We are used to seeing news articles about difficulties in equipment procurement, controversies and questions about the effectiveness of the army. However another point is almost never mentionned by neither the pro or critics of the army, that is the relevance of the whole militia system in 2026. I will use the example of ICT (excluding cyber) troops to highlight the core problem that i perceive, which is : seriousness , but it applies overall. The militia system predates modern technological advances and processes, and some military functions are new or have gotten more complex, such as those with an ICT components. In all functions, the instructors are militia personnel who were themselves recruits a few months ago, whose knowledge is not deep in the technical systems they are instructing (nor in general military reglementations, see hazing). The instructed soldier then perfom his WK (annual course), where some refresher training may or may not take place, with various quality (knowledge tests that everyone must achieve are systematically always given with the answers, “who cares ?”). (If you served, you have surely experienced operational ICT failures blamed on the equipment, “we cannot communicate over SE-2XX”, “the Richtstrahl connexion isn’t working”,… however it is often the result of lack of instruction of the troops rather than telecom and IT equipment (for example : a 2-day exercise fail because the two HF stations were set in the wrong canal).) This lack of effectiveness could be avoided with proper instruction and structure ! My blame here is put on the non-pro system. How could you effectively train and maintain knowledge of complicated systems and processes in all troops when : The instructors themselves lack instruction (general reglementations, military knowledge, ways to instruct troops) Chiefs are forced to rank up and/or are not suitable (leads to motivation and leadership issues) and Kader schools are so short Some basic knowledge is forgotten (WK is at most a yearly event) and poorly retrained WK themselves are truly flawed to the core, not disciplined, include hazing,… Learning ressources are plenty and well-made, however hardly ever used Digitalisation of militia troops is amazing, but come with issues, such as a lack of observance of Integral Security orders (yes) and data protection Hazing, discriminations still take place without much accountability (the whole “militia is a mirror of society” is not true, the demographics and education levels are not similar) All of this have in my opinion a common denominator, the lack of seriousness due to the militia structure that doesn’t require much accountability. There are impressive ressources, technologies and specialists in the army. However how could all of this be used the best if conscripts must attend their annual WK where nothing could be taken seriously ? (not to blame them, the system is made that way). Wouldn’t the army and society benefit from having some established professional, full time or contract, components in (at least) some domains ? For example in the ICT and technical troops : it could augment the full time resilience while having a meaningful task. It could come with additional benefits : attracting qualified people, participating in the education/research offer in ICT domain, allowing the recruitment of people that already completed their instruction in another function before attending higher education. Tertiary education is rising in Switzerland, why not also take advantage of this at a bigger scale ? The usual argument in favor of WK model about the supposed “value for money” could be confronted to the real effectiveness of having numerous but poorly trained troops. Other troops also have issues that could be linked to the nature of militia service. In my opinion operational effectiveness should be prioritised over perceived “traditions and bonding values” that defenders of the current situation like to invoke. submitted by /u/Nearby_Bread7104
Originally posted by u/Nearby_Bread7104 on r/Switzerland