Austria - Military Personnel

As of 2024 plans assume that the current target personnel framework will be maintained. The mobilization strength of 55,000 soldiers will be maintained for the time being. In future, operational requirements must be funded in such a way that the training and deployment preparation of the soldiers can be ensured. The ÖBH 2032+ development plan represents the implementation of the armed forces profile “Our Army” into military capabilities. The entire mobilized Federal Army must be able to conduct operations nationwide as part of military national defense. This requires far-reaching changes, especially in the areas of organization, training and equipment. The Federal Army must be organized and deployable quickly, flexibly and robustly.

For military national defense, reaction forces from all branches of the armed forces and military branches of the present forces, including the rapidly available elements of the militia, must be able to be deployed. The core of the reaction forces are made up of assertive infantry combat troops, reconnaissance forces and special forces, as well as mechanized forces if necessary. These are supported by air, cyber and information forces.

The further development of the militia system is an essential factor, with the focus on adequate personnel and material equipment of the militia units and associations and ensuring the training and exercises necessary for operational readiness. In order to increase the immediate response capability, militia elements with a higher level of readiness must be integrated into the reaction forces.

The independently structured Militia units and battalions are assigned to the brigades. The independently structured units are integrated into the independently structured battalions. These battalions then take on the character of the brigades to which they are assigned in their tasks/capabilities.

Austrians voted 20 January 2013 to retain conscription, one of the few European Union members with mandatory military service. In a referendum, 60 percent of voter favored the current mandatory military training, with only 40 percent favoring a professional military. Currently, about 22,000 men older than 18 are drafted into six months of military training annually, out of some 48,000 reaching draft age each year. A further 14,000 men perform nine months of alternative community service ["Zivildienst"], such as working in hospitals. Most European countries have abolished the draft, including most notably France in 1996 and Germany in 2011. Apart from Austria, other European countries with conscription include Cyprus, Estonia, Finland and Greece.

Austrian Defense Minister Norbert Darabos, of the center-left Social Democrats (SPÖ), had called the draft outdated in an era of counterterrorism and cybercrime. "The nature of the threat has changed,” Darabos said. “That's why a transformation is necessary." Darabos has been criticised by opponents for opting for serving in healthcare instead of in the army as a young man himself. The army chief of staff, General Edmund Entacher, had warned that a professional military would lead "irreversibly to a drop in quality, numbers and ability." Others argued that a reduced military would prove too small to adequately respond to natural disasters.

In 2000, the Austrian Armed Forces had 35,500 people. (including 17,500 recruits). The organized reserve included 75,000 people. (called for three days), the unorganized reserve was 990,000 people. By 2018 the Austrian Armed Forces had 22,400 people, the length of service for recruits is 6 months, 30 days for reserve volunteers; 120-150 days in addition for officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists. The maximum number of forces during the war will be 55,000 people. Reserves include 152,200 people (organized - 25,500 people, unorganized - 126,700 people), 7,500 reservists are called in a year.

The construction of the Austrian Armed Forces was carried out on the basis of the law on military duty and the militia recruitment system. Military service included a period of training in recruit schools (7 months) and stay in the reserve of territorial militia groups up to the age of 50. At the same time, in the course of 10 years, appeals were made in aggregate for 30 days or an additional service for 8 months, but without the following appeals. Officers, non-commissioned officers and specialists were called up additionally in aggregate for 60-90 days and stayed in reserve until the age of 65. Annually called for a short time to 66 thousand reservists. Primary recruits were attributed to militia military units located in the area of ??their place of residence. During the call, they were supposed to arrive there with personal weapons, uniforms and equipment.

Austrian conscription existed largely to train reservists, as the mandatory period of 26 weeks "with the colors" provides enough time for initial training and not much else. In the United States Army, Initial Entry Training (IET) begins with Basic Combat Training, transforms a civilian into a Soldier, and takes 10 weeks to complete. Advanced Individual Training provides classroom training and field instruction for a specific career field. For a Cannon Crewmember this may take 5 weeks, or for a Patriot System Repairer this may take 33 weeks. Infantry and Armor One Station Unit Training (OSUT), which combines Basic Combat Training (BCT) with Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in one location, lasts from 14 to 16 weeks. It is not by accident that Ministry of Defence and Sports combines these two functions.

