PESCO EU Defense Pact

[spmetla]

The spare parts thing is possibly a problem like we have in the Army National Guard. We no longer are able to stockpile items for weapons, vehicles, body armor etc.. which means when something breaks we have to order it and wait weeks to months for it come back down.
The change was supposed to reduce waste of over ordering but with rapidly worn parts it means increased down time. Imagine if you had to order individual pens when you'v used one up instead of having a stock of pens available already. It'd be nice if all my humvees with one working headlamp and no spare tires could get those fixed quickly but sadly the supply systems are no longer designed to be fast but cost cutting by reducing the waste of over-ordering.

When I said invest I also meant in people. The change to a volunteer army was a poor idea in a nation that abhors military service. Money alone doesn't man tanks or aircraft. Lack of use of the army also decreases morale, the many peacekeeping missions and other 'little' deployments create a purpose for professional soldiers in nations not at war. Spending 20-30 years in a military without ever doing anything other than training hurts morale and therefore retention which leads to decreased readiness.
The people that joined the German Navy to be submariners and now have to wait months before being able to sail again will probably have extremely low morale.

It reminds me actually of a quote one my Austrian cousins said during his draftee service period that summed up the attitude toward military "God Save Austria because we certainly can't"