>The German Armed Forces cannot find enough volunteers for the 45th Tank Brigade, which is permanently stationed in Lithuania. Current internal documents from the Ministry of Defense reveal dramatic gaps in volunteer applications for the new brigade.
>Combat units significantly understaffed
Two central combat units are particularly affected: Only 197 of the 414 soldiers needed for Tank Battalion 203 from Augustdorf have signed up so far – a rate of just under 48 percent. The situation is even worse for Tank Grenadier Battalion 122: here, only 181 volunteers are available for 640 planned posts, which corresponds to an application rate of just 28 percent.
>Critical situation for support forces
The situation is even more critical for combat and operational support forces. A total of 1,971 soldiers are being sought for artillery, reconnaissance, engineer, and support units. However, according to a Bundeswehr-wide survey conducted at the end of January, only around 209 volunteers have signed up – that is about ten percent of the requirement.
TJAU216 on
And this is why permanently stationing a brigade there was critisized when the plan was announced. They should just rotate battalions through it and only keep a permanent headquarters there to command those rotating units.
Stabile_Feldmaus on
I didn’t even know that they are looking for volunteers instead of just ordering people to be stationed there.
nic_haflinger on
Even Canada can manage to deploy a brigade to one of the Baltics (Latvia). Mark Rutte really does have it right when he says Europe can’t defend itself. Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe the state of affairs in the German military.
bukowsky01 on
Reminds me of the time the German FM said the BW was stretched to thin by peacetime commitments to possibly deploy a battalion in Ukraine as “peacekeepers” following a eventual cease fire.
Still a long way to go…
win_some_lose_most1y on
I’m just hearing about how European military’s operate, as a brit i’m very shocked.
Ireland and Austria are ‘neutral’ , German soldiers wont leave Germany. what are you guys doing?!
Haunting_Switch3463 on
Let’s be real. Who would want to live in Lithuania, especially Germans . They have some of the best cities in Europe full of entertainment for a somewhat reasonable price. Lithuania not so much.
AdOriginal1084 on
Rotational brigades with family accommodation and dont make it a voluntary thing problem solved.
Few_Elephant_8410 on
I am sure our German allies would help us should Russian attack. For sure.
Soap_Mctavish101 on
I was in Vilnius recently and the airport was absolutely swarming with German soldiers.
jazzding on
I would go there ASAP if I was younger. I moved around Germany a lot as a soldier, so Lithuania is not any different. If the Bundeswehr can install the infrastructure with Kindergarten and German schools (and decent Internet connection) it should be a no brainer. A wife can work from home if possible.
NoMommyDontNTRme on
well, time to offer them something
KikKikKik36 on
Why would they fight for?
Most young German men (european in general) have no partner or children, bad employment perspectives, no home, a salary squeezed to pay for the pensionists, cities full of inmigrants, public services increasingly worse….
It’s understandable they don’t want to fight for this Germany and this Europe for an scarce amount of money.
Crackstalker on
Sounds to me like, political correctness has impacted / killed the martial spirit.
Pyro-Bird on
Didn’t the German government say that if they don’t have volunteers, they will make military service mandatory again ?
nvkylebrown on
Holy cow. The distance is trivial. Most US troops *inside the US* are stationed further from home than this. How could distance be a problem?
Short-Detective-530 on
Ruski news?
Emotional_Platform35 on
Germans need to unfuck their military mentality if they dont want to learn russian
Daniel1776 on
Imagine this was anywhere other than the military. You know what a private company would do? Offer higher salaries.
Not enough who wants to go to Lithuania?
Offer them a bonus or give other incentives.
TareasS on
Lithuania seems like a nice place to live for a few years tbh. And with their German salary I am sure they could live very comfortably there. I don’t really see the huge problem, apart from their partners having to give up their job possibly, which is a huge thing ofc.
Moosplauze on
Volunteers? Those fuckers are in the army, do they not know what they signed up for? If it’s war, they will just go home or what? Ridiculous.
