Reduction of German army soldiers in 2023

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting “D Site” publication, despite Germany’s plans to solve the shortage of army personnel, the number of German army soldiers has decreased in 2023.

Increase in personnel, the number of soldiers in the German army has decreased to 181,500 men and women. According to the Ministry of Defense, as of December 31, 2023, there were about 1,500 temporary and professional soldiers, as well as voluntary military service less than a year ago. At the end of 2022, the German army still had 183,050 soldiers.

An army spokesman said that the main goal of the Bundeswehr is and remains the continuous improvement of personnel readiness. He emphasized: We need qualified and operational men and women who are available in sufficient numbers “for future tasks and orders”. According to him, the significant effects of demographic and social changes were evident in practically all professional and work fields – including the Bundeswehr. It has become a competition between job seekers for jobs and between employers for workers – especially skilled workers. A series of measures and initiatives have been introduced to increase attractiveness, greater flexibility and faster response. According to him, a close look at the number of personnel shows that the number of professional soldiers and soldiers Voluntary increase has been slight and especially in the case of contract soldiers has decreased. The number of women has also increased slightly.

The stated goal of the German Ministry of Defense is for the Bundeswehr to reach 203,000 soldiers by 2031. Recently, discussions about the possibility of conscription or the recruitment of soldiers without German citizenship have also increased.

In August last year, the Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also called for Advertisements were made to paint a more realistic picture of the Bundeswehr and not advertise with action movies – also to reduce the dropout rate after starting service. In this regard, he said: “It is important that we do not make “Mission Impossible” movies about the events that may happen in the Bundeswehr like Hollywood, but that this is a real picture.

The German army continues to suffer from a lack of personnel.

The German defense minister recently proposed a plan to hire foreign nationals in order to solve the crisis of personnel shortage in the army, which is supported by It has been faced by various parties.

According to official statistics as of last November, more than 181,000 soldiers serve in the German army, as well as more than 80,000 civilian employees in This organization is present. The number of military personnel is expected to increase to 203,000 by 2031. However, it is currently quite unclear whether this goal can be achieved: 20,000 positions need to be filled each year just to maintain the current strength of the military.

Since the German army is facing a severe shortage of personnel, “Boris Pistorius”, the German Minister of Defense recently proposed the extension of compulsory military service.

Conscription was suspended in 2011 under then-Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Gutenberg, effectively abolishing military and civilian service. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has repeatedly started discussions about returning this plan.

These days, the German army, which is heavily involved in aid to Ukraine, according to officials This security institution itself is facing many problems, especially in the field of recruiting sufficient and strong forces. He lost a lot of soldiers.

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