Patrick Sensburg, president of the reservists' association, has criticized the Bundeswehr for slow processes in admitting new reservists. He called for a reserve three times larger than the regular force. The Defense Ministry plans to unveil a new reserve strategy in April.
Patrick Sensburg, president of the reservists' association, criticized the Bundeswehr's handling of reservists in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). "We have many applicants, but they don't enter the system because the processes are too slow," he said. He cited slow security checks, lack of registration and care, and last-minute canceled exercises as examples.
Sensburg deemed the new military service law's target of 200,000 reservists too low. "To become resilient, the reserve must be three times larger than the regular force," he stated, equating to 800,000 to 900,000 personnel. Wehrbeauftragter Henning Otte (CDU) reported around 60,000 reservists currently assigned to fixed posts.
The military service law, effective since early January, aims to grow the regular force from 184,000 to 260,000 by 2035, with the reserve reaching 200,000. Voluntary service members join the reserve automatically after six months unless they become professional soldiers.
The Defense Ministry announced a "Reserve Strategy" to be presented this April. A spokesperson told RND the document is in its final phase. It requires approval by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and parliamentary briefing before public release. Pistorius had announced a reservist strengthening law for this summer in late February.