From today's point of view, it is understandable that the victors of both World Wars banned the Great General Staff and the War Academy and accused the German General Staff, together with the Armed Forces High Command, of criminal behavior at the Nuernberg Trials. During the World Wars, they had a bitter firsthand experience of the quality of German General Staff officers. Against this background another phenomenon can be understood. In the book, The General Staff in the Process of Change (Generalstab im Wandel), Brigadier General Hans-Georg Model and Lieutenant Colonel Jens Prause described how the "Education Commission of the Minister of Defense" created in 1969 by the then Minister of Defense, Helmut Schmidt, had tried to reduce Bundeswehr General and Admiral Staff officer training to 5-12 months. The Commission was supported by politicians of that period who had been committed to the equal opportunities of Line and General Staff officers and had fought the traditional General Staff training overwhelmingly for that reason. This move, which was unsuccessful, would have virtually eliminated the German General Staff officer.
From today's perspective, it appears incomprehensible that the principle of equal opportunity and the neo-Marxist crusade against any "elite" would have almost been successful. Obviously, it hardly played any role in the discussion that the reduced quality of the training of young German General and Admiral Staff officers would have possibly caused a loss of German influence in NATO staffs. There, as was shown, the operational planning for the German armed forces is executed.
Generations of German officers in General Staff and Line appointments have in NATO staffs gathered experience as equal partners and superiors, have been shaped in their characters and have in turn influenced their allied comrades-in-arms. Up to now, no scientific study has been available on how professional unity of German and allied soldiers in everyday duty and exercises has contributed to the consolidation of the security-political infrastructure of the North Atlantic Alliance; nor has the effect of this unity been established on the Federal Armed Forces. It can be assumed, however, that the shaping by NATO had, and is having, a profound effect on the Federal Armed Forces. The cooperation with fellow soldiers of different armed forces has given many Bundeswehr officers stability in times of uncertainty and crisis of their self-image. Above all, it has contributed to the fact that the Bundeswehr General and Admiral Staff officers of today are cosmopolitan and move less in the narrow national paths than their predecessors.
Many German General and Admiral Staff officers have introduced original German approaches and ideas into the NATO Alliance. Thus, they have influenced considerably the tactical-operational opinions as well as the leadership training of their allies. In NATO they have learned that tolerance and mutual respect determine the working climate within an international environment. This network of relations would have been jeopardized by less qualified German General Staff officers in the NATO headquarters. Fortunately, the discussion about justification and future of Bundeswehr General and Admiral Staff officer training has not resurfaced.