The implementation of the cumpulsorycompulsory border guard service has to be seen in a historical context. Until the 1980s the BGS was organized as a [[paramilitary | paramilitary]] force for national deployment, both at the [[Inner German border | inner-German border]] or in case of [[Civil disorder | civil disorder]], because this was prohibited for the ''Bundeswehr'' in principle. The BGS was featured with heavy military equipment and the officers were officially [[combatant | combatants]] until 1994. After the "[[German Emergency Acts]]" (German: ''Notstandsgesetze'') have been enacted in 1968, the tasks of the BGS changed. The military task was reduced, because in a [[State of Defence (Germany) | State of Defence]] (German: ''Verteidigungsfall'' or ''V-Fall'') the ''Bundeswehr'' since then is entitled under restrictive circumstances to be deployed in interior events. Nevertheless, the BGS was equipped with light and medium infantry weapons until the mid-eighties and still maintains [[Armoured personnel carrier | armoured personnel carriers]] like ''[[TM-170 | Sonderwagen 4]]'' or ''[[Mowag Eagle]]''.
