- 6 months ago
The German Special Operations Forces carry out demanding and dangerous missions. A chaplain accompanies the soldiers on their missions.
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00:00When the going gets really tough or dangerous, officials call in the German Special Operations Forces,
00:08also known by their German abbreviation KSK.
00:12The commandos regularly push themselves to their limits, both physically and emotionally.
00:18The military chaplain knows the men behind the masks.
00:21If a soldier has concerns, he tries to help, even during a mission.
00:25When the trust is there, people come to me with their problems.
00:29I think hardly anyone here would refuse to go to the chaplain.
00:33A rare glimpse behind the scenes of Germany's top secret combat unit.
00:50Live fire testing is about to start.
00:53Every six months, these special forces undergo a stress test at the shooting range.
00:57Only those who complete the course flawlessly receive combat-ready status.
01:02First, Sergeant Flo, whose name like everyone's in this film has been changed, knows the drill.
01:07As an active commando, the sergeant must be ready to kill if necessary.
01:12As an active commando, the sergeant must be ready to kill if necessary.
01:37That's just a given.
01:40I don't even think about it.
01:43From day one, you train and prepare for it.
01:47You practice it so many times that it just becomes automatic.
01:56The commandos conduct secret and high-risk operations.
02:01Being identified could put them or their families at risk.
02:04For example, through kidnapping or acts of revenge.
02:07That's why we only show them masked.
02:10Michael is a military chaplain in the KSK, a counselor and spiritual advisor to the soldiers.
02:21The chaplain says the fact that they kill people when needed is consistent with the fifth commandment.
02:26The Bible says, thou shalt not kill, but it also says, you should not allow killing.
02:35That means I must not allow innocent people to be killed.
02:38The mission of the KSK, of all German armed forces, is to protect life, to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
02:45I am convinced that human beings were created to have a powerful aversion to killing.
02:50And that's how it should be.
02:52Overcoming this resistance to killing is a huge and very difficult step.
02:56And I know very few people who do not have problems with it.
03:00The KSK is a special unit of the German armed forces.
03:22Its soldiers are trained for the most difficult missions executed under extreme, often life-threatening conditions.
03:29Its missions are top secret, as is its size.
03:34Unofficial figures say it has 1,400 soldiers.
03:37Core tasks include reconnaissance, capturing enemy targets and rescuing hostages from crisis areas.
03:44KSK soldiers can be deployed anywhere in the world at any time.
03:50Back at the military base in Kalf in southwestern Germany,
03:54the chaplain and 1st sergeant are planning a ceremony at the memorial site for all fallen commandos.
03:59In this unit, the subject of death is closer than in other professions.
04:00I know how important it is to talk with each soldier about this in detail.
04:04Have I made all the necessary arrangements?
04:05Have I decided what kind of funeral I want?
04:09Have I decided what kind of funeral I want?
04:10Have I assigned power of attorney over my finances?
04:16As a chaplain, even outside the military sphere, I see how much distress often accompanies a death when these things haven't been addressed.
04:23The 1st sergeant is the main point of contact for all KSK soldiers, a bit like the company's mother.
04:30He regularly confers with the military chaplain.
04:31After all, working as a commando is extremely demanding, especially in the military.
04:32As a chaplain, I see how much distress often accompanies a death when these things haven't been addressed.
04:46The 1st sergeant is the main point of contact for all KSK soldiers, a bit like the company's mother.
04:52He regularly confers with the military chaplain.
04:55After all, working as a commando is extremely demanding, especially mentally.
05:01I often go to the chaplain and the psychologist.
05:07I want to set an example and show others that it's not a sign of weakness, but just like going to the dentist.
05:14That's what we want to get across.
05:16It helps you.
05:17And not just you.
05:18It helps the team, the entire company.
05:21Because if one person is missing, he leaves a gap.
05:24And that gap has to be filled and then the whole balance is upset.
05:30At first, the sergeant wanted nothing to do with religion.
05:36I still remember on my first mission when they said we're going to have a service.
05:40I thought, no way.
05:43Only after reaching a personal crossroads did he realize how important a military chaplain can be for soldiers.
