Number 164, June 1999**German Security Policy
by Peter Goebel

Conclusions- The Bundeswehr, a modern, professional,    well-trained force of some 340,000 troops, is at the end of a restructuring process which    started in 1992. This restructuring was accomplished even as Germany's armed forces    successfully contributed to international peace operations. 
- Universal conscription remains a structural    feature of the German armed forces. 
- The Crisis Reaction Forces, comprising some 50,000    volunteers from the active component, are Germany's readily available contribution for    international military missions. 
- The Main Defense Forces are the backbone of    Germany's commitment to national and Alliance defense. Their strategic value lies in    balancing the overall strategic situation in Europe. 
- The new Special Forces Command is able to operate    across the entire mission spectrum. It has proven its capabilities by bringing war    criminals to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. 
- Future restructuring, perhaps triggered by budget    constraints, by the increasing cost of new systems, and by the revolution in military    affairs, will probably be an evolutionary, rather than a revolutionary process. 
**Germany in Europe**
Germany borders nine states, more than any otherEuropean country. It is and always has been, with some exceptions such as the period ofthe Third Reich and the Cold War, a transit country for people, goods, and trafficthroughout Europe. Due to its location, Germany has been affected by the major political,cultural, and intellectual currents in Europe—be it the Reformation, theEnlightenment, democracy, socialism, or communism—and often those ideas were raisedor developed by German thinkers and philosophers. This fact may be reflected in thethinking of some intellectual and political circles or in the programs of some politicalparties.

With more than 82 million inhabitants, Germany(after Russia) is the second most populous state and the strongest economic power inEurope. Its geographic location has enabled it to serve as a bridge, especially betweenthe states of Western Europe and the new Central and Eastern European democracies. In viewof its location and size and its economic strengths, Germany has a particularresponsibility to bear for peace and understanding in Europe.

At the end of the East-West conflict, theBundeswehr, the armed forces of a now unified Germany, faced the greatest challenges ofany of NATO’s armed forces. It had to:
- reduce its military strength from some 600,000    military personnel (Bundeswehr and National Peoples Army-NPA) to 370,000 by 1994 according    to international agreements, 
- reduce military material and equipment on a large    scale under the CFE treaty, 
- contribute to the German National Program of Unity    by establishing new Bundeswehr units and agencies in the new German states, and 
- integrate former NPA soldiers into the Bundeswehr. 

At the same time, Germany’s allies, friends,and the international community were strongly urging it—now unified, fully sovereign,and a member of the UN—to take part in international military peace operations. Stepby step, Germany assumed its responsibilities and has participated in more than 20 suchoperations since 1991.

However, due to its past, Germany will notunilaterally undertake any military mission outside its national boundaries and,therefore, will not try to acquire the capacity to do so. NATO remains our preferredalliance for defense as well as for international military missions outside Germany.
**Essential Aspects of German Foreign and SecurityPolicy**
With the end of the Cold War, no significant threatto either Germany or NATO’s central region remains. However, a number of new crisisregions pose significant potential risks in and for Europe. The Alliance has reacted tothose changes with the strategic concept agreed by the participating governments at theRome summit in 1991. In response, Germany revised its security policy goals and objectivesand decided on a new Bundeswehr structure. The principal objective of German foreign andsecurity policy is to safeguard the nation’s peace, freedom, and independence.

Five basic goals have evolved from this overallobjective, including:
- strengthening links between Europe and the United    States for our mutual benefit, thereby also strengthening and further developing NATO,    which for the foreseeable future remains necessary for a stable peace in Europe; 
- continuing efforts to achieve European unity and    enable Europe to speak with one voice on security policy and defense matters;  
- supporting the reform process, democratic    development, and economic growth in the new Central and Eastern European democracies;  
- strengthening the United Nations as a global    conflict-resolution body and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)    as a regional organization; and 
- deepening partnerships with developing countries. 

The tasks for the Bundeswehr have been defined as:
- protecting Germany and its citizens against    external threats and political extortion; 
- defending Germany and its allies; 
- promoting military stability and European    integration; 
- serving world peace and international security in    accordance with the UN charter; and 
- providing disaster relief, saving lives, and    supporting humanitarian activities. 
**Structure of the Bundeswehr**
The peacetime strength of the Bundeswehr is nearly340,000 military and some 130,000 civilian personnel. Peacetime forces consist of 200,000regulars and temporary career volunteers, up to 135,000 conscripts with varying terms ofservice, and 5,000 reserve duty training positions. Its wartime strength could rise to680,000. 

