The armies facing a growing evaporation of their troops

It’s not yet a loss of love, rather a discreet evaporation, but the trend is more and more tenacious. In recent years, the difficulties of recruitment and retention within the military institution have increased. A subject that concerns the ministry and which should not fail to provoke debate, as begins, Tuesday, May 9, before the Defense Committee of the National ***embly, the examination of the military programming law (LPM) supposed to plan the expenditure of the armies until 2030, in which several articles are devoted to this problem.

As part of a parliamentary report on the results of the previous LPM – published in February and supported by deputies Yannick Chenevard (Renaissance, Var) and Laurent Jacobelli (National Rally, Moselle) – the Ministry of the Armed Forces recognized that, between 2019 and 2022, an overall increase in departures of around 6% had been observed, including + 2.5% for the military and + 25% for civilians. Figures that have gone so far as to undermine recruitment targets – thus, 700 positions have not been filled in 2021 – and which are likely to continue to weigh, while the armies have the ambition to create 6,300 new positions by 2030.

The question of stabilizing the strength of the armed forces is a sea serpent for many reasons. The former Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, had already tackled this through, in particular, “family plans” intended to improve the ordinary of the military.

But the phenomenon hardens and joins today those of other sovereign bodies, such as the police or the prison administration. “We are used to having a turnover in the teams, but we had never seen this phenomenon on such a scale”admitted the director of human resources of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Thibaut de Vanssay, during his hearing by parliamentarians for this report.

“Feeling of lack of recognition”

The army is the most concerned, mainly for the recruitment of enlisted men. In 2022, the contract termination rate before the end of training reached 32%, while the desired maximum is 25%. “A significant proportion of these young people sometimes conceal a medical condition or problems (…), and we have to tell them no. A second factor is that young people may have a fantasized view of military life.justified to the Parisianon April 21, General Marc Conruyt, director of human resources for the army, while explaining that this evaporation was drying up after five years of contract, with 82% renewal.

You have 65.67% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.