- Title: German army trains reservists who aim to help ‘keep up the deterrence’
- Date: 16th January 2025
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JANUARY 16, 2025) (REUTERS) VOLUNTARY RESERVIST JAN, A 33-YEAR-OLD STARTUP ENTREPRENEUR, STANDING IN UNIFORM WITH OTHERS AT BERLIN’S JULIUS LEBER BARRACKS VARIOUS OF RESERVISTS STANDING IN CIRCLE LISTENING TO INSTRUCTOR TWO RESERVISTS HELPING EACH OTHER INTO PROTECTION SUIT AGAINST NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS RUBBER BOOTS ON FLOOR VARIOUS OF R
- Embargoed: 30th January 2025 18:09
- Keywords: Bundeswehr German army Putin Ukraine reservists training voluntary war
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001385016012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German civilians underwent training in Berlin on Thursday (January 16) to become voluntary army reservists with the aim to support professional soldiers on home territory during times of crisis.
According to the Bundeswehr, or army, there are currently 25 participants in the course offered in the German capital, four of whom are women.
Aged between 21 and 58, the civilians with no prior experience in the military take part in three 7-day courses which amount to roughly 180 hours.
Course elements include guard and security training, weapons and firing training, civic education and sports, among others.
Startup entrepreneur Jan, who was not permitted to reveal his last name, said that as a long-time supporter of the army, he registered after “the Russian war of aggression has made the whole thing more present to me.”
Another volunteer, 30-year-old online marketing manager Dennis, said that while he felt well protected by NATO and was not driven by fear, it was about “maintaining deterrence.”
The German military lacks sufficient equipment and personnel despite a 100 billion euro special fund set up following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces said last March.
In May, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany must find ways to convince people to sign up for a career in the military as the country looks at conscription as a possible way to boost its long-neglected defences in the face of tensions with Russia.
Germany's cabinet in November then approved a draft law that would allow the army to gauge the readiness of the country's 18-year-olds to serve in the Bundeswehr as it looks to boost troop numbers for NATO obligations without resorting to conscription.
The war in Ukraine prompted a debate in Germany over whether to reintroduce conscription, which was ended in 2011, to boost shrinking troop numbers in response to a more aggressive Russia.
(Production: Martin Schlicht, Oliver Denzer, Michele Sani) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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