The German armed forces are divided into threecategories, including the:
- Basic Military Organization (BMO), which includes    the military installations necessary for peacetime command, administration, support, and    training 
- Main Defense Forces (MDF), the backbone of    national and Alliance defense, are mobilization-dependent  
- Reaction Forces (RF) with a strength of some    50,000 military personnel, all of them being regulars or temporary career volunteers. They    are Germany’s readily available contribution to NATO and WEU operations as well as to    international military peace operations in a coalition. The RF meets NATO readiness    standards.  

National and Alliance defense remains the corefunction of the German armed forces. Germany as a Central European power strongly believesthat its force contribution balances the European strategic situation. This dedicationalso reassures new NATO members, who have a different perception about potential risksthan do Western European states. The posture of the German armed forces provides a highdegree of sustainability to both defense and missions in the new spectrum. 

The German Army. The army has an overall peacetimestrength of some 233,400 soldiers, with the bulk of conscripts in this service. Its basicstructure consists of seven divisions and 20.5 active brigades (the half brigade is theGerman contribution to the Franco-German brigade), plus four mechanized brigades, whichare not active but have the entire equipment prestocked.

The 37,000 soldiers in the RF include only regularofficers, NCOs, and enlisted men, including conscripts with prolonged time of service intheir units. The RF consists of two division staffs with up to six brigades, including twomechanized brigades, one airborne brigade, one infantry brigade, and one air mechanizedbrigade. Four additional brigades back up the RF. These forces are well-balanced in termsof light and heavy units.

The German Army has some 3,100 main battle tanks,most of them Leopard II; 4,200 armored vehicles; 2,070 artillery pieces, most of themself-propelled; and some 250 antitank helicopters. The mobilized wartime strength of theGerman Army is 505,000. 

The German Air Force. The air force has a peacetimestrength of 77,000 airmen. The BMO, with approximately 28,700 airmen, supports both MDFand RF.

Depending on individual tasks, the MDF, withapproximately 19,000 airmen, comprises augmentable units with various levels ofoperational readiness. They have different roles in peacetime and are intended to fulfillthe main task of national and Alliance defense.

Available on short notice, the RF, with 12,300airmen, would provide cover for the ongoing augmentation of the MDF.

****
The air combat units of the RF constitute the Germancontribution to NATO Reaction Forces (Air) for the entire extended mission spectrum.

The German Navy. The German navy has more than27,200 sailors within its basic structure. It includes 15 destroyers/frigates, 12conventional submarines, 30 fast patrol boats/ corvettes, 25 mine warfare units, 12maritime patrol aircraft, 45 helicopters, 50 naval fighter bombers, and 17 medium andlarge support ships.

The navy generates its floating RF through a systemunder which ships and boats continually rotate among training, deployment, and maintenancestages, alternating between RF and MDF status. Whether certain units are assigned to theRF depends on their training status. Generally speaking, up to 40 percent of the naval andnaval air forces, and up to 4,300 naval troops, belong to the RF. The navy provides twoocean-going deployment groups, each composed of one core unit with up to three frigatesand additional units for surface and subsurface warfare, mine warfare, and air assets suchas fighter bombers, maritime patrol aircraft, and helicopters. In peacetime, the navyprovides one destroyer or frigate and one mine warfare unit each for the permanent NATOdeployment units in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and the European Northern Region. Theseunits represent the German naval contribution to NATO Reaction Forces. 
**Main Weapon Systems, Equipment, and Procurement**
The German armed forces have modern capabilities,even in comparison with the U.S. Armed Forces. Major procurement programs include some 185new armored self-propelled howitzer (Panzerhaubitze 2000), the most modern artillerysystem in the world; 80 Tiger attack helicopters; 250 medium transport helicopters, NH 90;180 new Eurofighters; 3 new frigates, F124; and four U212 medium-scale submarines, whichare modern conventional platforms. Furthermore, a new command and control system is soonto be introduced into the army. German military thinking and consequent procurement hasalways emphasized strengthening the teeth rather than the tail. But the armed forces haverecognized the effects of the information age and the revolution in military affairs(RMA). Germany is closely monitoring C4ISR and other enabling technologies. The army, forexample, is working closely with the U.S. Army in the digitalization of the battlefield. 
**Universal Conscription**
The Bundeswehr has always been a conscript army.Conscription goes back some 200 years to the Prussian reformers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau,and von Stein. Conscription is evidence of the citizens’ willingness to bear theirshare of the responsibility for protecting their community and country. Conscription keepsthe Bundeswehr in close contact with every segment of the population and society,particularly the younger generation. Conscription not only makes Germany's armed forcesyounger, but also enables the Bundeswehr to use the education and skills of all youngGerman males, be they high school students or skilled and professional laborers, workers,or farmers. Conscription contributes to German unity, in that young conscripts from theWest are stationed in the new German states in the East and vice versa. There are also twovital military reasons in favor of maintaining conscription: (1) Mobilization andaugmentation capability is impossible to achieve without conscription, which also producesa large number of skilled reservists, and (2) universal conscription provides a solid basefor recruitment. The Bundeswehr recruits about 50 percent of its regular officers and NCOsfrom its pool of conscripts. Basic military service serves as a kind of orientationcourse. It is fair to say that without conscription the quality of military personnelwould drop considerably, because the Bundeswehr would not and could not reach certainparts of the younger generation. 

