Link: https://substack.com/home/post/p-164842403

NATO has established a new objective to increase the number of brigades in its alliance from 80 to between 120 and 130. The alliance will require Germany to add 7 to 10 new brigades to the Bundeswehr to meet this NATO goal. Currently, Germany has not fully funded its armed forces since the end of the Cold War. Thus, it must double its defense budget and increase its military personnel to comply with NATO's guidance. In a society that is hesitant about military service, it is one thing to ask for more funding; it is quite another to request that society contribute its youth to the armed forces. Germany, along with other Western European nations, appears unprepared for such a demand, regardless of the validity of the goal.

The Bundeswehr currently has an active-duty strength of 182,000 military personnel and 81,000 civilian personnel. The previous government of Germany, under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, had set a new target of 203,000 active-duty military personnel. Since conscription in Germany ended in 2011, recruitment will now rely on volunteers, although there has been ongoing debate about the possibility of reinstating conscription.

The current German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, served as defense minister under the previous SPD-led government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and is now part of the current CDU/CSU-led government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz (because the more things change the more they stay the same). He has reaffirmed the goal of maintaining 203,000 military personnel. Minister Pistorius is trying to avoid implementing a draft, although he acknowledges that it may become necessary if personnel targets are not achieved. To encourage Germans to volunteer for military service, he is developing a unique registration system.

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