Armed Forces: 278 complaint procedures were initiated in 2023

Essentially they related to training, service operations, personnel and supply matters, as the chairman, deputy. Robert Laimer (SPÖ) said at a press conference on Tuesday. After an outlier in the Corona year 2020 with 580 complaints, the number is “well within the median value of the annual complaints”. Last year there were 182 after 268 in 2021.

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The complaints concerned inappropriate language, accommodation or organizational deficiencies and discriminatory behavior, including cases of sexual harassment. These don’t happen often, Laimer emphasized: “But if it happens, you have to act quickly and decisively.”

A current case involving two female soldiers concerns events at a Christmas party. The commission “acted immediately”. In 2023, a total of twelve official test procedures were decided on, said the chairman and VP defense spokesman Friedrich Ofenauer. In addition to a serious physical injury caused by a 20-year-old sergeant at a decommissioning ceremony, this also included the tragic case in the airfield barracks in Wiener Neustadt, in which a guard from Lower Austria was shot. The prosecution ultimately determined that the officer’s firing was self-defense. Drugs were detected in the blood of the man killed, Ofenauer recalled.

“The big issue” is still recruiting and retaining personnel, explained Reinhard Bösch, chairman nominated by the Freedom Party. The Federal Armed Forces Commission therefore sees spiritual national defense as an “urgent task”. It was also criticized that a significant number of recruits only received “rudimentary training in the core tasks” and were instead used to guard barracks or provide assistance.

Department reform still not completed

Bösch described the militia as an “old problem child.” The total need for officers is only covered by 50 percent and that of non-commissioned officers only covered by 40 percent. It was said that the financial incentives in relation to advertising had been exhausted. Bösch also criticized the fact that of the currently around 36,000 militia soldiers, only 21,000 are “required to exercise” and that there is de facto no ability maintenance on a voluntary basis. This creates leadership deficits that lead to a loss of skills. Militia exercises are only possible with reduced troops. In addition, there are still “large gaps” when it comes to the militia’s equipment.

As far as the department reform that was introduced in 2022 and is still not completed is concerned, Laimer and Bösch were skeptical as to whether it would be completed in the current legislative period. Of the eight appointed directorates, “five are still in a permanent provisional position,” recalled Laimer. In addition, this was set up before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, i.e. in a different geopolitical situation. Bösch advocated subjecting these to an evaluation phase after their implementation and checking their suitability. Ofenauer emphasized that the aim of the reform was to slim down the central office and strengthen the troops.

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