Every sixth position is vacant
The Bundeswehr has a youth problem
02/11/2023, 05:20 am
Due to the Russian attack on Ukraine, Germany’s ability to defend itself is once again in the public eye. According to the Ministry of Defence, around 27,000 positions remained vacant in the Bundeswehr last year.
Every sixth post in the Bundeswehr could not be filled last year. This is reported by the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”, citing a response from the Federal Ministry of Defense to a small request from the AfD. According to this, almost 27,000 of the more than 164,000 jobs in the Bundeswehr remained vacant last year.
In percentage terms, this is still the best value since compulsory military service was suspended in 2011, it said. At the same time, the size of the armed forces stagnated at just over 183,000 soldiers. The federal government wants 203,000 soldiers by 2031. The defense policy spokesman for the AfD, Rüdiger Lucassen, called these figures “disastrous”. His party is preparing an application to reactivate conscription.
Reservists Association for conscription
The discussion about the reintroduction of conscription had recently picked up speed again. The latest debate was triggered by the new Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. In an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” at the end of January, he described the suspension of compulsory military service in 2011 as a “mistake”. Pistorius argued that conscription was important, among other things, in order to have a stronger connection to the Bundeswehr in society.
The reservists’ association of the Bundeswehr considers the reintroduction of conscription to be unavoidable. “We are of the opinion that Germany cannot be defended without conscription, in whatever form,” said the president of the reservists’ association, Patrick Sensburg, to the newspapers of the Bayern media group on Friday.
The Bundeswehr must credibly demonstrate to the outside world that it can act as a deterrent. In addition to a well-trained and equipped troop, this requires an equally well-trained and equipped reserve. “But reservists are only recruited to a sufficient extent from conscription.”