One-Year Volunteers
A one-year volunteer (OYV) had to equip himself with rations, quarters, uniforms, and equipment). He had to pay also for a horse (if needed) or had to pay into the remount fund. The cost was generally equal to the cost of one year at university and depended on the kind of unit a one-year volunteer decided to join. He could choose his regiment; however, infantry, Jäger, engineers, and foot artillery were expected to pay between 1,750 and 2,200 Mark for their year. Field artillery and train units increased the cost to around 2,300-2,700 Mark. But for cavalry and mounted field artillery, the costs soared to 3,400 to 3,600 Mark a year. There is a misconception that one-year volunteers purchased most of the uniforms and equipment from commercial sources. In reality, most of the uniforms and equipment were either purchased or rented from the regiment.
The payback was as follows:
- The OYV only had to do one-year of active service before transferring to the reserve. This service was in place of the two- to three-year active requirement.
- The OYV could start military training at age 17 at the earliest. The normal soldier started at age 20.
- If the OYV passed the prerequisite examinations, he could enter as an officer aspirant or NCO in the reserves. A reserve commission was an open door for a successful civilian life. Taking the test to become an officer was voluntary, conducted at the end of the active-duty year, and the active company commander had to sponsor the volunteer.
Medical OYVs were different with a six-month active enlisted requirement before the candidate received a full commission in the Medical Department for the last six months as an assistant doctor, einjährig freiwillger Arzt.
OYVs could join the service with a class on 1 October each year. They volunteered to join the regiment of their choice but had to be accepted as an OYV. They were grouped together with the other one-year volunteers and their training was separate. Often their training consisted of only a few hours work per day. After three months, they could attend a special course, and after six months, if all went well, they could be promoted to supernumerary private first class (Gefreiter). After nine months, the best of the class could be promoted to supernumerary corporal (Unteroffizier). The reference to supernumeraries is merely a reinforcement of the understanding that these OYVs were extra or supernumeraries to the establishment. One-year volunteers were sometimes allowed to dine in the officer’s mess, not with the officers of the regiment but in a separate room.
The OYV could become an officer aspirant in the reserves if his active company commander recommended him and he passed the requisite tests at the end of his year of service. If the one-year volunteer did not meet all these criteria, he could be passed into the reserves as a normal enlisted man or as an aspirant NCO. If all of the criteria were met, he would become an officer aspirant in the reserves and promoted to supernumerary Unteroffizier if he were not already at that rank. Of those completing their one-year, the company commander recommended every second recruit as a potential officer. One-third of those who entered military service went on to become reserve NCOs, and 13 percent were discharged without any promotion. A Bavarian army example in 1906 showed that 43 percent of the one-year volunteers left service with the recommendation of the company commander. Of that group only another 43 percent or a total of about 18 percent of the 1906 one-year volunteer intake, actually received a reserve officer commission.