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GERMAN ARMED FORCES: MORE WORK, LESS MONEY

At the end of March Albanian militia in Tetovo attacked Macedonian army barracks. Some German troops which happened to be using these barracks as guests also came under fire and one soldier was seriously wounded.

This incident shows clearly how rapidly a peace mission can develop into a military conflict against the backdrop of a delicate world political situation.

The equipment of the German Armed Forces is still largely oriented today to the tasks which they carried out during the Cold War and which were geared towards defence against massed invading tank units.

Today the missions they are expected to perform are significantly different from the scenarios of fifteen years ago. Peace-keeping missions require small, mobile units which are able to bring peace to local or regional conflicts using a mixture of instinctive feeling and demonstration of strength. This requires amongst other things adequate air transport capacity in the form of cargo aircraft and helicopters.

The German Armed Forces are not correctly structured for the tasks they are expected to fulfil today and, furthermore, they have the wrong equipment. Nor is there any money available to procure the systems that are needed because over the past ten years the proportion of the defence budget that is spent on investment has been reduced below the necessary level.

Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping has inherited a difficult legacy from his predecessors. No one would envy him the task of restructuring the German Armed Forces at a time when consolidation of the federal budget is taking place.

The only way the German Armed Forces can achieve greater financial leeway is through measures they themselves initiate. There is no prospect of obtaining any extra funds from the federal budget. At a time when a Red-Green coalition is asking voters to accept cuts in social services it can hardly increase the defence budget without losing credibility. Moreover, Finance Minister Eichel's personal political success will be measured by whether he achieves his stated goal of consolidating the federal budget by 2006. Eichel is simply not interested in any discussions about increased spending, irrespective of which ministry is involved.

The aim is to increase the proportion of the defence budget that is spent on investment to 30%. The commission appointed by the previous Federal President to examine the restructuring of the German Armed Forces confirmed that this was an appropriate figure.

But, realistically, the only way to increase the amount spent on procurement is to reduce operating costs drastically - despite Kosovo and other missions - and to close some establishments that are dear to the heart of the German Armed Forces. Not everything that the German Armed Forces do necessarily has to be done by the Bundeswehr itself. A thorough stock-taking exercise would be sure to identify tasks which could be performed more cheaply but just as reliably by civilians working for the German Armed Forces. In the area of air traffic control co-operation with civilian air traffic controllers that was initially viewed with extreme mistrust on the part of the military turned into an acceptable and beneficial solution

The political will for the German Armed Forces to be involved in foreign UN and NATO missions is there. But the money is not, and the equipment available is not always tailored to the missions. If nevertheless Germany wants German soldiers to take part in UN or NATO missions, steps must be taken to ensure that these troops have the equipment and training that are needed to successfully carry out their tasks. Anything else is simply unacceptable.

From page 4 of FLUG REVUE 5/2001