And GSG-9 aint what it used to be, just a shadow of its former self...
Agreed and GSG-9 can not deploy outside of Germany anyhow. Since 1996 they are only for internal anti terror (and other missions obviously) with the borders of Germany or on German Held Land and Property such as the German Embassy in Iraq where GSG-9 is responsible for the protection of the Embassy and its staff.
GSG-9 used to do out of Germany operations but they do not do so now.
Here are some of GSG-9s publicaly aknowledged missions:
October 17, 1977/October 18, 1977: Lufthansa Flight 181 was hijacked by four Arab terrorists demanding the release of Red Army Faction members. GSG-9 stormed the aircraft on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia and freed all 86 hostages.
1982: Arrest of RAF terrorists Mohnhaupt and Schulz
June 27, 1993: Arrest of RAF terrorists Birgit Hogefeld and Wolfgang Grams in Bad Kleinen. Some people believe that Wolfgang Grams was executed in revenge for the death of GSG 9 operative Michael Newrzella during the mission. Grams had shot and killed Newrzella when Newrzella tried to tackle him. However, the official investigation determined that Grams committed suicide.
1993: Ending of the hijacking of a KLM flight from Tunis to Amsterdam, redirected to Düsseldorf, without firing a single shot.
1994: End of a hostage situation in the Kassel Penitentiary
For out of Germany mission the Germans created the
KSK - Kommando Spezialkräfte in 1996. KSK is considered to be one of the best Special Forces units in the world. Rather than deploy the Police unit GSG-9 they send the KSK on Special Forces missions outside of Germany and this one is controlled by the military and was modelled after the British SAS.
To become a KSK member there is a 2 to 3 year training program. Training includes about 20 Jungle, Desert, Urban and Counter-terrorism specialist courses at over 17 schools worldwide, e.g. in Norway (Arctic), Austria (Mountains), El Paso/Texas or Israel (Desert), San Diego (Water) or Belize (Jungle).
