Annual Report 2016 (58Th Report)
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German Bundestag Printed Paper 18/10900 18th electoral term 24 January 2017 Information from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Annual Report 2016 (58th Report) Submitted with the letter of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of 24 January 2017 pursuant to Section 2(1) of the Act on the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. Printed Paper 18/10900 – 2 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term Page Foreword ...................................................................................................................... 5 The year under review in brief ................................................................................... 7 1. More funding for the Bundeswehr 9 2. Reversal in personnel trends 9 Personnel shortages .......................................................................................................... 10 The Bundeswehr is getting older ..................................................................................... 12 Personnel recruitment ...................................................................................................... 13 Promotions ....................................................................................................................... 15 Appraisal system .............................................................................................................. 17 Security clearance checks ................................................................................................ 17 Retirement ........................................................................................................................ 18 Civilian initial and follow-on occupational training ........................................................ 19 Deficiencies in the processing of personnel matters ........................................................ 20 Basic training ................................................................................................................... 20 Voluntary military service ............................................................................................... 21 Reservists ......................................................................................................................... 21 3. Reversal of materiel trends 24 Operational status of major weapon systems ................................................................... 24 Equipment for training, exercises and deployments ........................................................ 25 Personal equipment and clothing ..................................................................................... 26 4. Reversal of infrastructure trends 28 Accommodation standards ............................................................................................... 29 Shortage of living quarters and accommodation .............................................................. 30 5. Implementation of the Military Personnel Working Hours Ordinance 31 6. Women in the Bundeswehr 34 Increasing the proportion of women in the services ........................................................ 34 Military gender equality commissioners/officers ............................................................. 36 Uniform and body armour ............................................................................................... 36 7. Leadership and daily military life 37 Leadership behaviour and no-blame culture .................................................................... 37 Assistance for refugees .................................................................................................... 40 Chaplaincies ..................................................................................................................... 41 Bundeswehr infopoints .................................................................................................... 41 New avenues for welfare ................................................................................................. 42 8. Deployments and Alliance issues 42 Lessons learned from previous deployments ................................................................... 42 Deployments, quasi-operational commitments and standing operational tasks ............... 43 Resolute Support, Afghanistan ........................................................................................ 44 KFOR, Kosovo ................................................................................................................ 44 German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 3 – Printed Paper 18/10900 Counter Daesh, Turkey and the Mediterranean ............................................................... 45 Training Support Iraq ....................................................................................................... 45 Sophia and Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean ............................................................... 46 UNIFIL in the Mediterranean .......................................................................................... 46 EUTM and MINUSMA, Mali .......................................................................................... 46 NATO in the Aegean ....................................................................................................... 48 Baltic Air Policing/Persistent Presence ............................................................................ 48 Predeployment preparations ............................................................................................. 48 Foreign assignment allowance ......................................................................................... 49 Award of Foreign Duty Medals ....................................................................................... 53 Welfare telecommunications............................................................................................ 53 Armed forces cooperation in Europe ............................................................................... 54 Cyber defence .................................................................................................................. 55 9. Law violations and the administration of justice 56 Extremism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia ..................................................................... 56 ‘Social networks’ ............................................................................................................. 56 Bullying and sexual harassment ....................................................................................... 57 Legal knowledge of disciplinary superiors ...................................................................... 58 Disciplinary attorney’s offices and disciplinary and complaints courts ........................... 58 Requests for cases to be reviewed by the Parliamentary Commissioner ......................... 59 10. Compatibility of family/private life and service 60 Problems of a commuter army ......................................................................................... 60 Deployments, quasi-operational commitments, assignments abroad ............................... 63 Alternative employment models ...................................................................................... 64 Parental leave ................................................................................................................... 66 Care for family members ................................................................................................. 67 11. Medical Service and health 67 Growing tasks and personnel shortages ........................................................................... 67 Deployment-related mental illnesses 70 Suicides and attempted suicides ....................................................................................... 72 Duration of disability procedures ..................................................................................... 72 Problems with benefits and pensions for special foreign assignments ............................ 72 Progress on compensation for radar victims .................................................................... 73 Commitment of the German Foundation for Hardship Cases .......................................... 73 12. Cases and petitions: statistical overviews 75 13. Visits, meetings and discussions conducted by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and his staff 81 14. Legal foundations for the office and tasks of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and of servicewomen and men’s right of petition 83 15. Organisational chart of the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces 94 Printed Paper 18/10900 – 4 – German Bundestag – 18th electoral term 16. Index 95 German Bundestag – 18th electoral term – 5 – Printed Paper 18/10900 Foreword What is the state of the Bundeswehr today? Are Germany’s federal armed forces becoming any less overstretched? Is a healthy balance being found between personnel, resources and missions? ‘We live in a world of predictable unpredictability,’ to quote the European Union’s new Global Strategy, which was adopted in the summer of 2016. Rarely have the feelings of insecurity been so great: jihadi terror, war and civil war in Europe’s neighbourhood, failing states and the spread of authoritarian rule, the refugee and migration crisis, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, the UK’s vote to leave the EU and the election of a US president who appears to set little store by predictability;