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For about twenty years women have been allowed to serve in the armed forces. However, there are currently no female ranks. In the future, however, the Bundeswehr might also officially use the terms Sergeant, Ship’s Wife, or Lieutenant Colonel. On Friday, the “Welt” reported on the corresponding considerations in the Ministry of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU).
In his report, the “Welt” refers to an internal memo from the defense department. According to the summer newspaper, the corresponding decision proposal will be presented to the minister next Tuesday. For the day, the so-called table talk with the senior officials responsible for the ministry is scheduled. However, it is unlikely that a decision will already be made there, according to the defense department.
Until now, the ranks of female soldiers have been preceded by the salute “woman.” In the future, according to the memo, the rank itself will have “gender”, but with exceptions. The plans provided “not to change the terms captain and colonel.” According to “Welt” there should be no main wife or colonel, but there should be a lieutenant colonel or a brigadier general. In a transition phase of one year it should be possible that “the new service designations can already be used”.
The ministry reacted cautiously to the “world” report. Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer has not yet been involved in projects on this particular point, he said. In general, equality between women and men is “a consistent guiding principle”. Equal language treatment is one of the many issues.
“But I think the Bundeswehr has other concerns.”
The controversy over female ranks is not entirely new. The issue had been discussed at the Department of Defense several times in recent years, but no decision was ever made.
According to information from SPIEGEL, the issue returned to the table in the summer at the suggestion of the federal president. Frank-Walter Steinmeier is formally responsible for rank designations within the Bundeswehr. In talks about introducing another new rank in the Bundeswehr, the federal president had suggested to the Defense Department that reform for female soldiers be addressed. Then planning began on the device.
The women of the Defense Committee of the Bundestag view the plans with considerable skepticism. It is completely irrelevant to her whether there are female classifications, said the FDP defense policy spokeswoman Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the “Welt”: “But I think the Bundeswehr has other concerns.”
The soldiers of the Bundeswehr expressed their discontent even more clearly. In a well-orchestrated Twitter campaign titled “We are against rank change in the Bundeswehr,” dozens of female soldiers posted their photo on the Internet and protested against a change in the previous rules. The campaign has spread like wildfire online among soldiers in recent days.
SPD politician Siemtje Möller believes that “it is good to think of non-discriminatory language. When I speak to female members of the Bundeswehr, they do not complain about a non-gender rank, but a lack of protective vests, too few boots or wardrobes swept so they don’t have a flight suit their size. “
Bundestag Defense Commissioner Eva Högl (SPD) expressed her dissatisfaction with the low proportion of women in the troops. Twenty years after the European Court of Justice ruled that women should also be able to use guns, there is still “room for improvement” given the current figure of around 12 percent for women. She told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”: “30 percent of women in the armed forces would certainly benefit the troops.” On dealing with women in the Bundeswehr, she said “they were not yet equally respected everywhere.”
