michael Lukaszewski -
Air Force personnel wear their side-caps with their semi-dress uniforms. As in the Army, their trousers are worn bloused over their boots, that is, with the ends folded inward.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Wilke -
The Navy’s service dress, which looks almost black, consists of a dark blue jacket and trousers, as well as a peaked cap. There is one unique feature of Navy uniforms…
Bundeswehr/Björn Wilke -
Nonrated personnel in the Navy wear a “sailor suit” until they turn 30. This suit includes a pair of dark blue fall-front trousers, a shirt with a flap collar and a black silk kerchief with a bow tie, as well as a white cap.
Bundeswehr/Björn Wilke -
Military personnel have to be physically fit. For that reason, they are obliged to exercise on duty. Sports dress includes not only a full-length track suit but also a short-sleeved sports jersey and athletic shorts.
Bundeswehr/Mario Bähr -
For a few years now, a new official track suit has been provided to the forces. However, they are still allowed to wear their own athletic clothing.
Bundeswehr/Torsten Kraatz -
From cold-weather masks to expedition boots, mountain infantry forces need special clothing – the “arctic kit” in snow camouflage print – in order to not only survive in double-digit minus temperatures, but also remain ready for action.
Bundeswehr/Mario Bähr -
The special motorcade equipment consists of components such as a motorcycle helmet and a motorcycle suit. Military police wear it when they escort state guests. On these occasions, they are also armed.
Bundeswehr/Christian Vierfuß -
Like civilian doctors, members of the Bundeswehr Medical Service wear white clothing, for example in Bundeswehr hospitals or major medical clinics. This clothing consists of a white button-up shirt and white trousers.
Bundeswehr/Markus J. Feger -
On operations and exercises, medical personnel also wear field dress. Because of their special protected status under international humanitarian law, they are identified by a red cross on a white armband.
Bundeswehr/Patrick Grüterich
