tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post6599694629055553204..comments2024-03-16T11:54:44.590+01:00Comments on Defence and Freedom: MotivationUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-34949620773275633772009-11-10T21:29:36.200+01:002009-11-10T21:29:36.200+01:00I don’t spend much time on these subjects these da...I don’t spend much time on these subjects these days so permit to ramble in half formed thoughts. <br /><br />One of the more interesting things Lester Grau discovered while poking around in the Red Army Archives was the fear of American morale, which they considered very high during the time of Reagan. Is this an accurate assessment on their part? It’s likely, but telling in other ways. Armies, like most large organizations, tend to see the society around them in their own reflection. Low morale in the organization means they think the entire country is “unharmonious”. “The society around us is us,” is how they see it with some justification, but in the case of America, not true at all. Our society was deeply divided during that time. However, Red Army morale was low and it was only natural that they made many assumptions based on this. <br /><br />The American army is unique not because of social benefits but because of the respect US society and its gives to this organization. Many local lads join the service, particularly combat branches, and only young women seem to do it for “benefits”. I’m not aware of many that take up the free education on discharge so this benefit is of dubious importance. In short, the military must create both the respect of its society and the pride that a young man can feel in belonging to this organization. Of course this doesn’t mean the respect is deserved or the pride is real, but as long as everyone believes it… <br /><br />If I was king of the EU I would make the military smaller, and base it on tough qualifications, not quotas. I’m betting you’d get enough recruits and officers of quality to build a framework of excellence. Service is important to many and an austere military will always interest young men. You have no real peer competitor today and it’s the best time to do it. Otherwise you might find yourself stuck with unmotivated draftees who only want it made easier, not betterENhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12193563623321560413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-56168448014279861072009-11-06T01:12:16.362+01:002009-11-06T01:12:16.362+01:00@Sven
Conscription does indeed have a hidden cost...@Sven<br /><br />Conscription does indeed have a hidden cost, in that it takes peoples' time from them to do something that they don't necessarly want to do. <br /><br />In this it is a tax "in natura" on the population, and like most taxes it will only be borne willingly if applied to a majority of the population. If there is something people hate it is the feeling of being singled out.<br /><br />Additionally, as with all taxes there will come demands of accountability, and perhaps a greater scrutiny of military affairs. Those forced to do something they do not (perhaps initially, perhaps permanently) feel like doing will demand an explanation as to why they are doing it.<br /><br />Furthermore, a broad application (not like the 15% we have here at home, a number that I find wholly insufficient) exposes a wider share of the population to the idea of the military as a career, thereby encouraging a more varied uptake of officers. <br /><br />Look, I'm not saying conscription as it have been done in the past will necessarily be what is needed in the future. A 20:th Century style "factory" churning out cannon-fodder will do no-one any good.<br /><br />But *someone* has to do these things, if not now, then later, and I don't really think going all voluntary will get us there, as the raw incentitives (to compensate for the hidden tax demanded earlier) simply cannot be had without some very real tax increases. <br /><br />And we can no longer just raise an (useful) conscript army whenever we feel like it. So I think a permanent hybrid force will be called for with conscripts and professionals both doing their part.<br /><br />Now, the real problem may well be that the political sphere does not want to confront the electorate's, and their own, fuzzy logic on these matters. Where's the incentitive to do any heavy lifting when the U.S. is just a call away? <br /><br />No, much better to pretend everything's just dandy. And voluntary force with no soldiers in it can be pretty damn cheap!Upandawaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-63286809544564465722009-11-05T19:47:38.316+01:002009-11-05T19:47:38.316+01:00Military service is 99.9% irrelevant for a politic...Military service is 99.9% irrelevant for a political career.<br /><br />It's possible to learn about their military background (if there's any) and one general is minister of the interior in one of the sixteen states, but that's it.<br /><br />@Upandaway;<br />A complete economic assessment that doesn't only look at money tells that no volunteer army recruited from citizens is more expensive than a conscription army. The hidden cost is the "forced" thing in it.<br /><br />I'm also very skeptical about the "grounded int eh society" thing, as conscripts make up only a tiny part of the Bundeswehr of today and conscientious objection isn't distributed evenly in the population.<br /><br />Finally, most Germans are entirely uninterested in the state of the Bundeswehr even though we've got these remains of conscription. They couldn't care less.<br />I cannot remember a single page 1 newspaper story or TV news story about a Bundeswehr equipment scandal that was about product quality. There were probably some about costs, but none on quality.<br /><br /><br />You're right on the different circumstances for recruitment in the U.S.<br />The U.S. forces are the closest thing to a social society that they have, so there's some appeal in good health care and affordable college for everyone. We've got these opportunities for everyone, so that's no good recruitment argument (although the Bundeswehr does offer university studies for 12-year officer volunteers and that is advantageous).S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-53526872924375373452009-11-05T19:35:49.348+01:002009-11-05T19:35:49.348+01:00Sven,
I was thinking about what you wrote about t...Sven,<br /><br />I was thinking about what you wrote about the recruitment challenge the Bundeswher faces. Are there any mainstream political figures that have served in the military and ever bring up their service while discussing policy or while campaigning? <br /><br />I was just wondering how valued military service is culturally as witnessed by Germany's leaders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-18367250716309846622009-11-04T23:13:02.927+01:002009-11-04T23:13:02.927+01:00In Sweden we have much the same problem, and not m...In Sweden we have much the same problem, and not much prospect of solving it.<br /><br />Even the most low-paying jobs have ample protection and attention from the unions. Meanwhile we have little hope of filling the positions in the new all-volunteer army (which will possibly be implemented if the curret government is re-elected).<br /><br />The US get their volunteers through a massive use of, er, "pro-patriotic" ads and incentitives such as free health-care and education, an approach which would be useless here as such welfare is already heavily subsidized.<br /><br />As to calls for patriotic duty thats not really practical, not in post-heroic societies such as Germany and Sweden anyway where overt calls to duty would be frowned upon.<br /><br />Under these conditions I see no replacement for a broad application of conscription (>50% each year), the alternatives are simply too expensive. Albeit perhaps a slightly hybrid form could be used where the latter stages are voluntary. <br /><br />Above all, I believe the most important thing is to keep the military grounded in the population so that it remains accountable and visible, while the populance retains a basis of insight in one of the states most important functions.<br /><br />Without this, the military will simply be forgotten as people go about their lives blissfully unaware of the dysfunctional state of the security apparatus... Until it has to be used and it is too late to do anything about it.Upandawaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-386077914312449748.post-82417961001066084462009-11-04T17:40:59.052+01:002009-11-04T17:40:59.052+01:00I think the motivation problem might be a problem ...I think the motivation problem might be a problem of too high a standard of living. Without the threat of imminent crushing poverty it's not nearly as easy to encourage someone to pick a career as intrinsically unpleasant as the military. Germans, even in the lower classes, have access to a comfortable standard of living without having to go risk their lives in a dangerous and unpleasant line of work. I doubt it's possible to solve the problem by making the military a more pleasant occupation, and pay would have to get quite high to attract the kind of motivated soldiers you're looking for.Dr. Lunynoreply@blogger.com