The head of Germany’s Reserve Forces Association, Patrick Sensburg, is advocating for the reinstatement of mandatory military service, arguing it is essential to bolster the nation’s defense capabilities amidst escalating geopolitical tensions. His stark warnings, delivered to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, paint a grim picture of potential conflict and highlight the inadequacy of current reserve forces.
Sensburg’s projections are particularly alarming, forecasting potential daily casualties of 1,000 German soldiers on the front lines in the event of war. He emphasizes the critical need to replace these losses, primarily relying on reservists and underscores the inherent human cost – death, suffering and widespread misery – necessitating proactive measures to avert conflict.
The proposed lottery system for conscription, currently being debated as a possible framework for reintroducing mandatory service, has drawn cautious criticism from Sensburg. While acknowledging its constitutional viability, he expresses reservations about its public perception and suggests a hybrid approach, combining merit-based selections with the lottery element to ensure both fairness and effectiveness.
The scale of the recruitment challenge is considerable. Sensburg estimates the Bundeswehr requires upwards of 40,000 volunteers annually from a pool of over 600,000 men and women per cohort, a target he believes is achievable. However, he insists that relying solely on volunteers will be insufficient to sustain a robust reserve force capable of protecting Germany’s critical military infrastructure and providing the necessary ‘field replacement’ capabilities – essentially, providing a steady stream of trained personnel to bolster active duty forces.
His argument implies a fundamental shift in Germany’s defense strategy, moving beyond a reliance on professional soldiers and embracing the concept of a ‘wehrhafte Zivilbevölkerung’ – a defense-capable civilian population. While acknowledging the potential for increased voluntary enlistment, Sensburg’s call for a return to mandatory service underscores a growing consensus within certain political and military circles about the increasing fragility of Germany’s security posture and the urgent need to re-evaluate the nation’s capacity to respond to future threats. The debate now centers not on “if” Germany needs more soldiers, but “how” it will secure them and the ethical and political implications of mandatory conscription remain contentious issues.