Henning Otte, parliament’s special commissioner for the Bundeswehr, urged a swift and large-scale recruitment drive in his annual report published Tuesday, saying personnel expansion is the Bundeswehr’s central challenge if it is to strengthen its capabilities.
Germany has been increasing defense spending and pushing recruitment in response to factors such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pressure from the US for Europe to contribute more within NATO. To meet the government’s aim of 260,000 active soldiers and 200,000 reservists by the mid-2030s, Otte said plans to reintroduce some form of national service must succeed. If voluntary service proves inadequate, he recommended returning to some form of compulsory service.
Otte also called for administrative reform, warning that the current structures of the Bundeswehr and the Defense Ministry are “too top-heavy, too complicated, and in large part ineffective.” His remit is to oversee and advocate for the military in parliament.
Current troop numbers remain well below the roughly half-million level targeted for the coming decade. According to Bundeswehr figures, the military has about 186,000 active personnel on permanent or limited contracts or in voluntary service, and around 60,000 reservists on call. Technically, Germany counts roughly 860,000 military veterans as potential reservists in an emergency.
Some recruitment progress was noted: the Bundeswehr hired 25,000 personnel in 2025, the highest annual intake since the abolition of previous national service in 2011. However, Otte warned dropout rates before recruits complete training remain high at about 20%. He said the public expects the military to meet expanding tasks and that doing so requires reliable conditions and, above all, more staff.
On national service, Otte urged the government to present clearer plans and concrete conditions for any reintroduction. The proposal has divided the coalition and seen multiple reversals during planning. Currently, young people receive a questionnaire assessing their availability and interest in military service to encourage voluntary enlistment. The Christian Democrats briefly proposed adding a compulsory component, but the Social Democrats objected and the original voluntary approach remains. German law could allow temporary conscription of many young men because the previous national service was frozen rather than abolished; extending mandatory service to women would require constitutional change.
Otte highlighted gaps beyond personnel: many barracks need renovation, and recruitment centers and training capacities must expand for higher intake to be feasible. He stressed faster progress in digitization—for example, of soldiers’ medical records—to reduce frustration among troops. Recruitment speed is a problem: the average time from application to hiring was 112 days, two weeks longer than in 2024, which Otte said is too slow in a competitive labor market.
He also reported concerns within the ranks about falling physical standards amid the recruitment drive, warning that “quantity over quality” was beginning to take hold. Equipment and gear shortfalls persist, he said, adding there is no longer a financial excuse given that defense spending has been made an exception to the government’s debt brake.
Finally, Otte warned of a rise in attacks on military facilities in 2025: there were 112 crimes targeting the armed forces, including six arson attacks and 10 cases of sabotage.
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
