Conscription in Germany

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Germany has conscription ("Wehrpflicht") for male citizens. They are obligated to serve for nine months either in the military or in an alternative civilian service. Although the conscription is of a military nature, nowadays twice as many draftees serve in alternative services than in the military. Women are not part of the draft, but may volunteer as professional soldiers.

Contents 1 Military Service 2 Conscientious Objection 2.1 Conscientious Objection in the Past 3 Exemption from Service 4 Political Debate

[edit] Military Service

Draftees who do not state that they are conscientious objectors are by default drafted into military service ("Wehrdienst") in the Bundeswehr (German federal defense forces).

Basic training ("Grundwehrdienst") consists of three months of combat training, then six months service on the assigned post. The conscripted soldier will normally reach the rank of "Obergefreiter" (NATO code OR-3, comparable to U.S. Army Private First Class). During his service he gets free health care, housing, food and a railway ticket. Conscripts get paid about 9€ per day of basic pay plus several bonus payments such as distance-from-home pay, additional food pay etc.

Conscripts cannot be deployed to active service abroad against their will. The German contributions to forces such as ISAF in Afghanistan or KFOR in Kosovo are comprised exclusively of professional soldiers and volunteers. Conscripts who wish to partake in such missions must volunteer for a service extension.

[edit] Conscientious Objection

The German constitution (Grundgesetz or "Basic Law") requires that conscientious objection be possible, therefore draftees may elect to perform "alternative service" (Wehrersatzdienst). The conscientious objection has to be declared in a personal letter outlining one's moral objections to military service and is normally accepted without any problem. Alternative service can be more convenient than military service since the draftee can continue to live at home rather than in military barracks. Some draftees pretend being conscientious objectors for such reasons.

Several options are available to perform alternative civilian service instead of a weapons-based military service:

• The main alternative is "civilian service" (Zivildienst), lasting for nine months, in which the objector may find employment with a civilian institution that renders a public service, such as a kindergarten, hospital, rehabilitation center or assisted living facility for the elderly.

• There is also the alternative of disaster intervention services (Katastrophenschutz), in which the objector is required to serve in non-combatant, state-run institutions such as the Technical Aid Corps (Technisches Hilfswerk or THW), volunteer Fire Department or other emergency assistance and crisis management agencies. He is required to serve for at least seven years (on a part-time basis) in one of these institutions. As long as he serves, he will not be drafted. When he completes his seven-year term of service, he will not be drafted for Zivildienst but remains available in case of defense.

• The third alternative permitted by German law is for the objector to become a foreign "development helper" ("Entwicklungshelfer"), which means that the person will be expected to work in a technical capacity in a recognized "developing country" for a period of not less than eighteen months. To qualify for this option, the objector has to have completed formal vocational training or an educational program that grants a recognized qualification in a marketable skill making the objector a useful asset in a developing host country. The objector is responsible for personally making all of the arrangements in order to engage in this alternative service. Many objectors who choose this option, become so engrossed in the developmental needs of such countries that they stay abroad many years longer than the legal requirement. The disproportionately high percentage of German nationals found in many international aid, conservation, medical and technical assistance organizations active in developing countries may be directly attributable to this trend.

[edit] Conscientious Objection in the Past

While the option of conscientious objection is required by law, in the past there were several hurdles in place to discourage it. Until 1983 conscientious objectors had to undergo a "Gewissensprüfung", an oral examination before a board, which could decide to deny them conscientious objector status. The German constitution also requires that the duration of civilian service does not exceed that of military service. Nonetheless civilian service used to take longer than military service, because the latter included several months of readiness for reserve duty, which did not require any actual service. Today both military and civilian service have the same duration.

Before German reunification in 1990, citizens of West Berlin were exempt from the draft. Many young men moved to Berlin immediately upon their high school graduation in order to avoid the draft entirely, and thus did not serve in either the military or in an alternative service.

The former German Democratic Republic did not offer a right to conscientious objection. Conscripts who were not willing to bear arms were drafted into the National People's Army as "construction soldiers" ("Bausoldaten"). They were used in public construction projects, and sometimes also to fill worker shortages in various parts of the East German economy, such as the mining industry. Men who served as "Bausoldaten" were frequently subjected to discrimination by the East German state, even after they had finished their service. For example, former "Bausoldaten" were often barred from enrolling in university.

[edit] Exemption from Service

Women are not included in the draft, but may serve voluntarily. Since 1975 women were allowed serve in medical and music band functions. In 2001 the European Court of Justice ruled that limiting women to these functions was against European law. Subsequently almost all positions in the Bundeswehr were opened up for women, with few exceptions such as submarines and special forces.

Men can be exempt from service for various reasons. The most frequent reason for exoneration is a medical exemption ("Ausmusterung"). All conscripts, including conscientious objectors but excluding those exempt for other reasons, must attend a medical examination ("Musterung") at the local county draft bureau ("Kreiswehrersatzamt"). Those who do not fulfill certain standards do not have to serve, neither in the military nor in a civilian service.

Another provision exonerates everyone from military service who has two brothers who have already served. Unlike exemption for medical reasons, voluntary enrollment remains possible. Policemen and students of theology are also exempt from the draft.

Women and undrafted men may elect to serve one year of voluntary service in a social or environmental institution, called "Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr" (FSJ) and "Freiwilliges Ökologisches Jahr" (FÖJ), respectively. It is not an alternative to military service, but for most practical purposes identical to the civilian service that conscientious objectors are required to serve.

[edit] Political Debate

The post-cold war downsizing of the Bundeswehr has led to a considerable decrease in demand for young recruits. Of all men reaching draftable age, currently less than one half actually serve. In 2005 about 15% served in the military, while 31% performed civilian service or some other form of alternative service. More than 36% were screened out for medical reasons. This percentage was lower in the past (15% in 2003), but to avoid drafting more men than needed, medical standards have been raised. The remainder includes those who were exempt for various reasons, but is mostly made up of men who were not drafted because the military had already reached its recruitment goals. This has led to discussions about "draft fairness" ("Wehrgerechtigkeit"), which is the principle that the draft should apply equally and non-discriminatorily to all men.

The issue of "Wehrgerechtigkeit" is one aspect of the ongoing political debate over whether the Bundeswehr should be converted into a purely volunteer-based, professional army. Proponents of the draft argue that it conserves the military's firm rooting in civilian society, and warn that a professional army might return to the anti-democratic and elitist traditions of the Nazi and earlier eras. Military detractors of the draft claim that shortening the service to nine months, which was necessary to accommodate a constant number of conscripts in a shrinking army, has made conscription worthless because conscripts receive too little training. Civilian detractors argue that the draft is anachronistic and delays young men's entry in the workforce.

Furthermore, abolishing the draft would also mean abolishing civilian service. (A purely civilian compulsory service would be incompatible with the German basic law, which permits the draft only for the purpose of defense.) This would cause a considerable drop of the amount of people working in care of children and elderly people. Such care facilities often rely on civilian service to furnish them with large numbers of very low-paid workers.