Merging of the Recruitment Branch and the Political Information Branch of the German Armed Forces and Application of this Recruitment Network to Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The recruitment branch and the political information branch of the German Armed Forces have always been separated. Now, in times of a continuously shrinking budget and several ongoing reforms that include a massive reduction of the personnel body, we must rethink this structure. Merging these two branches would mean savings on the budget. Furthermore, we can assign the released personnel to other tasks, where the forces are in need of highly trained personnel. This cost-benefit analysis evaluates the status quo exclusively for one German state, compares this status quo to possible alternatives, and gives recommendations for the future of the two branches. For the optimal distribution of staff and offices, this analysis employs optimization modeling. We apply the resulting recruiting model to Saudi Arabia and assess the results based on that. Saudi Arabia is interested in potentially adopting the German system and we use the developed model to recommend the best recruiting locations in Saudi Arabia.