Ten months of basic military service is followed bytwo months of standby readiness. Conscripts normally serve in the MDF, but they canvolunteer for an additional 2-to-13 months service to follow their basic military service.Volunteers for the RF or for international military peace operations, have to prolongtheir service by a couple of months. This has a training aspect, but is even more theresult of a strong belief that conscripts with regular duty obligations should beresponsible only for national or Alliance defense.

Universal conscription and professionalism are notmutually exclusive; German units with conscripts have proven to be professional andefficient in exercises, military competitions, and international military peaceoperations. For example, German conscript units have won the famous Canadian army trophyin the armored vehicle competition more frequently than has any other NATO nation. Thesame applies to the Boeselager competition for armored reconnaissance troops. In theevaluation of the Commander, Stabilization Forces (SFOR), German units in Bosnia, alsoconsisting of conscripts with prolonged time of service, are performing as well as theunits of professional armies in the field.

Given these arguments, German military leaders andpoliticians feel strongly about retaining universal conscription.
**Training**
The goal of training conscripts to complete theirmissions during intensive conventional war under threat of weapons of mass destructioncannot be entirely achieved during basic military service, but the conscript can beprovided with intensive training up to platoon level. An additional four-to-six months oftraining would be provided in times of crisis. To participate in an international militarypeace operation, conscripts receive additional special training.

The army is proficient in using simulation,wargaming procedures, and advanced computer systems. The army training system, which is atleast as good as the one used for training in the U.S. Armed Forces, ranges fromindividual tasks to corps assignments. 
**Command and Control**
In wartime, commander-in-chief authority rests withthe German Chancellor, and the German forces are integrated into the NATO commandstructure. In peacetime, command and control flows from the Minister of Defense (MOD) tothe army, air force, and navy commands. In international military peace operations, oneservice command is designated as the lead command for the forces stationed abroad. Tobetter enable the MOD to exercise command and control in international military missions,a Federal Armed Forces Operations Center was established in 1995. Command and control atthe NATO or coalition level will be exercised through a Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF)headquarters, as is the case with the SFOR in Bosnia.
**Multinationality**
Multinationality and the ability to cooperateeffectively have always been structural features of NATO. As a result of the 1991 NATOsummit, integration was shifted from the former army group to corps level.Multinationality can be seen in several of the corps now stationed in Germany. In additionto the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps and the Euro Corps, Germany forms corpswith the United States, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The German-Danish Corps will be thenucleus of a German-Danish-Polish Corps to be established in Stettin, Poland. This corpswill be of particular benefit to defense and will also help the Poles integrate theirforces into NATO, gain experience in multinational cooperation, restructure their forcesin the next two decades, and quickly acquire the ability to participate in internationalmilitary missions. One major concern is that the U.S. military will develop differentlythan its allies due to the RMA. Like other European countries, Germany will not have thefunds to acquire the same capabilities and systems as will the United States. What theBundeswehr has to do is to maintain its ability to cooperate effectively with the U.S.Armed Forces.
**Expected Future Development**
When the new German government came to power lastfall, it undertook a broad defense review. A board, called the Future of the Bundeswehr,will be established this spring and is expected to provide suggestions and recommendationsfor future missions, tasks, and force posture of the Bundeswehr. 

The necessary restructuring likely will be anevolutionary rather than a revolutionary process. Germany might improve its capabilitiesfor crisis reaction, but, for the foreseeable future, the main emphasis will be onnational and Alliance defense, and universal conscription will probably remain in effect.

Brigadier General Peter Goebel was a visiting fellow at theInstitute for National Strategic Studies when he wrote this paper. He now serves as thedefense attache for the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. Opinions and conclusionsexpressed or implied in this paper are solely those of the author and do not necessarilyrepresent the views of the U.S. National Defense University, Department of Defense, or anyother U.S. or German government agency.

The Strategic Forum provides summaries of work by membersand guests of the Institute for National Strategic Studies and the National DefenseUniversity faculty. These include reports of original research, synopses of seminars andconferences,the results of unclassified war games, and digests of remarks by distinguishedspeakers.

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