Unattractive squad
General demands different handling of recruits
04/08/2023, 10:00 a.m
The Bundeswehr is losing its soldiers. But how can she become more attractive? A general calls for a rethink in dealing with young people. Less drill, more explanations. And he draws a comparison to “last generation” activists.
The commander of the Bundeswehr’s Internal Leadership Center in Koblenz, Major General Markus Kurczyk, is in favor of rethinking the way we treat recruits. “I have never understood why adult citizens who come to us should not be able to find their own way from the accommodation building to breakfast in the military kitchen,” Kurczyk told the “Spiegel”. “Instead, they have to wait until the little one has finished breakfast and then go back together.” That is “not education, but classic conditioning”.
For the second year in a row, the Bundeswehr lost more soldiers than it gained. In order to become more attractive as an employer, Kurczyk calls for a different approach to recruits. “I think we sometimes haven’t understood that nobody has to be grateful to be able to put on a uniform,” said the general. “Unlike 20 or 30 years ago, it has become much more challenging today to recruit young people for the Bundeswehr, but mentally that hasn’t caught on everywhere.” The Bundeswehr must explain more.
But the general sees another reason for the personnel shortage of the troops. “If the desolate condition of the Bundeswehr is presented every day, that is of course also a reason. Would you go to an employer who says of himself that he is blank?”
Kurczyk compares the possible motivation of young soldiers with that of climate activists. The members of the “Last Generation” are “young people who find a strong group and, here it comes, are looking for a higher goal in life. That’s where we as the Bundeswehr come into play. We can do that.” Even if the goals of the members of the “last generation” and the Bundeswehr are different: “In terms of personal resilience and group resilience, both are absolutely comparable,” said Kurczyk.
Money from the turn of the era not arrived in the troop
According to the general, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s speech at the turn of the century created expectations. “So far the money hasn’t arrived in the troops. We have given material to Ukraine,” said Kurczyk. The Bundeswehr is now preparing to set up a fully equipped army division by 2025. That would mean that the other associations would have even less.
At the same time, the Afghanistan veteran criticizes another aspect: “The public discussion is always about material, about procurement, about the various weapon systems, but the soldiers played no role.” Kurczyk is not interested in what weapon systems the Bundeswehr has. “It’s about whether we have people who are ready to go to war for Germany, who are ready to go to the end of the world for their beliefs, for our system of values. Do we have these people? That is the question that drives me.”