Bundeswehr About-Face

6 The German Times October 2018 POLITICS Bundeswehr about-face Hans-Peter Bartels, the Bundestag’s commissioner for the Bundeswehr, says after years of shortages, Germany’s armed forces are going to be fully equipped again for the tasks they face ermany’s military is This means maintaining the the practice of back-and-forth Bundeswehr reform of 2011. In the too small. That’s what force’s 13 current external borrowing. The material situa- wake of the global economic and Gthe Poles say, and the deployments, from the Balkans tion remains dramatically inad- financial crisis, the priority was to French, and the Brits, and the and Mali to Iraq and Afghani- equate and in some ways has cut costs across the board, irrespec- Americans. Instead of fearing stan, while joining in the collec- even worsened. At the beginning tive of consequences. German military aggression, as tive defense of Europe with the of 2018, all six of Germany’s The government and lawmakers PICTURE ALLIANCE/IMAGEBROKER they did in 1914–18 and again in NATO Response Force, NATO combat submarines were out of will have to make sure they order 1939–45, they fear the country’s naval task forces, the air policing service. At times, not one of the new arms systems, as they did military weakness. over the Baltic region and the new A-400M transport planes earlier, complete with all acces- How times have changed. No German-led NATO battalion in could fly. Whether using Euro- sories including spare parts, test- state disarmed as thoroughly fol- Lithuania. fighters, Tornados, Transalls, ing equipment, simulators and lowing the end of the Cold War Meanwhile, the German force’s CH-53s, Tigers or NH-90s, air peripheral training. It will cost in 1991 than reunited Germany. military capabilities and effective units lamented inadequate flight more, but work better. This was enshrined in the Two- hardware have generally deterio- hours for crews, as too many air- The budgetary changes, at least, Plus-Four treaty involving West rated in recent years. New initia- craft were unusable on too many are taking form. By 2024, German and East Germany plus the four tives have been introduced that days of the year. military expenditure is slated to victorious powers of World War target human resources, hard- The navy casts a similar pic- rise from €40 to €60 billion II – the US, the UK, France and ware and expenditures, but have ture. The decommissioning of annually. That would then be 1.5 “Up in the air” might be the best way to describe the current state the Soviet Union. The army of yet to be felt. old ships works smoothly, but percent of GDP – and approxi- of the Bundeswehr’s. When the CH-53 helicopter is ready to fly, reunified Germany, it was agreed, I deliberately made my first offi- activation of their replacements mately the same total that Britain it can transport the multi-purpose medium truck Unimog. would not exceed a strength of cial troop visit as the Bundestag’s is years behind schedule. Instead and France devote to their armed 370,000 troops. The old West new Bundeswehr commissioner in of the force’s official plan strength forces. The Bundeswehr’s acqui- omy is booming, after all, and improvisational talent, a sense of German Bundeswehr numbered 2015 to the German contingent of of 15 frigates, only 9 now exist. sition management also needs competition is tough. Police forces duty, solidarity, camaraderie and, 500,000 soldiers, East Germany’s NATO’s rapid deployment unit, And among these 9, the periods immediate attention. Far too often around the country are also swell- sometimes, with humor. Many National People’s Army 160,000. the VJTF (Very High Readiness at dock keep getting longer as the in the past, funding approved by ing their ranks. To attract both servicemen and servicewomen go Downsizing was thus a binding Joint Task Force). There on the ships get older, spare parts are parliament for the armed forces more young people and qualified beyond the call of duty. Inter- commitment. grounds of the Bergen Train- lacking and project management – has remained unspent. personnel from elsewhere in the nationally, too, German soldiers Today, some 180,000 troops ing Area, I was handed a list of both on the Bundeswehr side and The government is also plan- labor market, the Bundeswehr enjoy the high esteem of their serve in the Bundeswehr, which has 15,000 items of equipment and that of Germany’s arms industry ning a new initiative in human can and must get better – and fast. peers. They deserve to once again since become an all-volunteer force, weapons systems that had to be – falls short of expectations. resources. The defense ministry That’s because the new tasks to be fully equipped and prepared although the smallest Bundeswehr borrowed from other parts of the The problems of managing short- has come out with new target be met with the additional man- for the tasks at hand. of all time no longer has just one Bundeswehr so that at least the ages, overlong servicing times and figures. By 2024, manpower is power and equipment already chief mission, as it did before 1990 1,000 German Panzergrenadiers the systematic lack of spare parts to rise by 12,000 to an on-paper exist today. The men and women HANS-PETER BARTELS (SPD) (NATO defense) or following that would be available for immedi- affect the navy, army, air force strength of 198,000 soldiers. The now in uniform must shoulder has been the Bundestag’s year (foreign deployments). The ate action. and joint support service equally. additional volunteers will, of these challenges on a daily basis commissioner for the German military must now fulfill That was in 2015. Three years The causes can be found in deci- course, all have to be garnered on as best they can. This will succeed Bundeswehr since May 2015. both18-09-05_003_ID18068_eAz_Gotthard_GermanTimes_290x254_RZgp tasks equally. later, nothing has changed in sions made in connection with the the free market. Germany’s econ- only through great commitment, Teamwork Achieving greatness together: In more than 3,700 projects globally, high-class infrastructure has been built, using Herrenknecht tunnelling technology. Contractors Gotthard Base Tunnel project: Contractors: Arge AGN: STRABAG AG Tunnelbau Yapı Merkezi Insaat ve Switzerland (CH) / STRABAG AG (A) Sanayi A.S. (Leader) Arge TAT: Implenia Industrial Construction / SK Engineering & Alpine Bau GmbH / CSC Impresa / Construction Co., Ltd. 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