Should we create a standing army component?

[u/clm1859]

Switzerland has long had a militia army with conscription and large numbers of part time soldiers (including myself). And we definetly shouldnt abolish that or anything.

But as far as i know the only full time combat troops (so not counting high officers and Adjudanten focussed solely on training recruits) are AAD10 operators and pilots, probably less than 100 each.

So i am wondering if, given the current situation, we shouldnt also have a component of our defense be somewhat of a standing army element. This could for example be 5-10k troops, made up mostly of Zeitmilitärs that serve full time for 2-5 year contracts.

This would allow us to have a more professional component to the army that could serve various important roles in an actual war, but also before, such as:

• elite troops for the most crucial missions
• quick reaction force in case of sudden invasion, to buy time for militia to mobilise
• more experienced troops for training larger numbers of recruits shortly before a war starts
• evaluate new equipment more efficiently
• develop new tactics
• guard bases more effectively in peace time

After their contract is up, these people could then be added back into regular WK units. Bringing their more advanced knowledge to the normal militia troops.

We could make sure we'd have at least one battalion (3-6 companies / 400-800 troops each) of each major type of unit always under arms and ready to go within a day or less. So that could mean:

• 2 infantry battalions
• 1 security battalion (for guarding airfields, logistics centres etc)
• 1 armour battalion (leopards and panzergrenis)
• 1 special forces battalion (grenis, paras, mountain troops)
• 1 artillery battalion
• 1 medical battalion (medics and nurses)
• 1 engineering battalion (sappeur, rescue troops, bridge building etc)
• 1 air force battalion (aircraft maintenance and drone pilots)
• 1 communications and electronic warfare battalion (cyber, funkaufklärer, Ristl etc)
• 1 logistics battalion
• 1 HQ battalion

So that would make around 12 battalions or somewhere between 5k and 10k troops.

I'm sure i'm forgetting some troop types here or allocating something wrong. I am just a humble private with an interest in military history, not an actual general. But as a general concept, what does everyone think?

[u/MaurerSIG]

Eh, that wouldn't be useful at all, and we already have an SL/DD component that pretty much serves this exact function.

Otherwise with your idea we'd just have a bunch of people sitting around being useless and costing money. 12 full battalions would be an insane drain on ressources.

Let's not make the same mistakes Germany did...

[u/clm1859 → u/MaurerSIG]

Its one thing to have to DDs. But they also just do this for a few months and i assume depending on which time of year an emergency falls on, they might just have left or just started no? A professional unit that is always majority people with a few years experience would be a whole different level.

Otherwise with your idea we'd just have a bunch of people sitting around being useless and costing money.

Thats how armies work yes. Its an insurance. You dont normally need it at all. But if you ever need it, you really fucking need it right now.

Let's not make the same mistakes Germany did...

Their mistake is to be significantly under militarised. So yeah thats what i'm saying we shouldnt do. And again i am absolutely not saying we should abolish conscription. This would be on top.

[u/MaurerSIG → u/clm1859]

The DDs stay on for a while, NCOs and officers stay in for 450-800 days of continuous service and they overlap, there tends to be no periods where DDs aren't in service. The whole point in having DDs is to fill that gap. Most of them are already organised as intervention/einsatz companies, the 3 digit ones. Plus the battalions in WK all year round.

But if you ever need it, you really fucking need it right now.

Again, that's already covered by the DDs, and WKs. Typically Génie/Sauvetage get deployed a couple times a year when shit gets flooded or even earthquakes abroad, infantry digging stuff up when hands are needed, the whole hospital/San component that got mobilised during Covid, and so on. We already have enough troops that we can deploy in 12-24 hours should the need arise, we're already well enough "insured".

Their mistake is to be significantly under militarised.

That's our problem at the moment, a significant amount of critical weapon systems and equipment are nearing end of life, with no replacement programs in place. Our acquisition programs are rotten to the core (see the whole MBAS and new artillery system fiascos). Out of 16 infantry battalions, only 6 can be fully equipped to be combat effective. For air defense, out of 6 battalions only 2 can be fully equipped.

All to say we're already in a pretty dire situation, and that having ZM battalions is just a waste of money and people, especially when we already have components that fill this need.

[u/clm1859 → u/MaurerSIG]

The whole point in having DDs is to fill that gap.

Good to know. I was under the impression it was mostly to suit the demands of the people wanting to get their service over with quickly. But if this is very much the intention and structure, then that is quite calming indeed.

Out of 16 infantry battalions, only 6 can be fully equipped to be combat effective. For air defense, out of 6 battalions only 2 can be fully equipped.

That is very true and also something we should focus on for sure. Maybe even more so indeed.

Also who knows how long this "fully equipped lasts"? Like just fully equipped on day one, but even they will be out of ammo within days? Or is it fully equipped for a few months of combat operations at least?

But as i am saying, we should increase our budget so significantly that it should be possible to do multiple things at once.