Germany launches limited military service to be “war ready”

Germany will reintroduce limited military service. However, the plan falls short of the original goal set by the Defence Ministry to restore the conscription system that was scrapped 13 year ago.

Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, said on Wednesday that everyone should ask themselves “what they would do if attacked.” The question is: . . How can we protect our civilians if war breaks?”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Germany into a more robust defence approach, investing heavily in their armed forces. They are also preparing to station a armoured brigade to Lithuania – its first permanent deployment abroad since the Second World War.

Pistorius said that the German Bundeswehr (armed forces) must be “war-ready” in light of the growing concern about Vladimir Putin’s aggressive intent towards Nato, the western military alliance.

Officials from the Ministry of Defence described the Minister’s model as “a selective form of military service, based on a voluntarist principle, but with mandatory elements when necessary”.

Men aged 18 years old will have to fill in a form containing information about their willingness to serve and their ability to do so. If selected, they will then be asked to undergo a physical examination. Then, recruits will be selected from the test results.

Opposition politicians have expressed their disappointment at the proposal. Serap Guler is the Christian Democrats spokesperson for defence. He said that the plan was “pretty thin and vague” considering the minister had been talking about [reintroducing] the military service for the past nine months.

The Bundeswehr is still struggling to meet its troop shortages despite the fact that the former chancellor Angela Merkel abolished the draft in 2011.

The government plans to increase the size the army by 2031, from 182,000 soldiers to 203,000. Military officials estimate that Germany needs up to 460,000 soldiers in order to defend itself from an attack.

Pistorius’ plan will lead to 200,000 additional reservists being recruited to join the Bundeswehr.

He estimated that about a quarter of the 400,000 18 year olds who would be contacted by the Bundeswehr every year under his plan would express an interest to serve. From this group, between 40,000 and 50,000 people would be asked to undergo a physical examination.

Pistorius stated, “We will choose the most motivated and fittest candidates.”

He said that the Bundeswehr could only train an additional 5,000 recruits per year. However, this number will increase in the future.

He said that the armed forces have shrunk since the end the cold war. This has led to the massive divestment and demolition of barracks, ammunition dumps, and military accommodations.

Sign-ups will receive six months of basic instruction, which can be increased to 23 months. The recruits will become part of the Reserve Force, and must undergo annual training.

Pistorius’s ambitious plans, which included a plan to bring back mandatory military service, met with strong opposition from military chiefs who were worried about an influx raw, untrained men and left-wing politicians within his Social Democrat party (SPD), who are uneasy about Germany’s new focus on military.

Olaf Scholz – who is also from the SPD – said in May that a return of a conscripted army was “unworkable”.

The ministry then switched to a hybrid model of service, which did not include mass compulsory service and instead was aimed at encouraging greater voluntary participation. Pistorius wanted to imitate the national service models that are used in many Scandinavian nations.

The Bundeswehr is hoping that the model will help improve recruitment in niche areas such as medicine and cyber security, where there are a lack of qualified personnel.