German defense policy must be more than watching the Chancellor and the Social Democrats find a suitable defense minister.

Because the Bundeswehr needs a rebuild.

It has already started without Minister Lambrecht.

For a long time, the Berlin Republic's Basic Law stated that the federal government had some soldiers ready for peacekeeping and stabilization missions.

The Bundeswehr had been reduced by around two-thirds of its former soldiers and four-fifths of its weapons.

The armaments office designed new armored personnel carriers based on the packing dimensions of a transport plane to Africa.

Frigates should sail in the warm waters off Somalia for two years and have space for refugees.

Nuclear sharing was as old-fashioned as the bombers that went with it.

Soon after German unity, all defense ministers committed themselves to downsizing, and the generals valiantly helped.

Most of the disarmament ministers belonged to the CDU, two to the SPD and one was from the CSU, Baron zu Guttenberg.

He suspended conscription in 2011, reduced the number of troops by 30,000 soldiers and followed Chancellor Angela Merkel's request to save eight billion euros in the defense budget.

A predecessor, himself from the CDU, later spoke of the "destruction of the Bundeswehr".

No more anti-aircraft

When the army air defense was disbanded in November 2013, there was no protest.

Their weapon was, among others, the recently legendary anti-aircraft tank Gepard.

The army owned 420 of them, none are left.

Until the Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, nobody was bothered by the fact that there was no longer any air defense.

The conflict was shaped by modern combat drones.

In Germany, it was noticed that the Bundeswehr did not have any armed drones, but was also unable to defend itself against drone attacks.

While the Bundestag continued to strive for a pacifist drone culture, Panzergrenadiers, paratroopers and fighter companies feared for future survival in combat.

This is one of the reasons why the gulf between politicians and those who are supposed to fight in the war has widened over the years.

Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen did her bit when she attested that the army had an attitude problem and, based on her general suspicion, ordered searches for World War memorabilia at home and abroad.

The inspector general at the time stood by.

At that time, according to the military historian Sönke Neitzel, the "bond between leadership and troops that had been overused for decades" was torn.

Since the turning point, which began with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the government has returned to the Basic Law.

Article 87a states: "The federal government shall deploy armed forces for defence." Von der Leyen initiated the turning point.

Since then, the defense budget has increased by around 60 percent.

However, a reform of the procurement system failed.

The hopes of the troops for better equipment are linked to the promises made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to NATO and the 100 billion fund.

Scholz is the first Chancellor in decades to adopt the word "combat power" for the armed forces.

In his speeches he describes a Bundeswehr that will be ready "to defend every square meter of the alliance".

After the Russian attack on Ukraine, Scholz promised Germany armed forces “that reliably protected us”.

In fact, there are hundreds of German soldiers in the Baltic States, in Romania and in Slovakia.

The Navy and Air Force are patrolling the Baltic Sea more intensively.

But this is only a humble beginning.

Armed forces are needed that can assert themselves in war and render opponents incapable of defense.

This includes more than money, it also includes a mentality of defense.

Scholz has nothing against it, which is progress.

Divisions from individual associations

Even in today's rump defence, there are powerful battalions and brigades.

Despite all the discussion about breakdown Pumas, no one should assume that the Saxon Panzergrenadier Brigade, which currently forms the core of the NATO spearhead, has an easy time of it.

It is the most important task of the army to form two or three divisions from such individual formations in the coming years, which together with their European and American brothers in arms need not shy away from a duel.

The Bundestag, which has long neglected the armed forces and even underestimated them, must provide more funds for them, much more.

And only if there is a political leadership that puts its heart and soul into it can the bond that must connect politics, society and the armed forces in a democracy be re-established if they fight with them on a permanent basis and if necessary wants to stand up to their enemies.