Fernspählehrkompanie 200 [FSLK200]

Introducing project “Military Insignia”, featuring top quality military heraldry designs. Here you will find designer apparel, accessories and gifts decorated with insignia of the Fernspählehrkompanie 200 [FSLK200] (Special Surveillance and Reconnaissance Instruction Company 200). The Fernspählehrkompanie 200 or short FSLK200 (roughly translated: Special Surveillance and Reconnaissance Instruction Company 200) is a highly specialised unit of the German Army. Fernspäher is an aged and venerable term for elite reconnaissance troopers, relating to German fern (in this context over long distances) and Späher (scout). Thus, Fernspäher are reconnaissance soldiers who cover great distances to gather intelligence and fulfil their mission. Until the activation of the German Army's Kommando Spezialkräfte (Special Forces Command) in late 1996, the land arm of the Bundeswehr had three Fernspäher Companies (100, 200 and 300) with one being assigned to each Corps. The first unit of this kind was trained and commanded by Major Konrad Rittmeyer. Former German armies did not know the concept of long range reconnaissance. Rittmeyer studied the Finnish Army's WWII long-range patrol teams that conducted reconnaissance, sabotage, and prisoner capture missions as far as 300 km deep into Soviet territory, surviving for days on carried supplies or weeks on parachute dropped resupplies; furthermore he drew on the special skills of German Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry), Fallschirmjäger (parachute infantry), and foreign special forces the Germans had faced during the war. The -lehr within Fernspäh-lehr-kompanie 200 designates a very special task of this unit: It is the Lehrtruppenteil (roughly translated: Training and demonstration unit) for the German special forces, and as such the company does training for other troops as well as field evaluation and demonstration of new tactics and equipment. It still has a clearly offensive role though, which attracted further interest again after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the following operations against international terrorism. Fernspählehrkompanie 200 answers directly to the Special Operations Division (Division Spezielle Operationen) of the German Army and is also a part of the recently created Army Reconnaissance Troops (Heeresaufklärungstruppe). Prior to 2007, the Fernspähtruppe was an independent formation within the German Army. The FSLK 200 consists of four SR-platoons, an additional special applications SR-platoon (covering the technical aspects of intelligence gathering as well as analysis of gathered data), a special applications maintenance group, a special applications support group, two specialised medical squads and a specialised military intelligence platoon. The overall-strength amounts to more than 220 troops. Kompanieführung (Company headquarters) 1. Fernspähzug (1st SR platoon) 2. Fernspähzug (2nd SR platoon) 3. Fernspähzug (3rd SR platoon) 4. Fernspähzug (4th SR platoon) Fernspähspezialzug (Special applications SR platoon) Feldnachrichtenzug (Military intelligence platoon) Versorgungsgruppe Fernspäh (Special applications support group) Instandsetzungsgruppe Fernspäh (Special applications maintenance group) 2x Sanitätstrupp Fernspäh (Specialised medical squad) As with all German armed forces, FSLK200 needs the approval of the German Bundestag to participate in foreign deployments. This permission can however be obtained subsequently if the situation requires immediate action. Details about operations of the FSLK 200 are kept secret. Nonetheless it is known that Fernspäher carried out missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Kosovo War and later during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Additionally, Fernspäher soldiers were deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2006 as a part of the European Union mission EUFOR RD Congo.