” It’s a poorly conceived idea for a serious recruitment problem.”
I agree. However, it was conceived by a politician who can then point to it and say, “This is one of the plans I came up with to resolve our problem.” The plan doesn’t have to be a success. It merely has to demonstrate that the politician did something about the problem; displayed initiative, lead from the front, etc.
I don’t think the problem has an actual solution, as such. Frankly, I’d be investing in technology like drones that multiply the effectiveness of the manpower the military does have. But, my understanding is, Germany doesn’t want to spend anything on their military. This is evidenced by their submarine and aircraft availability numbers which are ludicrously low. Not to mention their lack of supplies ranging from deployment gear, to spare parts and expendables.
The logistical mess, from what I can gather, started after the Wall came down and they decided that they’d have one single massive logistical center and it’d be based out of Koblenz. For the past twenty years, this has been some ‘Frankenstein-like’ logistics hub with manpower issues, lack of competence, and inability to resolve long-term woes. It’s like you hired fifth-grade kids to run Amazon.
I’d hate to suggest it, but it’s almost like the KGB infiltrated the hub and has designed it to be a massive failure....week after week. I read six months ago that significant numbers of German Army helicopter pilots were giving up and leaving service because they were forced to re-accredit themselves because they couldn’t get enough flight hours every quarter, and they were furious at the military for forcing them to continually re-certify themselves.