CPecho13 on
This doesn’t seem right. I know way too many volunteers for that to be the case.
I was refused a transfer to the company I was originally aiming for because they ran out positions.
Volunteering for the brigade is surprisingly popular.
22 Comments
>The German Armed Forces cannot find enough volunteers for the 45th Tank Brigade, which is permanently stationed in Lithuania. Current internal documents from the Ministry of Defense reveal dramatic gaps in volunteer applications for the new brigade.
>Combat units significantly understaffed
Two central combat units are particularly affected: Only 197 of the 414 soldiers needed for Tank Battalion 203 from Augustdorf have signed up so far – a rate of just under 48 percent. The situation is even worse for Tank Grenadier Battalion 122: here, only 181 volunteers are available for 640 planned posts, which corresponds to an application rate of just 28 percent.
>Critical situation for support forces
The situation is even more critical for combat and operational support forces. A total of 1,971 soldiers are being sought for artillery, reconnaissance, engineer, and support units. However, according to a Bundeswehr-wide survey conducted at the end of January, only around 209 volunteers have signed up – that is about ten percent of the requirement.
And this is why permanently stationing a brigade there was critisized when the plan was announced. They should just rotate battalions through it and only keep a permanent headquarters there to command those rotating units.
I didn’t even know that they are looking for volunteers instead of just ordering people to be stationed there.
Even Canada can manage to deploy a brigade to one of the Baltics (Latvia). Mark Rutte really does have it right when he says Europe can’t defend itself. Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe the state of affairs in the German military.
Reminds me of the time the German FM said the BW was stretched to thin by peacetime commitments to possibly deploy a battalion in Ukraine as “peacekeepers” following a eventual cease fire.
Still a long way to go…
I’m just hearing about how European military’s operate, as a brit i’m very shocked.
Ireland and Austria are ‘neutral’ , German soldiers wont leave Germany. what are you guys doing?!
Let’s be real. Who would want to live in Lithuania, especially Germans . They have some of the best cities in Europe full of entertainment for a somewhat reasonable price. Lithuania not so much.
Rotational brigades with family accommodation and dont make it a voluntary thing problem solved.
I am sure our German allies would help us should Russian attack. For sure.
I was in Vilnius recently and the airport was absolutely swarming with German soldiers.
I would go there ASAP if I was younger. I moved around Germany a lot as a soldier, so Lithuania is not any different. If the Bundeswehr can install the infrastructure with Kindergarten and German schools (and decent Internet connection) it should be a no brainer. A wife can work from home if possible.
well, time to offer them something
Why would they fight for?
Most young German men (european in general) have no partner or children, bad employment perspectives, no home, a salary squeezed to pay for the pensionists, cities full of inmigrants, public services increasingly worse….
It’s understandable they don’t want to fight for this Germany and this Europe for an scarce amount of money.
Sounds to me like, political correctness has impacted / killed the martial spirit.
Didn’t the German government say that if they don’t have volunteers, they will make military service mandatory again ?
Holy cow. The distance is trivial. Most US troops *inside the US* are stationed further from home than this. How could distance be a problem?
Ruski news?
Germans need to unfuck their military mentality if they dont want to learn russian
Imagine this was anywhere other than the military. You know what a private company would do? Offer higher salaries.
Not enough who wants to go to Lithuania?
Offer them a bonus or give other incentives.
Lithuania seems like a nice place to live for a few years tbh. And with their German salary I am sure they could live very comfortably there. I don’t really see the huge problem, apart from their partners having to give up their job possibly, which is a huge thing ofc.
Volunteers? Those fuckers are in the army, do they not know what they signed up for? If it’s war, they will just go home or what? Ridiculous.
This doesn’t seem right. I know way too many volunteers for that to be the case.
I was refused a transfer to the company I was originally aiming for because they ran out positions.
Volunteering for the brigade is surprisingly popular.