German military should review reservists for training, group urges

The Germany military should inspect former soldiers and conscripts with reservist status to see if they are potentially fit for further training, according to the chairman of the Reservists' Association.

Reserve Colonel Patrick Sensburg told the Bild newspaper that there are around 900,000 former full-time soldiers or conscripts from the German military, known as the Bundeswehr, who are under the age of 65.

"We should very quickly assess their health status and availability so that we can schedule them for homeland security and national and alliance defence and gradually allow them to practice again," Sensburg said. "If only half of them are in good health, we would almost have the number of reservists we need."

Germany's military reserves are made up of all former Bundeswehr soldiers as well as former conscripts who served for a longer period of time. The reserves do not, however, include former soldiers in the army of the communist East Germany who never served in the military of reunified Germany.

Sensburg, a former member of Germany's parliament with the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), said that properly trained reservists could be essential for Germany's defence in a possible attack on the country or its allies, especially in the case of bloody fighting.

"In the event of defence, we need the reservists to secure our own country and infrastructure, to provide logistical support for partner nations in Germany and, last but not least, to provide field replacements for the fighting troops on the front line," he said.

If Germany is attacked and at war, "we will have to think about a second and third wave of defence. These will primarily consist of reservists."

Germany suspended conscription in 2011, and the Bundeswehr has struggled in recent years to attract enough recruits.

The number of active soldiers in the Bundeswehr had fallen to 181,500 as of the end of 2023, despite increased efforts to recruit more personnel.

The Defence Ministry has declared a goal of growing the Bundeswehr to 203,000 soldiers by 2031.