Gysi said both the West German Bundeswehr and the East German Volksarmee should be cut in half by 1991, thereby lending credibility to promises that a united Germany would pose no threat to European neighbors.
He is seeking to define a new role for the Bundeswehr which would include out-of-area operations. His speech at Leipzig was far more than a reading of the riot act to his top commanders.
The second task is to dismantle the former National People's Army of East Germany and integrate its remnants into the Bundeswehr, including some 2,000 of the officer corps.
East German operatives, estimated at 10% of all Spetsnaz in West Europe, would have little trouble taking on the jargon and characteristics of the West German Bundeswehr, defense experts say.
The SPD, for its part, thinks the Bundeswehr should be available to the UN only for 'blue helmet missions' - a phrase generally understood in Germany to refer to traditional UN peacekeepers, who can use force only in their own defence.
The UN secretary general will tell Mr Kohl in Bonn today that the Bundeswehr's presence in western Somalia is vital. The constitutional judges seem likely to dismiss the SPD's arguments.
Now that I think of it, perhaps we'll have to insist on a cutback in the Bundeswehr."
A total of 20 Bundeswehr helicopters are planned to be in use there later this week. The German government funds will be used to finance help organised by the German Red Cross and other international charity operations.