• English Site
• > Germany

Failing the Physical

Almost Half of German Conscripts Unfit for Duty

New figures from the German Defense Ministry show that around 42 percent of young German men are unfit to serve in the armed forces. But critics of conscription are claiming the figures are being massaged for political ends.

AP

And these are the ones that got in.

Only 54.9 percent of the around 451,300 German men drafted for military service in 2007 met the physical and mental criteria for service in the German armed forces, Handelsblatt newspaper reported Tuesday, quoting data from the German Defense Ministry. A massive 41.9 percent of the men were unsuitable for military service -- a new record -- while around 3 percent of the examinees were classified as temporarily unfit for service.

However, critics of Germany's system of compulsory military service claimed that the numbers were being massaged for political ends. Peter Tobiassen, executive director of the Center for Conscientious Objectors, a German group opposed to conscription, told Handelsblatt that the idea was to reduce the number of people eligible for military service in the statistics, in order to make the selection process look fair.

"In other European countries, the rate of men unfit for military service is generally between 8 and 12 percent," Tobiassen said. "Why should it be any different in Germany?"

The statistics reflect an increasingly professionalization of the German army, as its role changes from Cold War-era defense to a flexible peacekeeping force as part of international alliances such as NATO. The Bundeswehr plans to have a total of 250,000 soldiers in 2010, down from a total of almost half a million during the Cold War. Only around 20 percent of soldiers will be conscripts in 2010, with the rest being career soldiers or soldiers who have signed up for fixed periods.

Most German men over the age of 18 are obliged to complete a nine-month period of military service. However conscientious objectors can choose to do social work for the same period of time instead.

dgs

For reasons of data protection and privacy, your IP address will only be stored if you are a registered user of Facebook and you are currently logged in to the service. For more detailed information, please click on the "i" symbol.

Post to other social networks:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•