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Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Tue May 10, 2016, 02:38 PM May 2016

Germany to Expand Military for First Time Since Cold War's End

Source: Bloomberg

Germany plans to expand its military for the first time since the end of the Cold War as the country claims a more ambitious role in global affairs and responds to new threats with cyber-defense and aerial surveillance technology.

The Defense Ministry will scrap the military’s upper limit of 185,000 military personnel, adding 14,400 soldiers as well as 4,400 civilian employees over the next seven years, a senior defense official told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.

“Rarely has the German military faced higher demands than in the last few months,” Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said. “We need to get away from a shrinking trend and toward a level of breathing space when it comes to personnel.”

Terrorism in European capitals and a refugee crisis spurred by conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East are creating pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to lessen post-World War II military restraint and take a more active role in stemming turmoil.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-10/germany-to-expand-military-for-first-time-since-cold-war-s-end

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Germany to Expand Military for First Time Since Cold War's End (Original Post) Purveyor May 2016 OP
Having trouble paying for what they got it seems to me... EX500rider May 2016 #1
This will end well liberaltrucker May 2016 #2

EX500rider

(10,529 posts)
1. Having trouble paying for what they got it seems to me...
Tue May 10, 2016, 04:20 PM
May 2016
May 10, 2016: Early in 2016 German troops in Norway for a joint training exercise complained that they were forced to pause during training not because of any technical or leadership problem but because of new rules that took effect in January. These new regulations mandated that German troops could not work more than 41 hours a week unless they received overtime pay. But it was discovered in Norway that there was no money left in the military budget for overtime pay. Even though it was known that training exercises like this, that mimic actual combat conditions, would keep the troops active far more than 41 hours a week, the German soldiers were told to “stop working” when they hit the 41 hour limit. The soldiers sent the complaint to a government official appointed to handle such problems and the media eventually found out about it. This caused a bit of a stir in Germany because the government had been under pressure, from alarmed voters, to strengthen the military in the face of the growing threat from Russia and continuing problems with Islamic terrorism. It’s not just the voters who are angry but the troops themselves. If there is a war it will the military who will suffer first and most from these harmful practices. What makes it worse is the fact that the problem is not new. It has been around since the 1980s and has gotten worse. Many European troops sent to Afghanistan or other overseas hotspots (usually as peacekeepers) have voiced the same complaints. Some of these embarrassing incidents occur closer to home.

http://strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/articles/20160510.aspx
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