The Service Staffs
The military organization of the Ministry of Defence is structured into five service staffs. These are: the Armed Forces Staff, the Army Staff, the Air Staff, the Naval Staff and the Medical Service Staff.
A characteristic feature of the military staffs is their dual role. On the one hand, they constitute a ministerial directorate and, on the other, a supreme command authority in administrative matters as regards their subordinate agency level.
The Chief of Staff, Bundeswehr is the highest-ranking service member of the Bundeswehr and the military adviser to the Federal Minister of Defence and the Federal Government. He is responsible to the Minister for the development and implementation of an overall military defence concept. In this context, he has executive authority over the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service and Joint Support Service.
The Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service as well as the Vice Chief of Staff, Bundeswehr, and Chief of Staff, Joint Support Service, have responsibility vis-à-vis the Minister for the operational readiness of their services or their organizational areas. In addition, they and their staffs participate in performing ministerial tasks. The Vice Chief of Staff, Bundeswehr, and Chief of Staff, Joint Support Service, who has no separate service staff, is assigned to the Armed Forces Staff.