05:50Especially when they're deployed abroad.
05:53We already had our first son.
05:56And my wife told me in a video call while I was on a mission that she was pregnant with our second child.
06:02That was hard.
06:03There weren't many guys around me who had children, so no one could really relate to what I was going through.
06:12And I felt like I was leaving my wife home alone.
06:16That's where the chaplain is very, very important.
06:19He can support you, give you tips, and even call up your wife for you if you're going to be away for a long time.
06:29That's very, very good.
06:31There is a small chapel on the grounds of the barracks, for prayers, baptisms or counselling sessions.
06:40When the chaplain first began his service with the KSK in 2021, he sensed a certain wariness among many of the soldiers.
06:48It was important when I first came here to break down the resistance that many people have to the church or pastors.
06:58The longer I'm here and the more people get to know me as a person, the less I feel such barriers.
07:04Especially when I'm on duty or training with the soldiers.
07:11The German armed forces shot this footage for us during Arctic training in Canada in January.
07:18In Newfoundland, German commandos trained to operate in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius.
07:25Here I get an even better understanding of the life of these men entrusted to me.
07:30I feel the cold. I can understand what's going on in their minds.
07:34I don't talk about it like a blind man talking about color, but know how it might feel to be here for several weeks.
07:42Today, the soldiers are going ice-swimming. Even the chaplain plunges into the freezing water.
07:49Here we go.
07:50Here we go.
07:51Here we go.
07:52Here we go.
07:53Here we go.
07:54Here we go.
07:55Here we go.
08:12That evening, the chaplain is on more familiar ground, a prayer service in the cold.
08:18Are you feeling good?
08:20Yes?
08:22You can all feel good, proud and grateful that you've almost completed your training.
08:28As for whether you're happy with your life, you may each have a different answer there.
08:35Such spiritual ceremonies far from home are always very welcome, says another commando at the military base in Kalf.
08:47I enjoy that very much. I am a religious person myself. I have found it very comforting, especially when I have been deployed in a different country over holidays like Christmas or Easter.
08:59The military chaplains often hold services for us to celebrate these occasions on-site.
09:06That's very important when you're far from your home and family.
09:11It always gave you strength and, to a certain extent, it's a bridge back home.
09:17Captain Andy is responsible for KSK recruitment and often appears in public.
09:25He says that since the unit was founded around 30 years ago, recruiting suitable soldiers has been one of the most difficult tasks.
09:33Not only do candidates have to be in top physical condition, but the job also places extreme emotional demands on them.
09:40In my opinion, the greatest strain during deployment or other things is being away from the family.
09:50All of us go on missions willingly. That may surprise outsiders, but we are all volunteers here.
09:56So in that respect, I have never found the missions themselves stressful.
10:01But I have found the absence very difficult. And I am very aware of the strain this puts on my family.
10:08But the sergeant finds that spending time at home with the family also has its challenges.
10:16We're actually most relaxed when we're on a mission because we know that our families are far away.
10:22In the best case, they're well taken care of.
10:25We do our thing. We do what we want. We have time for ourselves.
10:29We can shoot. We can train. We can plan operations and then carry them out.
10:33That's actually what we're here to do.
10:35But here in Germany, maybe you have a stressful day. You go parachuting. Maybe you have a live fire test.
10:42You can go home in the evening, but then you have to drive your son to soccer, pick up your daughter from ballet, pick up some bread on the way home.
10:50They're just normal jobs that people do, but they're stressful.
10:53The chaplain reports that many soldiers come to him at some point with marital problems.
11:08You're on a mission with others, and your wife is sitting at home alone.
11:11Perhaps the wife falls in love with someone else and the soldier can't cope with it.
11:16So he asks me to give them couples counseling.
11:19I often sit here with married couples, and we talk about what they can do to improve their situation.
11:25Although the Special Forces Unit was founded almost 30 years ago, little is known about its missions.
11:36Its first operations were in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo in 1998.
11:40KSK soldiers were also on the ground when Western troops withdrew from Kabul in the summer of 2021.
11:51One of the few missions that the KSK talks about publicly is Operation Matabi, meaning Moonlight in Afghani.
