Compulsory Border Protection Service
The Compulsory Border Protection Service was enacted by the German parliament in the Federal Border Protection Act of 18 August 1972, based on Article 12a of the German Constitution. The remaining provisions of the Federal Border Protection Act were repealed in 1994. However, compulsory border protection service has not been enforced since 1973. Anyone who serves or served in the Federal Border Protection can no longer be assigned to the military service in the Federal Defence Forces. In 2005 the Federal Border Protection was renamed the Federal Police and any mandatory service would be performed there.
History
The implementation of compulsory border protection service has to be seen in a historical context. Until the 1980s the BGS was organized as a paramilitary force that could be deployed nationwide, either at the inner-German border, but also elsewhere in case of civil disorder. Domestic military operations of any kind on the territory of West Germany were prohibited for the Bundeswehr at that time. The BGS used heavy military equipment and the officers were officially combatants until 1994. Furthermore, the member states of the Warsaw Pact maintained a very large number of Internal Troops, mainly staffed by conscript soldiers like the East German Volkspolizei-Bereitschaften. Interior troops were a considerable reinforcement of the infantry forces during the arms race of the Cold War period and were not affected by disarmament negotiations as they were not part of the regular military.After the "German Emergency Acts" were enacted in 1968, the tasks of the BGS changed slowly. The military task was gradually reduced, because in a State of Defence the Bundeswehr was and still is thereafter empowered in very limited circumstances to be deployed in domestic disturbances. Nevertheless, the BGS was equipped with light and medium infantry weapons until the mid-eighties and still, now nominated as Bundespolizei maintains armoured personnel carriers like the LAPV Enok or Mowag Eagle.