Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

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.

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport

(in German) Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (in French) Département fédéral de la défense, de la protection de la population et des sports (in Italian) Dipartimento federale della difesa, della protezione della popolazione e dello sport (in Romansh) Departament federal da defensiun, protecziun da la populaziun e sport
The east wing of the Federal Palace of Switzerland
Agency overview
Formed	1848; 177 years ago (1848)
Jurisdiction	Federal administration of Switzerland
Headquarters	Federal Palace (east wing), Bern
Employees	11,595[1]
Annual budget	Expenditure: CHF 6.5 billion Revenue: CHF 1.6 billion (2009)[1]
Minister responsible	Martin Pfister, Federal Councillor
Website	www.vbs.admin.ch

Organisation

The department is composed of the following administrative units:^[2]

• General Secretariat
• Swiss Armed Forces
  • Land Forces
  • Air Force
  • Armed Forces Logistics Organisation
  • Armed Forces Command Support Organisation
• Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP)
  • Coordination of the civil protection services of the cantons and municipalities
  • National Emergency Operations Centre
  • Spiez Laboratory, responsible for weapons of mass destruction research and protection
• Federal Office of Sport:^[3] responsible for sport policy, the National Youth Sports Centre Tenero and the Youth and Sport organisation.
• Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse): Responsible for armaments procurement, technology and research
• Federal Office of Topography (Swisstopo): compiles and manages geographical reference data and maps
• Office of the Armed Forces Attorney General / Military Justice: 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
• 2016–2018: Guy Parmelin
• 2019–2025: Viola Amherd
• 2025–present: Martin Pfister

See also

• Cyber-Defence Campus
• Sport in Switzerland