Military Aid to the Civil Community (MACC) is a phrase referring to the
armed forces providing a service to the civilian community. It is used in many countries, particularly the United Kingdom.
MACC is one of the fundamental Military Tasks of the British Army.
Examples of use of UK armed forces for Military Aid to the Civil
Community include:
- Firefighting duties when the civilian firefighters go on strike
- Disposal of animal carcasses during widespread foot-and-mouth epidemic
- Assisting with problems caused by severe weather - particularly flooding
MACC is one of the fundamental Military Tasks of the Bundeswehr.
It was also historically very important to get legitimation and the support of the population, since the german rearmament was a difficult political decision and stood under heavy criticism.
The german constitution Grundgesetz contains several rules regarding MACC. The use of force is not permitted to the Bundeswehr under normal conditions, in that case the federal police Bundesgrenzschutz can be requested by the Bundesland.
Because of acceptance problems in the early Bundesrepublik, the Bundeswehr focused on MACC to get a better acceptance. In the Hamburg Flood, the north german winter catastrophe 1978/1978 and several other incidents the Bundeswehr providided substantial aid to the population. The Bundeswehr with its SAR-Helicopters is also part of the german air rescue system. The Luftwaffe also evacuates german citizens in international crisis and catastrophes on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Auswärtiges Amt). The Luftwaffe also offers a flying hospital for medical evacuation, which evacuated terror victims from Tunisia and tsunami victims from Thailand.
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