The book is the result of the experience of 47 years of service of the author in the Austrian Armed Forces. In the course of his service, he received a comprehensive insight into the functioning of the Ministry of Defense and of the armed forces. During this time, he went through his basic training, his officer training, was a commander of a headquarters company, a training and teaching officer at the Theresan military academy, chief logistics officer and training officer of the medical school of armed forces and during his last 20 years of his work head of an auditing department of the ministry of defence. Because this department was part of the cabinet of the Federal Minister, he received a comprehensive insight into the working process in the ministry. In addition to his military training, he studied economics at the University of Vienna and habilitated at the former military university in Hungary in the field of military science/defense economics. Furthermore, the book is also the result of the evaluation of his participatory observation of what is going on in the ministry and the armed forces from the point of view of an academic educated economist.