Impatient, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht joked in the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), is her middle name. The soldiers must have taken it as a joke – but not as a good one.
For almost nine months, the holder of the authority to command and command has been taking stock of the situation in order to position the Bundeswehr in such a way that it is “fully operational” and able to protect Germany’s interests in the world. According to reports, a “participation phase” is to follow soon, along the lines of: And if I don’t know what to do, I’ll set up a working group.
Lambrecht acts as if there were a problem of knowledge. But this is not the case. The structural problems in the armed forces, from the dysfunctional management organization to the tiresome procurement process, have been analyzed extensively. The Military Leadership Council under Inspector General Eberhard Zorn has long outlined which decisions would now be necessary. Alone: You will not be hit.
This political delaying tactic for unclear reasons has bizarre consequences. In order to provide a fully equipped army division with around 15,000 soldiers and all the necessary weapon systems by 2025, as NATO has promised, another division is currently being plundered.
Entire companies and their abilities are regrouped at the drawing board. Whether and how they will eventually be replaced is uncertain. Despite the 100 billion euro special fund, there is no spirit of optimism in the troops in view of these conditions, but rather uncertainty. There is concern that the new money will seep away into old structures.
It remains the Inspector General’s secret why he remains silent on this political game. In the DGAP, he complained that his inspectors had just presented him with a wish list of 24 different models of the Boxer armored personnel carrier, and that it didn’t work that way.
Well: It’s his job to bring the wishes together – and to decide. And it’s his job to explain the urgency of structural reforms to the procrastinating minister. Many soldiers have lost their patience.
