A few days ago, a press conference was held with Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and Civilian Service Minister Elisabeth Köstinger at the Ministry of Defense. After a challenging year due to the coronavirus crisis and the resulting need to deploy conscripts and civilian service personnel, the two ministers jointly took stock of 2020.
On January 1, 2021, the time has come: new rules for physical examinations will ensure that conscripts with minor restrictions will also be able to perform their basic military service. This will be made possible by the so-called “partial fitness”, which allows those affected to carry out a suitable activity. These conscripts are used, for example, in offices, in army kitchens or in IT departments if they have the appropriate skills. A working group consisting of experts from the Ministry of Defense, led by Major General Harald Vodosek, has been working on this project for almost a year. All work processes were carried out in close coordination with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism and the Civilian Service Agency. The expert group’s work packages included the legal framework, functions, training and the deployability of the soldiers, but the health assessment criteria (in medical and psychological terms) were also dealt with intensively by the working group. Only those who are actually unfit due to a physical or mental impairment should be exempted from military service. As before, “full fitness” will mean that conscripts will be able to serve in the armed forces without restriction or opt for civilian service. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niy5u5CGOw8&feature=emb_title