11:58In October 2012, German commandos arrested two terrorist leaders in northern Afghanistan.
12:05But instead of the planned quick airborne raid, there was a long firefight with the Taliban.
12:10Several KSK soldiers were wounded in the operation and an Afghan police officer was killed.
12:15First Sergeant Flo was right in the thick of it.
12:20Being shot at while we're still in the air, gunfire crackling everywhere, that was really strange,
12:25because we usually infiltrate quietly or come in vertically.
12:30In this situation there was a racket right from the start, which was new to a lot of us.
12:36And then the first bullets started flying, and you're not sure where they're coming from.
12:41It's a scary feeling, no question about it.
12:44He came through the mission unscathed, at least physically.
12:55But at that time there was no psychological debriefing.
13:00Nowadays that's standard after every mission.
13:04But not everyone is happy about it.
13:06The old guard, I call them the silverbacks or the old cowboys, still have a hard time with it.
13:17I can still remember when I first came here to Kalf, no one would go to a psychologist,
13:22because they thought it was a sign of weakness, that they couldn't take the strain.
13:26Nobody wanted to admit that. Thankfully a lot has changed since then.
13:30The younger ones who come here are more open to the idea.
13:35There's a lot of information about it on social media.
13:38And you realize that it's not a sign of sickness to go to a psychologist,
13:42but that you might get sick if you don't go to a psychologist.
13:45First Sergeant Stephan is something like the KSK's drill sergeant.
13:56He's responsible for maximizing the performance of all commandos.
14:00This is not only a matter of strength and endurance, but also of skill.
14:05The most important factor, however, is mental strength.
14:09To develop that, soldiers first have to be pushed to their physical limits.
14:13At some point the body gets tired and shuts down, and then you can make your mind more resilient and really dig deep.
14:30We also use other methods like sleep deprivation, eating less, cold and heat,
14:36which create a new sense of consciousness and give soldiers the tools to improve their performance.
14:41Stefan is still an active commando soldier himself, and is responsible for medical care during special operations.
14:54One mission took a heavy emotional toll on him.
14:56I'm a father of four. We were on a mission because of events beyond our control.
15:06One day, when the temperature was around 45 degrees Celsius, an eight-year-old child with hardly any clothes but with multiple shrapnel wounds was just dropped at my feet.
15:18There was no water, no food, nothing, and then these multiple injuries on top of it all.
15:29I realized later that I hadn't expected that.
15:33In my drill training, I always had to treat adult men or women, even during mission simulations.
15:39The chaplain says that in such extreme situations it usually helps to talk about what you have experienced with someone who can handle it.
15:50From time to time soldiers talk to him about service-related problems and ask for his help.
15:55This is why his position is so important.
16:00I'm not bound by hierarchy within the unit. I can talk to the general and anyone else.
16:06And I don't have to go through official channels. That makes it easier.
16:10The chaplain always has the general's ear.
16:12I've never had a general say, no, I don't have time for you right now.
16:18Instead they say, oh, it must be very urgent, let's talk.
16:23Often I can help these individual soldiers in this situation precisely through these channels.
16:28When he needs a little boost himself, he turns to his favorite hobby, music.
16:32I find music very soothing for the soul.
16:49And many people here at the base share my feelings.
16:53A favorite song, a melody playing in the back of your mind that reminds you of a situation.
16:57That can stir your emotions and sometimes bring tears to your eyes.
17:04And it can help to have someone by your side who listens and can offer guidance.
17:10Because, thankfully, even the toughest elite soldiers are not cold-blooded mercenaries,
17:16but human beings with human doubts, worries and problems.
17:27Having a strong strength around me and with human Jerome's.
17:31And I've never had to go through the sameural adventure.
17:33But my childhood always has the greatest trouble-blooded рук.
17:36I'm not hungry, but I'm hungry.
17:37I'm hungry.
17:39I'm hungry.
17:41I'm hungry.
17:43I'm hungry.
17:45I'm hungry.
17:47I'm hungry.
17:49I'm hungry.
17:51I'm hungry.
17:53I'm hungry.
17:55I'm hungry.
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