Transfer of Office at the Federal Ministry of Defence
Berlin, 29.10.2009.
On 28 October, Dr. Franz Josef Jung and the Ministry of Defence staff welcomed the new Federal Minister of Defence, Dr. Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg, with military honours in the Bendler Block in Berlin. Guttenberg is the 15th and, at 37, youngest Minister of Defence in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Subsequently, Dr. Jung, who had headed the Ministry since 2005, took his leave of his office with all due ceremony during a grand tattoo.
There was a hint of melancholy in the outgoing minister’s words of farewell. He expressed his gratitude to the soldiers, civilian employees and reservists for their excellent cooperation and support during the past four years and commemorated those soldiers who died for the cause of peace and freedom. Jung assured his successor that he would be able to rely on a modern and strong team in his new office.
Return to familiar territory
Guttenberg said that he would tackle his new tasks as Minister of Defence with pleasure and respect, his pleasure being especially due to his passion for foreign and security policy.
“It is the return to a field of politics that I have always had a liking for,” Guttenberg admitted. The new incumbent gained plenty of experience in this field while he was on the Defence Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee and as spokesperson of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag on disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control.
Guttenberg thanked his predecessor for his achievements. “German security policy bears the unmistakable hallmark of Franz Josef Jung.” He added that he was looking forward to working with Jung in the future, too, when they would both be colleagues in the cabinet of Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Leaving a challenging office
When Franz Josef Jung became Minister of Defence in Federal Chancellor Merkel’s cabinet in November 2005, it was no mean task that lay ahead of him. As Minister of Defence, Jung was in charge of an army that presently has 8,200 military personnel on numerous operations abroad in the context of international peacekeeping missions.
Despite the tight defence budget, he forged ahead with the necessary transformation of the Bundeswehr to make it an expeditionary army. In the summer of 2008, Jung bade farewell to the 250,000th soldier to be deployed abroad. As Commander-in-Chief of the Bundeswehr, Jung successfully championed the cause of the soldiers.
During his term in office, the soldiers’ social security, for example, was considerably improved. The Act on the Continued Employment of Personnel Injured on Operations provides for continued employment in the Bundeswehr of military personnel wounded or injured on deployment. In 2008, he successfully campaigned in the German Bundestag for an increase in military pay. Furthermore, he managed to obtain an increase in the defence budget after years of budget cuts.
Not least, the Bundeswehr Memorial was a matter close to the heart of the outgoing minister. This structure, which was built at the Bendler Block in 2009, is a memorial site for personnel killed in the service of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Military honours for the outgoing minister
The grand tattoo that took place on the parade ground of the Federal Ministry of Defence in Berlin marked the end of Franz Josef Jung’s term in office. Flanked by the guard of honour of the Bundeswehr Guard Battalion, the military band played the military marches that Jung had requested.
The grand tattoo is a tradition that goes back a long way in German military history and one of the Bundeswehr’s most prominent military ceremonies. It is a special form of bestowing military honours on those who have rendered outstanding service to the Bundeswehr.