Until 1971 Austrian males were obligated to serve nine months in the armed forces, followed by four days of active service every two years for training and inspection. In 1971 the period of initial service was reduced to six months, followed by a total of sixty days of refresher training in the reserves. In the early 1990s, about 45,000 conscripts completed their initial military training every year, and 80,000 reservists participated in some form of exercises each year.

Reducing the mobilization strength of the army to 120,000 under the New Army Structure plan was accomplished in part by limiting initial training of recruits to six months, followed by reducing the period allotted for refresher training from twenty years to ten years. Each reservist received training over a twelve-day period every second year during his first ten years of reserve duty, generally not extending beyond the time he reaches his mid-thirties. The reduced need for conscripts corresponded to a lower pool of young men because of a declining birth rate. The existing availability of about 40,000 fit trainees annually as of 1993 was expected to fall to barely 30,000 by the year 2000 and to 26,000 by 2015.

Conscripts can choose to serve seven months instead of six and have a shorter reserve obligation. Some may serve their full obligation of eight months at one time and have no reserve obligations, but this may occur only at the army's discretion. Under a 1974 law, conscientious objectors can be assigned work as farm laborers, medical orderlies, or other occupations in lieu of military service. The length of substitute service is 9 months (from 1 January 2006 on). This is one and a half times the length of military service.

Exemptions from service are liberally granted -- in 1992 about 12,000 persons were exempted, a great increase over the 1991 total of 4,500. The increase occurred after a new law, valid only for 1992 and 1993, no longer required young men to present their objections to the military in a credible way. Previously, that had not been the case. In 1990, for example, two young men rejected by the alternate service commission on the grounds that they did not present their beliefs in a credible manner were sentenced to prison terms of three months and one month, respectively.

Conscripts usually attain the rank of private first class by the completion of initial training. Those with leadership potential may serve a longer period to obtain noncommissioned officer (NCO) status in the militia. Those volunteering for the career service can, after three to four years, apply to attend the NCO academy and later a senior NCO course to qualify as warrant officers. Both regular and militia officer candidates undergo a one-year program of basic training.

After a further three years, regular officer candidates attending the military academy at Wiener Neustadt and militia officer candidates undergoing periodic intensified refresher training qualify as second lieutenants. The reserve obligation of conscripts generally ends by the time they reach their mid-thirties; NCOs and officers usually end their reserve status at a later age depending on their rank and specialization. By the early 1990s, some 1.3 million men had completed their initial service and refresher training obligations and had no further active-duty commitment.

The military personnel system is an integral part of a comprehensive civil service system. The nine officer ranks from officer candidate through general correspond to grades I through IX of the civil service system. The highest grade, IX, may be occupied by a section chief (undersecretary), a career ambassador, or a three-star general. A grade VIII position may be held by a departmental counselor, a career minister, or a brigadier general. Salary levels are the same for both civil and military personnel in the equivalent grades, although various allowances may be added, such as flight pay or hazardous-duty pay.

Promotion is not based solely on merit but on position attained, level of education, and seniority. Officers with advanced degrees (for which study at the National Defense Academy qualifies) can expect to attain grade VIII before reaching the retirement age of sixty to sixty-five. Those with a baccalaureate degree can expect to reach grade VII (colonel), and those without university training will retire as captains or majors. Career NCOs form part of the same comprehensive personnel structure. It is common for NCOs to transfer at some stage in their careers to civilian status at the equivalent grade, either in the Ministry for National Defense or in the police or prison services after further training.

The system of promotion in the Austrian military, which offers no incentive for early retirement, means that the military is top-heavy with senior officers. The New Army Structure, which is intended to result in many fewer active-duty and reserve commands, compounds the difficulty. Personnel changes can be implemented only gradually, as the surplus of officers shrinks by attrition. As of 1991, the army had four officers of general rank, fifty-nine at the rank of brigadier general (one star), 155 colonels, and 254 lieutenant colonels. The education of career officers is conducted at the Maria Theresa Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt, thirty kilometers south of Vienna, which was founded in 1752.

Young men who have completed their university entrance requirements are eligible to compete for places. The three-year course graduated 212 students in 1990. At the National Defense Academy in Vienna, which has a curriculum comparable to those of the National Defense University and the Army War College in the United States, operational and troop commanders of fieldgrade rank study for three years in preparation for general staff and command positions. The NCO school is located at Enns near Linz. Troop schools provide continuous specialized courses for officers and NCOs in artillery, air defense, armor, combat engineering, communications, and the like.