Joint Support Service (Germany)

The Joint Support Service (German: Streitkräftebasis, pronounced [ˈʃtʁaɪ̯tˌkʁɛftəˌbaːzɪs] ^ⓘ, abbreviated: SKB, pronounced [ɛskaːˈbeː] ^ⓘ; literally Armed Forces Foundation) is a branch of the German Bundeswehr established in October 2000 as a result of major reforms of the Bundeswehr. It handles various logistic and organisational tasks of the Bundeswehr. The SKB is one of six components of the Bundeswehr, the other five being the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service. As of April 2020, the force is composed of 27,840 personnel. In May 2021 the minister of defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer together with inspector general Eberhard Zorn published a plan to dissolve the Joint Support Service and to reintegrate its units into the army, navy, airforce and cyber command.