The Bundeswehr Struggles: Voluntary Military Service Falls Short as Conscription Reemerges on the Table
Military leader perceives German armed forces facing volunteerism's constraints.
Buckle up, folks, because the Bundeswehr's struggles are real! With difficulty in filling ranks, the debate over reinstating conscription, suspended in 2011, is heating up. The current black-red coalition, however, intends to start with voluntarism—a plan Major General Andreas Henne has his doubts about.
In an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), Henne, commander of the Bundeswehr's Home Defense Division, warned, "To safeguard vital infrastructure, I need more soldiers than I can currently get. The plan is that we'll get enough volunteers to initially skip the compulsory element. But the more soldiers we need, the closer we get to voluntarism's limits." He added that the first volunteers will be called up this year.
Looking back at the 2011 conscription suspension, Henne lamented, "If we were faced with an emergency or war, we'd have to recruit and, in that case, likely revert to suspended conscription. It's a pity, though, that it'd only affect men. So, it'd be smart to think about changing that pronto, but that would require constitutional amendments."
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Henne also underscored a crucial point: "We've got to become war- or defense-capable, and we need a swift logistics race to deter adversaries. It worked during the Cold War, and that's where all our efforts are headed—developing a credible, defense-capable Bundeswehr to dissipate the appetite for war or confrontation."
In line with the coalition agreement, the Union and SPD aim to implement a brand-new, initially volunteer-based military service model—a compromise that meets SPD demands. The Union had called for an end to the suspension of conscription.
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Deputy Union faction chairman Norbert Röttgen advocates for establishing a mandatory component in the new military service law if voluntarism fails to provide the necessary personnel boost for the Bundeswehr. "We must prepare the alternative needling tools beforehand if voluntarism doesn't pan out," he explained to the "World."
Röttgen argued that both parts—voluntarism and the mandatory element—must be contemplated right from the get-go. "That's why it's vital to clearly specify in the new military service law that if voluntarism doesn't work, mandatory service will be the fallback option. Because we don't have time to trial it for two years and only then set up an alternative."
The 2011 conscription suspension equated to almost abolishing both military and civilian service. The Bundeswehr currently has around 180,000 active personnel, aimed to reach 200,000 by 2031. Sources: ntv.de, gut/dpa
- Bundeswehr
- Voluntary Services
- Germany
- Conscription
- German Defense Policy
- Norbert Röttgen
The current debate over reinstating conscription in Germany, while the coalition aims to start with voluntary services, brings a challenge for the Bundeswehr as they strive to fill their ranks, particularly in the light of increasing demands from NATO for 40,000 more German soldiers. Furthermore, the Union party's deputy faction chairman, Norbert Röttgen, suggests incorporating a mandatory component into the new military service law if voluntarism fails to meet the necessary personnel needs, as the future defense policy of Germany hinges on the success of both voluntary services and conscription.
