I was reading this article [https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/armee-ohne-offiziere-hauptmann-gesucht](https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/armee-ohne-offiziere-hauptmann-gesucht) (use DeepL/GoogleTranslate if you can’t read German) and they say that there aren’t enough officers in the Swiss Army. That almost every fourth officer position isn’t filled.

For example, they say that it’s really hard to find people willing to rank up until captain.

I really can’t believe that. The only function that is frequently hard to fill is sergeant, which I can understand seeing how \*\*\* that function is. But every other function, be it under-officer or officer, I can’t believe there is a shortage of people fullfilling those functions.

Do some of you have more infos about that ?

7 comments

  1. Wdym you dont understand?

    People are FORCED to be there for aprox 5-6months and then cant be fucked to stay another 6 months lol

    It’s not worth it. They tried so hard to force me to do “Wachmeister” but in the end they gave up.

    I have better things to do in life than stay in the army.
    The ONLY REASON people stay in the army is money. If you want to go up the ranks, it pays pretty good since you don’t spend much.
    But I would rather do my normal job, earn more and have an actual life where I can do what I want lmfao

    Edit: also lets not forget that you get more days the higher rank you are. So not only are you losing 6months of your life, but you’re gonna lose 7days more every year for what, 3-4 years longer than an average soldier?

  2. I can add some more details. I don’t have detailed statistics on how many officiers are missing, but I can share where they are missing.

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    Officiers are missing in specialist post.

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    Now, if you have done your military service, you have probably seen officier only as your section leader (Zugfuhrer/chef de section).

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    Those are generally not missing, we even tend to have too many of them.

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    Company commandant are not that difficult to find, but as they are only supposed to serve for 3 years, you have to find replacement often.

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    What is missing is specialist at the bataillon level (and above)

    A bataillon doesn’t need that many specialist officier, between 20 to 30 depending on what kind of units it is (infantry will require some curbed fire officier and a rescue one will require some firefighting specialist).

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    The big difference is that all those positions are not filled from the RS/ER, you have to find people willing to rank after they start to do their yearly service.

    Mostly from the existing officiers.

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    Not that many people are willing to sign for an unlimited added days of service.

    Also, the amount of days you will do each year goes up.

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    Not only do you have to be there for 4 weeks of WK, but generally 1-3 more weeks spread out through the year (preparation for the WK mostly).

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    As I’ve mentionned, the captain rank has no more amount of days to serve, you are bound to serve until you are 42 years old or they are willing to not longer call you in service.

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    The only things I’m waiting for is for someone to willingly decide to volunteer to become my role, until then, I will be called into service until I’m 42…

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    Some specialist function have less issue than others, it’s way more fun (and less work)to be an intel officier, than a logistic one.

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    And the issue is the same for the level above bataillon (division).

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    This still exist for function at the company level, Fourrier and Feldi are generally missing (Fourrier way more than Feldi).

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    In the last 4 years, I had between 1/5 to 3/5 of the Fourrier I needed (and 1/10 to 3/10 of the one assigned to come).

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    P.S: The funny things is that the current biggest impact from shortage is coming from cooking personnel. As missing 1/5 of your Staff officier will have less impact on the mission than missing 1/2 of your cooking crew 🙂

  3. It’s only possible for a small number of people to go away from their job for extended periods every year until they’re in their mid forties or something. Also it messes up with studies. Those who still want to do it often are not really the ones you want to give responsibility to…

    Really not hard to understand.

  4. >The only function that is frequently hard to fill is sergeant, which I can understand seeing how *** that function is.

    That’s not exactly true though. Sergeant isn’t a bad gig. They only have a few more service days than soldiers and little extra responsibilities compared to officers and senior-ncos. Plus the army can force you to become one unlike higher ranks(at least not realistically).

    However I can completely understand why there’s a lack of company commanders. Their workload is insane and they don’t receive any financial compensation for all the work they have to do in preparation for repetition courses.

  5. >I really can’t believe that. The only function that is frequently hard to fill is sergeant, which I can understand seeing how *** that function is.

    Either you have no idea about the Swiss army, or you mean seargent major instead of seargent. There will always be seargents as they can be “created” quite easily.

  6. Yes, the army has a shortage of officers, especially hauptman (read: captain) and above. Why?

    Well this can be only speculated about but I would assume that there is not enough motivation / benefit. Most of my fellow officers have at least a bachelors degree and it is only a hinderance for their careers were they to pursue further advancement in the army.

    There are probably other factors at play.

    **Note as well**: This article is more than 4 years old.

  7. Lack of incentive, I guess. Military justice is not bad as they pay you an additional study and you are very flexible with your service.

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