Five years ago – under French presidency of the European Union (EU) – the ‘Eu-ropean initiative for the exchange of young officers inspired by Erasmus’ was founded.
Subordinated to the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) an Implementation Group (IG) consisting of experts from Basic Officer Education Institutions was given the tasks to elaborate possibilities and to create preconditions to encourage exchanges of young officers during their initial education and training. Existing programmes are to be used as well as creating new avenues of approach for the purpose of strengthening the interoperability of the European armed forces through exchanges in education in the mili-tary field.
The overall goal of this initiative goes hand in hand with the European Security Strategy (ESS), the Report on the implementation of ESS, the Austrian Military Strategic Concept and other documents.
The aim of the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leadership at the Theresan Military Academy (TMA) is – using the approaches of the initiative – to in-crease students’ interoperability and intercultural competences to prepare them best for managing their future challenges.
The most important TMA-programmes which differ between ‘incoming’ and
‘outgoing’ activities are listed hereinafter. Only those programmes are mentioned which took place in 2012.
International Training on the Job (ITJ) ‘outgoing’:
All students of the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leadership are sent abroad to about 15 – mainly EU – countries for a period of six weeks during the 6th semester. The aim is to take over the responsibility for the purpose of increasing their personal competences. Because of organizational developments within the Austrian Armed Forces certain goals – mainly taking over of responsibility – can be achieved abroad only, that is why the ITJ features an essential part of the Austrian Basic Officer Education.
Harald Gell – Col Dr., MSc, MSD, MBA, Head of the International Office at the Theresan Military
An Austrian Officer Cadet acting as a Commander in Slovakia during the ITJ 2012 (Photo: OCdt Gehr)
International Semester ‘outgoing’:
During the 5th semester about 12 to 15 students are sent to the United States Mili-tary Academy (USMA) at West Point, to the Écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan and to the Officer School of the Army in Dresden. This semester abroad is recognised as the 5th se-mester of the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leadership and replaces the ITJ.
International Semester ‘incoming’:
Each year students from the USMA at West Point, the Écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, the Academy of the Land Forces in Sibiu, the University of Defence in Brno, the Military Academy of Lithuania and the Swedish National Defence College absolve semesters at TMA. The main purpose of their stay is to write Bachelor or Master Theses.
Because of having signed Erasmus agreements, students from the Royal Military Acade-my in Brussels and from the Armed Forces AcadeAcade-my in Liptovsky Mikulas are expected in the near future.
A Swedish Officer Cadet receives his Bachelor exam certificate (Photo: WO Seeger)
International Specialization Semester ‘outgoing’:
During the 4th semester the students have to choose a specialization out of Econo-my, Political Science, Pedagogic and Information & Communication Technology. Based
on Erasmus agreements the studies of Economy take place at the University of Defence in Brno and the studies of Political Science are to be absolved at the Military Academy of the Land Forces in Wroclaw and at the Military Academy Lithuania.
Entire Basic Officer Education ‘incoming’:
In 2013 – starting with the entrance exam to the Bachelor Studies of Applied Sci-ence in Military Leadership – foreign Officer Cadets will begin the entire Basic Officer Education at TMA. That is why the entire education will be offered in English language as a parallel line. Some European countries asked to participate – Albania has confirmed their attendance.
Other International Activities ‘outgoing’:
On a case to case basis foreign Basic Officer Education Institutions offer interna-tional weeks and/or internainterna-tional conferences. For example 2 Austrian Officer Cadets participated in the International Conference at MALF in Wroclaw in September 2012. If TMA sees a benefit for the Austrian students following the overall aim of increasing in-teroperability and intercultural competences, participation is possible. Sight-seeing activi-ties are rejected.
Other International Activities ‘incoming’:
Partner institutions of the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leader-ship request on a case to case basis various educations for their Officer Cadets – e.g.
USMA at West Point requests training in riding and learning German. If TMA is up to the mark, it fulfils the wishes because in doing so the international semesters or the ITJ can be guaranteed.
Informal Exchanges ‘outgoing’ & ‘incoming’:
Officer Cadets – both, Austrian and foreign ones – show an increasing interest in exchanges on own costs and during leisure time to receive information about other Basic Officer Education Institutions and to participate certain events. These efforts are support-ed by TMA officials.
EMILYO (Exchange of Military Young Officers) ‘outgoing’:
Within the framework of the ‘European Initiative for the exchange of young offic-ers inspired by ERASMUS’ so-called ‘Common Modules’ are elaborated. The aim is to harmonize the Basic Officer Education within the EU. If an EU-Member State offers such a Common Module, Austrian students are sent on a case to case basis. In 2012 for exam-ple four Austrian Officer Cadets participated in the Common Module “Maritime Leader-ship” in France, other four Cadets were sent to the “Common Security and Defence Poli-cy-Olympiad” in Cyprus.
EMILYO (Exchange of Military Young Officers) ‘incoming’:
In comparison with other EU-countries the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leadership offers the most Common Modules for international participation. As the only Basic Officer Education Institution within the EU – Austria integrated the Com-mon Modules ‘Media Relations Training’, ‘Law of Armed Conflict’, ‘Crisis Management Operations’ and ‘Common Security and Defence Policy’ into the regular study pro-gramme. In doing so, ‘harmonizing the European Basic Officer Education’ is lived at the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leadership. In 2012 Polish students from Wroclaw participated in the Modules CSDP and Law of Armed Conflict.
