SPECOPSLAB
APPROXIMATElast verified 2026-10-18

Fallschirmjäger — Erweiterte Grundbefähigung (EGB), Spezialisierte Kräfte des Heeres
EGB selection — test week limits (2023 procedure)

Soldiers with the extended basic qualification (Erweiterte Grundbefähigung, EGB) are the German Army's specialised forces within Fallschirmjägerregiment 26 (Zweibrücken) and 31 (Seedorf). In the 2023 procedure, two mandatory preparation weeks are followed by a test week with a 7 km march carrying 20 kg, a 200 m swim in uniform, an obstacle course with equipment and a 10 km speed march, plus abseiling, group tasks and a "Combat-Mindset-Gasse". The limits below come from Bundeswehr reports, not from a published regulation; a selection board decides on the overall picture of the week.

Move the sliders to your latest results. The verdict updates instantly against the published standards — calculated in your browser, nothing stored.

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Pay · free · rates from 1 May 2026

What an EGB paratrooper (Fallschirmjäger mit Erweiterter Grundbefähigung) earns

Pay grade
Stufe 3 · ≈5 yrs
Gross · Feldwebel (A 7) · Stufe 3 · ≈5 yrs€4,040 per month, before tax
Base pay grows with service — tap a bar

Basic salary, rank supplements and the NCO increment are advance payments (Abschlagszahlungen) under the BMI circular of 3 Sep 2025 until the 2025/2026 pay act is passed, so they may still change. The § 23o allowance (€500, or €250 during training) plus the parachutist and leader allowances are capped together at €800; the default scenario totals €689.47 and is paid in full. EGB soldiers do not receive the § 43a special forces bonuses; years per step are our approximation of § 27 BBesG.

provisional = official source with a provisional legal status, a secondary source or our own calculation; see the sources.

The test, event by event

EventLimit (2023 test week)
7 km march with 20 kg (combat boots, field uniform)52 min
200 m swim in uniform (Kleiderschwimmen) + undress in the water8:00
Obstacle course with helmet, weapon and goggles2:20
10 km individual speed march (Eilmarsch)80 min

Also required

  • You must already be a soldier: candidates are put forward by their superior through the personnel office to the regiment. Required: unrestricted fitness for service, fitness for parachuting (medical criteria not public), willingness to jump and deploy, and a commitment as a temporary-career soldier of at least 4 years (SaZ 4); the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) also vets candidates.
  • "Combat-Mindset-Gasse" after the 10 km speed march: 50 push-ups, 50 squat jumps (Hock-Strecksprünge) and a 5 × 10 m shuttle run, then 1 minute of defensive fighting and 60 s on the bag — as fast as possible, with no published time limit.
  • Other test-week stations without published limits: obstacle course as a group with weapon, radio and stretcher, an indoor obstacle course (2021 limit: 3:20), abseiling from about 15 m, a group 10 km speed march, a "tape drill" (60 s to identify friend or foe in a dark cellar) and raft building with a water crossing.
Sources:

Questions

Is meeting the limits enough?

Not on its own. Since 2023 candidates are not told whether they beat a limit; observers watch behaviour and fitness all week and a selection board (regimental and company commanders plus the observers) decides. In 2023, 97 of 118 candidates passed, 9 of them with conditions — for example having to show later that they can do the obstacle course in 2:20.

What happens after selection?

Roughly 12 months of training until the EGB "Basecape" (a 2022 call described about 6 months of advanced paratrooper and parachute training), including close combat, survival, shooting from vehicles and boats, urban assault tactics and medical training, partly at the special operations training centre in Pfullendorf. Fully trained EGB soldiers receive a €500 monthly allowance.

Where do the numbers come from?

From the Bundeswehr report "Neues Auswahlverfahren für Spezialisierte Kräfte" (30 May 2023) on the new procedure at Fallschirmjägerregiment 31, cross-checked with the 2021 report on the EGB. That older report gave an obstacle course limit of under 1:50; we use 2:20 with helmet, weapon and goggles from the 2023 procedure. No official regulation with EGB standards has been published, so the values are marked provisional.

What does EGB pay?

What an EGB paratrooper (Fallschirmjäger mit Erweiterter Grundbefähigung) earns: in the default scenario (Feldwebel (A 7) · Stufe 3) €4,040 gross per month, rates from 1 May 2026. Some amounts are provisional — see the notes in the pay section. The pay calculator on this page lets you change rank, seniority and allowances. Main source: Rundschreiben BMI/BMF 3.9.2025, D3.30200/199#13, Anlage 7 (Abschlagszahlungen ab 1.5.2026).

Compare with

GERMANYKommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) — KommandosoldatPFV Phase 1 — minimum standards (Kommandosoldat)UNITED KINGDOMThe Parachute Regiment (British Army)Role Fitness Test (Entry) — ParatrooperUNITED STATES75th Ranger RegimentRanger Fitness Test / RASP