Exclusive
As of: 06/20/2022 6:00 p.m
The KSK cannot find enough suitable soldiers. This emerges from a letter from the Ministry of Defense WDR and NDR present. A difficult situation, because the elite soldiers are soon to take on more tasks within NATO.
The soldiers of the Special Forces Command (KSK) are responsible for the particularly dangerous operations of the Bundeswehr. For hostage rescues abroad, for example, or top-secret anti-terrorist operations. The physical and character requirements for the elite unit are naturally high.
Nevertheless, the Bundeswehr has been trying for years to recruit personnel for the KSK with numerous advertising measures. Apparently with rather moderate success. This emerges from a letter from the Ministry of Defense (“VS-Only for official use”) WDR and NDR present.
According to this, as of May 31, only about 83 percent of a total of around 1,420 military posts in the KSK were occupied. The proportion of “commando sergeants who have been trained for a post” is, however, “significantly lower” at around 67 percent. And this despite the fact that a commando company had been disbanded and many soldiers transferred to other companies after allegations of right-wing extremism.
The recruitment of personnel is “insufficient”, according to the ministry, and “remains behind the required scope”. Since numerous soldiers would leave the Bundeswehr in the coming years, it is foreseeable that “more trained command sergeants will leave the KSK than can be recruited”.
Many applicants, little quality
The situation could have significant consequences for the multinational obligations of the Bundeswehr: According to the plans of the federal government, Germany is to provide the second largest number of military special forces after the USA within NATO.
The letter from the ministry states that the number of applicants and participants in the KSK’s potential assessment procedure was “recently encouragingly large”. However, the number of soldiers who were finally able to qualify for commando training was too small to cover the demand.
In addition, it goes on to say, the “economic environment for the KSK” is unfavorable for recruitment, since there is almost full employment in the south-west.” The KSK property is located in the Graf Zeppelin barracks in Calw, Baden-Württemberg.
KSK recently plagued by scandal
The KSK had fallen into disrepute in recent years because of several cases of right-wing extremism, but also because of improper handling of weapons and ammunition. In May 2020, the police discovered boxes buried in the garden of a KSK soldier in Saxony, which contained firearms, grenades and all kinds of other equipment.
The former commander of the KSK, Markus Kreitmayr, was also investigated. The public prosecutor’s office in Tübingen has now accused the soldier. He is said to have allowed the KSK members to return illegally stolen ammunition with impunity and anonymously.
Most of the reforms implemented
The then Ministry of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had also decided in 2021 to disband the second commando company, in which there had been several right-wing extremist incidents. At the same time, a comprehensive reform of the KSK was announced and a 60-point catalog of measures was presented.
According to the Ministry of Defense, 58 of these points have now been implemented, “across all levels” of the KSK, they have distanced themselves from right-wing extremist incidents and the “misconduct of individual members of the KSK”.
Response to tight staffing planned
In the meantime, several measures have been developed in the Army Command to improve the personnel situation in the KSK, according to the Ministry of Defense in its report. In this way, regional personnel recruitment is to be expanded and virtual formats for applications are to be intensified.
In addition, a “relief in routine operations” is planned, with which “the job satisfaction of members of the special forces” should be promoted. In the future, for commandos “who have proven their ability to use a commando, they want to do without the additional annual proof of physical fitness and individual basic skills”.
Basic modernization of the KSK
According to the wishes of the Ministry of Defence, the KSK is to be modernized overall and made more effective. More than 120 projects are planned for the further development of the special forces, which are to be implemented by 2032.
In addition, the Operations Command was commissioned to carry out a study on the special forces of the Bundeswehr, which is intended to identify deficits in the structure and deployment of the units. The first results should be available shortly.
In recent years, the KSK has been deployed primarily in Afghanistan. Most recently during the evacuation operation at Kabul airport after the withdrawal of NATO troops in August 2021. Since then, according to the Defense Ministry’s paper, the “operational load of the KSK (…) has been low”. However, the elite soldiers are still active in other countries, such as Mali, Tunisia or Jordan – there mainly in training missions for local special forces.