German Bundestag Printed Paper 19/7200 19th electoral term 29 January 2019 Information from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Annual Report 2018 (60th Report) Submitted with the letter of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of 29 January 2019 pur- suant to Section 2(1) of the Act on the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. German Bundestag – 19th electoral term – 3 – Printed Paper 19/7200 C o n t e n t s Page Foreword ...................................................................................................................... 5 The year under review in brief ................................................................................... 7 1. Administrative management 11 2. The Bundeswehr’s financial resourcing 16 3. Reversal of the personnel trend 17 Personnel shortages .......................................................................................................... 18 Efficiency of personnel deployment ................................................................................ 21 Recruitment ...................................................................................................................... 22 Higher education in the Bundeswehr ............................................................................... 29 Promotions ....................................................................................................................... 31 Appraisals ........................................................................................................................ 31 Security clearance checks ................................................................................................ 32 Prohibition on promotion during criminal and disciplinary proceedings ......................... 33 Retirement ........................................................................................................................ 34 Civilian initial and follow-on occupational training ........................................................ 35 Deficiencies in the processing of personnel matters ........................................................ 35 Basic training ................................................................................................................... 36 Military service volunteers............................................................................................... 37 Reservists ......................................................................................................................... 38 4. Reversal of materiel trends 39 Full resourcing and operational status of major weapon systems .................................... 39 Equipment for training, exercises and deployments ........................................................ 42 Clothing and personal equipment .................................................................................... 44 5. Reversal of infrastructure trends 47 6. Innere Führung 51 Tradition ........................................................................................................................... 51 Leadership behaviour ....................................................................................................... 52 Rituals .............................................................................................................................. 53 Violation of the free democratic basic order .................................................................... 54 Excessive harshness in training. ....................................................................................... 55 7. Daily military life 56 Military Personnel Working Hours Ordinance ................................................................ 56 Waiting times when courses are planned ......................................................................... 58 Welfare ............................................................................................................................. 59 Packed lunches ................................................................................................................. 60 Financial matters .............................................................................................................. 60 Chaplaincies and religious freedom ................................................................................. 62 Diversity ........................................................................................................................... 64 Digitalisation .................................................................................................................... 64 8. Women in the Bundeswehr 65 9. Deployments and Alliance issues 67 Deployments, quasi-operational commitments and standing operational tasks ............... 67 RESOLUTE SUPPORT, Afghanistan ............................................................................. 67 Printed Paper 19/7200 – 4 – German Bundestag – 19th electoral term KFOR, Kosovo ................................................................................................................ 69 COUNTER DAESH and Training Support Iraq .............................................................. 69 EUNAVFOR ATALANTA in the Indian Ocean. ............................................................ 70 SEA GUARDIAN and SOPHIA in the Mediterranean ................................................... 70 UNIFIL in the Mediterranean .......................................................................................... 70 EUTM and MINUSMA, Mali and Niger ......................................................................... 71 NATO in the Aegean ....................................................................................................... 74 NATO in the Baltic .......................................................................................................... 74 Very High Readiness Joint Task Force ............................................................................ 75 Pre-deployment preparations ........................................................................................... 76 Foreign assignment allowance ......................................................................................... 78 Award of service medals .................................................................................................. 79 MWR telecommunications .............................................................................................. 79 Transport to and from deployments ................................................................................. 80 More Europe .................................................................................................................... 81 10. Law violations and the administration of justice 84 Sexual harassment ............................................................................................................ 84 Bullying ........................................................................................................................... 85 Social media ..................................................................................................................... 85 Legal knowledge of disciplinary superiors ...................................................................... 86 Disciplinary attorney’s offices and disciplinary and complaints courts ........................... 86 Crimes against the Bundeswehr ....................................................................................... 87 Requests for case reviews and information made by the Parliamentary Commissioner .......................................................................................................... 87 11. Work-life balance 88 Problems of a commuter army ......................................................................................... 88 Caring for relatives .......................................................................................................... 90 Childcare .......................................................................................................................... 91 Family-specific problems during foreign assignments .................................................... 92 12. Health care 93 Medical Service ............................................................................................................... 93 Deployment-related mental illnesses ............................................................................... 93 Suicides and attempted suicides ....................................................................................... 94 Disability pensions and benefits ...................................................................................... 95 13. Cases and petitions: Statistical overviews 96 14. Visits, meetings, discussions of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and his staff 102 15. Statutory foundations of the office and tasks of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces and of service personnel’s right of petition 105 16. Organisational chart of the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces 116 German Bundestag – 19th electoral term – 5 – Printed Paper 19/7200 Foreword A great deal must and should be improved so that our servicewomen and men can fully perform the dual role they now occupy - making a substantial contribution to collective defence in Europe whilst simultaneously continuing to participate in multinational crisis missions outside of