joint medical service (germany) joint medical service (germany) the joint medical service (german: zentraler sanitätsdienst der bundeswehr, short form: zentraler sanitätsdienst, pronounced (listen)) is a part of the bundeswehr, the armed forces of germany and serves all three armed services (army, navy and air force, as well as the cyber and information domain service). members of the central medical corps remain members of their respective military branches. only a few specialized medical units such as the medical care for divers and aircraft crews are not incorporated in the joint medical service. prior to 2002 each military branch had its own medical service. the services were then largely merged, forming the joint medical service. in may 2021 the minister of defense annegret kramp-karrenbauer together with inspector general of the bundeswehr eberhard zorn published a plan to dissolve the joint medical service and to reintegrate its units into the army, navy, airforce and cyber command. joint medical servicezentraler sanitätsdienst der bundeswehrlogo of the joint medical serviceactive1 october 2000 – presentcountry germanybranchmedical corpsrolemilitary medicinesize20,000 personnel (2023)headquarterskoblenzanniversaries1 october 2000equipment hospitals and field hospitals rheinmetall man military vehicles yak mercedes-benz unimog commandersinspector of the joint medical servicegeneraloberstabsarzt dr. ulrich baumgärtner (german army)stellvertretender inspekteur des zentralen sanitätsdiensts der bundeswehrgeneralstabsarzt stephan schoeps (german army)notablecommandersingo patschke a medic during the nato implementation force (ifor) in croatia, 1995 field hospital exercise vehicle of the sanitätsdienst during kfor structure bundeswehr joint medical service headquarters in koblenz bundeswehr central hospital in koblenz bundeswehr hospital in hamburg bundeswehr hospital in berlin bundeswehr hospital in ulm bundeswehr hospital in westerstede bundeswehr medical academy at the ernst-von-bergmann-kaserne in munich medical operational support command in weißenfels rapid deployable medical forces command in leer 1st medical regiment in weißenfels and berlin 2nd medical regiment in rennerod and koblenz 3rd medical regiment in dornstadt medical demonstration regiment in feldkirchen medical material supply and maintenance center blankenburg medical material supply and maintenance center pfungstadt medical material supply and maintenance center quakenbrück medical regional support command in diez medical support center augustdorf medical support center berlin medical support center cochem medical support center erfurt medical support center hammelburg medical support center kiel medical support center cologne medical support center kümmersbruck medical support center munich medical support center munster medical support center neubrandenburg medical support center stetten am kalten markt medical support center wilhelmshaven bundeswehr sport medicine center in warendorf ranks of the joint medical service army/airforce:generaloberstabsarzt(genostarzt)navy:admiraloberstabsarzt(admostarzt) army and airforce human medicinedentistrypharmacyveterinaryarmy and airforceforeign equivalents stabsarztstabsarztstabsapothekerstabsveterinärhauptmanncaptain oberstabsarztoberstabsarztoberstabsapothekeroberstabsveterinärmajormajor oberfeldarztoberfeldarztoberfeldapothekeroberfeldveterinäroberstleutnantlieutenant colonel oberstarztoberstarztoberstapothekeroberstveterinäroberstcolonel generalarztgeneralarztgeneralapotheker–brigadegeneralbrigadier general generalstabsarzt–––generalmajormajor general generaloberstabsarzt–––generalleutnantlieutenant general navy human medicinedentistrypharmacynavyforeign equivalents stabsarztstabsarztstabsapothekerkapitänleutnantlieutenant oberstabsarztoberstabsarztoberstabsapothekerkorvettenkapitänlieutenant commander flottillenarztflottillenarztflottillenapothekerfregattenkapitäncommander flottenarztflottenarztflottenapothekerkapitän zur seecaptain admiralarztadmiralarztadmiralapothekerflottillenadmiralrear admiral (lower half) admiralstabsarzt––konteradmiralrear admiral (upper half) admiraloberstabsarzt––vizeadmiralvice admiral