As long as I can remember, the Austrian Armed Forces have been the neglected child of domestic politics. Unloved, underfunded, and largely ignored, they have led a shadowy existence in dozens of barracks across the country. Surrounded by NATO member states, neutral Austria felt secure for a long time, and the military gradually assumed the role of maintaining existing systems rather than preparing for defense.

Twenty-six years after I myself was required to complete military service, the magazine Pragmaticus sent me on a three-day tour in March 2026 to gather my impressions of the armed forces. Given the emergence of new threat scenarios and the ongoing debate about the length of compulsory military service, it was also a fitting moment to do so.