Statistics:
The following graph shows the increasing development of incoming Officer Ca-dets from 2005 to 2012 – counted in working days.
The development of incoming Officer Cadets at TMA counted in working days. (Source: Statistics ADir Berger, graph created by Col Dr. Gell)
Cooperating countries ‘outgoing’ in 2012 (Source: Statistics ADir Berger, graph created by Col Dr. Gell)
Cooperating countries ‘incoming’ in 2012 (Source: Statistics ADir Berger, graph created by Col Dr. Gell)
Before the creation of the Implementation Group (IG) the Bachelor Studies of Applied Science in Military Leadership still had exchanges with other countries – but because of the IG-work all the international activities increased incredibly.
With all these lines of exchanges – either incoming or outgoing – TMA’s respon-sibility to prepare Officer Cadets best – for managing their future challenges which they may face after graduation – should be achieved.
Summary
The Austrian basic officer education system and its relations with the Bologna process allow in-ternationalisation of military training. It is crucial for military education institutions to find a common platform of training. Introducing English as a teaching language and applying the Bolo-gna process can help to organize common tuition for international military students. The Intro-duction of European Credit Transfer System to military academies could be a platform for com-mon education initiatives and exchange of the military students.
Keywords: European initiative for the exchange of young officers inspired by Erasmus, Military Erasmus, EMILYO, military education, Austrian Armed Forces
Eckart KELLER
INNERE FÜHRUNG AS A WAY TO PREPARE YOUNG OFFICERS TO BE SOLDIERS AS WELL AS CITIZENS
After the WWII democratic Germany began the build-up of the new German armed forces in the early fifties. In the course of creation of the Bundeswehr new terms as
‘Innere Führung’ and ‘Citizen in Uniform’ were developed. Innere Führung is a way to prepare young officers to be soldiers as well as citizens. I like to start with a quotation of the former German President Roman Herzog. ‘Since its creation, the Bundeswehr repre-sents an Army integrated into the society. It can claim an exemplary education system, a modern leadership philosophy, and - if you allow me to use an unmilitary expression - a competitive corporate culture, the Innere Führung’1.
The first democratic state on German ground, the Weimar Republic, took over the Reichswehr from the 2nd German Empire with its growth of internal order and tradition.
The Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic was ‘a state in a state’, while the Wehrmacht in
‘the 3rd Reich’ became more and more an instrument of the national socialism. The Wehrmacht was involved in crimes against humanity. A repetition should be excluded for all future. It was necessary to determine a new relationship between a state and armed forces.
Because Innere Führung is directly linked with the creation of the Bundeswehr, it is based on two decisive facts: firstly, the historical experience of modern German history between 1919 and 1945, especially the period of National Socialism, and secondly, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, so-called the Basic Law of 1949. Ger-man Federal Armed Forces soldiers are committed to the values of a democratic constitu-tional state thereby. They swear their oath on the Basic Law. We are convinced that the soldier being the defender of our basic law and way of life must be conscious of those values and must have experienced them within the armed forces - if he is expected to stand up for them - in extreme by his own life. It is the Citizen in Uniform who represents the concept of the citizen as a free individual. It is the concept of the fighting soldier be-ing the natural defender of the community who shares responsibility for the protection of human rights, knowing that it is absolutely impossible to preserve the dignity of human without freedom and it portrays the image of a politically educated, responsible citizen whose status as a soldier does not affect his ability to understand and access political causes, conditions and possible consequences of his actions.
This concept, on one hand, will bind the forces to the Basic Law and on the other hand, will find reasonable compensation between functional military effectiveness and individual rights. This will ensure that we have operational Soldiers fulfilling their mis-sion by complying with the law. Innere Führung conducts 4 objectives:
Eckart Keller – COL (GS) – DepCommandant & Chief Trng / Education of DEU AOS
1 Speech of the former German President Roman Herzog, delivered on 11.12.96 in Hamburg.
1. to substantiate military service ethically, politically and legally and to make un-derstand the mission of the armed forces,
2. to integrate the armed forces and the soldier into the state and society,
3. to encourage a soldier in his willingness to serve loyally, to fulfil his military du-ties, to assume responsibility and co-operation as well as to maintain discipline in his unit,
4. to create an internal order for the armed forces, which is orientated at human dig-nity, the order of law and military efficiency.
Joint Service Publication (ZDv) 10/1 specifies ten selected areas of application that are closely interrelated, have a particular influence on the daily routine and make considerable demands on the leadership behavior of the superiors. These areas of applica-tion reveal that Innere Führung is a task to be accomplished by each soldier rather than an isolated field of training or a special organizational element. In its capacity as a basic command and control principle it characterizes the entire service in the armed forces and represents - as you would say at private enterprise level - the ‘entrepreneurial culture’ of the Bundeswehr.
Summary
The presentation acquaints with the German Armed Forces concept of Innere Führung (moral leadership, internal leadership). The concepts not only support military effectiveness of the Bun-deswehr but constitutes the foundations of civil-military relations in a democratic society that ensures civilian control over the military. The main goal is to create the conscious ‘Soldier as Citizen in Uniform’. Furthermore, the presentation depicts the way in which the German Land Forces Military Academy applies the concept of Innere Führung in the education system of the future officers.
Tomasz GŁUSZCZAK Anna ZAMIAR