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Soldier in the Bundeswehr: So far, the ranks have been preceded by the salutation "woman"
Photo: Axel Heimken / dpa
For about twenty years women have been allowed to serve in the armed forces.
So far, however, there are no female ranks.
In the future, however, the Bundeswehr could also officially use the terms Sergeant, Boatswife or Lieutenant Colonel.
On Friday, the "Welt" reported on corresponding considerations in the Ministry of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU).
In its report, the "Welt" refers to an internal memo from the defense department.
According to the paper from the summer, the minister will be presented with a corresponding proposal for a decision next Tuesday.
A so-called table talk with the responsible top officials of the ministry is planned for the day.
However, it is unlikely that a decision will already be made there, according to the defense department.
So far the ranks of female soldiers have been preceded by the salutation "woman".
In the future, according to the memo, the rank itself will be "gendered" - but with exceptions.
The plans provided "not to change the terms captain and colonel".
According to "Welt" there should be no main wife or colonel, but there should be a lieutenant colonel or a brigadier general.
In a transition phase of one year it should be possible that "the new service designations can already be used".
The ministry reacted cautiously to the "world" report.
Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer has not yet been involved with projects on this particular point, it said.
In general, equality between women and men is "a consistent guiding principle".
Linguistic equal treatment is one of many issues.
"But I think that the Bundeswehr has other worries"
The controversy over female ranks is not entirely new.
The question had been discussed in the Defense Department several times in the past few years, but no decision was ever made.
According to SPIEGEL information, the topic came back on the table in the summer at a suggestion by the Federal President.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is formally responsible for the rank designations within the Bundeswehr.
In talks about the introduction of another new rank in the Bundeswehr, the Federal President had suggested to the Defense Department that reform for the female soldiers be tackled.
Then the planning began in the apparatus.
The women in the Defense Committee of the Bundestag see the plans rather skeptically.
It is completely irrelevant to her whether there are female rankings, said the defense policy spokeswoman for the FDP, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the "Welt": "But I think that the Bundeswehr has other concerns."
Soldiers of the Bundeswehr expressed their displeasure even more clearly.
In a well-orchestrated Twitter campaign with the title "We are against the ranks changing in the Bundeswehr" dozens of women soldiers published their photos on the Internet and protested against a change in the previous rules.
The campaign, which was started by a young soldier who works in the ministry, has spread like wildfire among soldiers in the last few days.
The SPD defense politician Siemtje Möller thinks it is "good in principle to think about non-discriminatory language. When I speak to female members of the Bundeswehr, they do not complain about a rank that is not gendered, but about a lack of protective vests, too few boots or empty swept closets so they don't have a flight suit their size. "
The defense commissioner of the Bundestag, Eva Högl (SPD), expressed dissatisfaction with the low proportion of women in the troops.
Twenty years after the European Court of Justice ruled that women must also be allowed to use weapons, there is still "room for improvement" in view of the current figure of around twelve percent women.
She told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung": "A 30 percent share of women in the armed forces would certainly do the troops good."
When it came to dealing with women in the Bundeswehr, she said that they were "not yet equally respected everywhere".
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