Germany’s armed forces are facing major problems as their personnel age and they struggle to recruit new ones, according to a critical report tabled in parliament today.

Despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s 2022 announcement of major new defense investments, the armed forces are still facing equipment shortages as well as infrastructure problems, according to Eva Haegl, Germany’s armed forces commissioner.

“Power continues to age and shrink,” Hegl wrote in her 2023 annual report, released today in Berlin.

German military units have large “staffing gaps”, according to the report. Haegl also notes that equipment shortages include everything from heavy equipment to spare parts, and that these shortages have worsened as Germany has sent Ukraine weapons from its stockpiles.

Solz announced a special €100 billion fund to re-equip the armed forces in a speech after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The chancellor called the invasion a “turning point” (“Zeitenwende”) and promised that the Germany will rebuild its armed forces.

But the report points out that in practice the changes are slow. Hagel writes that “in many areas a significant course was set” last year, but Germany’s armed forces have not yet achieved their goal.

Some facilities are in terrible shape, says Heggle. He describes the conditions on bases and the housing of soldiers in some places as “disgraceful”.

“I get letters from parents whose children have just started their term – in camps with rickety cabins, moldy showers and clogged toilets,” he says.

The commissioner’s job is to assist parliament in its task of overseeing the armed forces and also to serve as an advocate for soldiers.