Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

Agency overview
Formed	1848
Jurisdiction	Federal administration of Switzerland
Headquarters	Bern
Employees	11,595[1]
Annual budget	Expenditure: CHF 6.5 billion Revenue: CHF 1.6 billion (2009)[1]
Minister responsible	Guy Parmelin, Federal Councillor
Website	www.vbs.admin.ch

The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS, German: Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport, French: Département fédéral de la défense, de la protection de la population et des sports, Italian: Dipartimento federale della difesa, della protezione della popolazione e dello sport, Romansh:  Departament federal da defensiun, protecziun da la populaziun e sport ) is one of the seven departments of the Swiss federal government. It is headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council, the Swiss defence minister.

Organisation

The Department is composed of the following departmental sectors:^[2]

• Defence / Armed Forces sector: Swiss Armed Forces headquarters and staff, Land Forces, Air Force, Armed Forces Logistics Organisation (AFLO), Armed Forces Command Support Organisation (AFCSO).
• Civil Protection sector: Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), responsible for the coordination of the civil protection services of the cantons and municipalities. Operates the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) and the Spiez Laboratory, which is responsible for weapons of mass destruction research and protection.
• Sport sector: Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO),^[3] responsible for sport policy, the National Youth Sports Centre Tenero and the Youth and Sport organisation.
• armasuisse sector: Responsible for armaments procurement, technology and research. The sector includes the Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo), which compiles and manages geographical reference data and maps.

The following services are also part of the DDPS:

• General Secretariat
• Office of the Military Attorney General: The military prosecutor's office.
• Federal Intelligence Service (FIS): Switzerland’s civil intelligence service.

Name of department

• 1848: Military Department
• 1979: Federal Military Department
• Since 1998: Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

List of heads of the department

• 1848–1854: Ulrich Ochsenbein
• 1855–1859: Friedrich Frey-Herosé
• 1860–1861: Jakob Stämpfli
• 1862 only: Constant Fornerod
• 1863 only: Jakob Stämpfli
• 1864–1866: Constant Fornerod
• 1867–1868: Emil Welti
• 1869 only: Victor Ruffy
• 1870–1871: Emil Welti
• 1872 only: Paul Cérésole
• 1873–1875: Emil Welti
• 1876–1878: Johann Jakob Scherer
• 1879–1888: Wilhelm Hertenstein
• 1889–1890: Walter Hauser
• 1891–1897: Emil Frey
• 1897–1898: Eduard Müller
• 1899 only: Eugène Ruffy
• 1900–1906: Eduard Müller
• 1907 only: Ludwig Forrer
• 1908–1911: Eduard Müller
• 1912–1913: Arthur Hoffmann
• 1914–1919: Camille Decoppet
• 1920–1929: Karl Scheurer
• 1930–1940: Rudolf Minger
• 1940–1954: Karl Kobelt
• 1955–1966: Paul Chaudet
• 1967–1968: Nello Celio
• 1968–1979: Rudolf Gnägi
• 1980–1983: Georges-André Chevallaz
• 1984–1986: Jean-Pascal Delamuraz
• 1987–1989: Arnold Koller
• 1989–1995: Kaspar Villiger
• 1996–2000: Adolf Ogi
• 2001–2008: Samuel Schmid
• 2009–2015: Ueli Maurer
• 2016–present: Guy Parmelin

See also

• Sport in Switzerland

Notes and references

1. Swiss Federal Chancellery. "The Swiss Confederation – a brief guide 2009".
2. "Organisation". Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. Retrieved May 2008.
3. Federal Office of Sport

External links

• Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport Official Website