Militärischer Abschirmdienst
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Military Counterintelligence Service Militärischer Abschirmdienst (MAD) |
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Logo of the MAD
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| Active | 1956–present |
| Country |
 Federal Republic of Germany
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| Branch | Bundeswehr |
| Type | Military Intelligence |
| Size | 1213 (as of 2009[update]) |
| Part of |
 Streitkräftebasis
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| Headquarters | Cologne |
| Commanders | |
| President | Christof Gramm |
The Militärischer Abschirmdienst (Military Counterintelligence Service, MAD) or more officially Amt für den Militärischen Abschirmdienst (in the past Amt für die Sicherheit der Bundeswehr), is one of the three federal intelligence agencies in Germany and is responsible for military counterintelligence. The other two are the Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service, BND), which is the foreign intelligence agency, and the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, BfV) which is the domestic civilian intelligence agency.
The headquarters of the MAD are in Cologne, with twelve groups located in cities throughout Germany. These MAD groups are collectively known to be the Militärischer Abschirmdienst. The agency has about 1,300 military and civilian employees and in 1995 had an annual budget of 74 million euros.
The MAD is part of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces. As a domestic intelligence service, it has similar functions within the military as the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz and works closely together with the BfV. The main duties of the MAD are counterintelligence and detection of "anticonstitutional activities" within the Bundeswehr. Other duties include the protection of Bundeswehr properties from sabotage and foreign espionage. Members of the MAD are also involved in planning and construction of buildings with high security requirements. The MAD has no prosecution power. The lead agency for the German military intelligence operations as well as strategic defense-related intelligence is the Bundesverteidigungsministerium (Ministry of Defense) in Berlin.
The legal basis for the MAD is the MAD Law of December 20, 1990, as amended by Article 8 of the law of April 22, 2005.
As well as a department for administrative affairs, there are the following specialist departments:
The 12 regional offices are in:
The MAD developed out of a liaison office between the Allies and the German government and was founded in its present form in 1956, after the Bundeswehr was created. Until 1984, its headquarters was called "Amt für Sicherheit der Bundeswehr" (ASBw, Federal armed forces office of security). As of September 1984, on the basis of the Höcherl report, the service was restructured and more civilian positions were created.
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Wikipedia