German military seeks to arm 60,000 reserve forces.
The growing threat from Russia has prompted NATO to raise the standards for its member countries' armies. Germany's Bundeswehr is short of almost 100,000 soldiers to meet these demands. The German Defense Ministry is already looking into ways to increase the size of the country's reservist units.
At the Ministry of Defense, they're working on plans to expand the Bundeswehr's reserve forces. These soldiers would be trained and equipped to serve alongside or replace active troops in battle, as stated by Lieutenant General Alexander Hoppe, Deputy Inspector General and Officer of Reservist Affairs, in Berlin.
The goal is to have around 60,000 reservists in a "basic order," who are specifically assigned to specific tasks. Hoppe added, "I'm convinced that we need to adapt the reserve to match current security challenges. This means the reserve must be prepared to support the Bundeswehr in its duties of national and alliance defense in a reasonable manner."
The Ministry is also testing how many people would be eligible for "unordered reservist service," which includes anyone who has served in the Bundeswehr but hasn't been called up yet. This pool of potential recruits is sizeable, but it's shrinking, as compulsory military service ended in 2011.
There are roughly 800,000 people who can still be called up for duty. These are the ex-soldiers who are within the required age limits, including recent conscript groups. However, this number isn't set in stone. "If we consider the aging issue," Hoppe said, "we know that it will decrease each year. Thus, we need to swim against the current and find and recruit more people for the reserve."
Germany's Bundeswehr, which currently has a force of 181,500 soldiers and active personnel (despite a personnel expansion plan last year), will need to grow dramatically to meet the new NATO defense guidelines. The target personnel count has been raised from 203,000 soldiers to "a targeted significantly more than 272,000" men and women. The reserve will play a crucial role in these expanded army plans. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will present his proposal for a conscription model on Wednesday.
