The problems are well known and not much has changed in 2023: The Bundeswehr lacks personnel and material, and the infrastructure is dilapidated. This emerges from the report of the military commissioner.
The 2023 military report is 171 pages long. And above all there are three long-running issues: personnel, materials and infrastructure. The latter is rapidly falling into disrepair and there is a lack of staff and materials. This is what it says in the report by the military commissioner Eva Högl, which… ARD capital studio is present.
The force continues to age and shrink. There is a lack of large equipment and spare parts. The supply of material to Ukraine further increased the shortage.
The force, writes Högl, is at its limit due to the large number and simultaneous tasks. The number of vacant positions has increased to almost 18 percent. Targets for staffing levels now seem almost impossible to achieve.
Högl: Progress “manageable”
Högl calls the progress towards a modern infrastructure “manageable”. Barracks are dilapidated, buildings are falling into disrepair. Högl reports letters about moldy showers and clogged toilets.
Added to this is the dire financial situation. Högl points out again that a billion-dollar increase in the defense budget will be necessary by the end of 2027 at the latest in order to maintain the two percent target.
There is one bright spot in the military report: the soldiers’ personal equipment. It is now so comprehensive and lavish that there is a new problem. The force lacks lockers to store equipment.
Wüstner: “Defects intertwine”
In view of the deficiencies, the chairman of the German Bundeswehr Association, André Wüstner, called for extensive investments in the troops. “We have massive problems in all branches of the armed forces in terms of the mission and the situation,” he described in the ARD morning magazine the location. Not a single army brigade is ready for action. “Investing now is fundamental.”
According to Wüstner, the 100 billion euros in special funds that the federal government has made available for the Bundeswehr have not improved the situation. He explained this fact with the high savings of the past decades, which now play a decisive role in the Bundeswehr’s orientation towards national and alliance defense – as a departure from the recent focus on international crisis management.
Wüstner also named the number that, according to Högl, would be needed to finance the Bundeswehr’s new direction: at least 300 billion euros. “That’s why 2024 is a key year for the Bundeswehr, for Germany, for Europe with a view to peace and freedom, especially with a view to Ukraine.”
According to Wüstner, the Bundeswehr’s problems are mutually dependent. “The deficiencies are intertwined.” If the military commissioner still talks about a dilapidated infrastructure, then “that is not a figurehead” and is hindering personnel recruitment.
With information from Georg Schwarte, ARD capital studio
Georg Schwarte, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, March 12, 2024 7:55 a.m