Young men like Max Mueller were recruited by the German army, but they did not want to enlist due to fear of the risk of war breaking out.
As a young, healthy student majoring in sports in Frankfurt, Germany, 23-year-old Max Mueller was very suitable for recruitment by the German army. But he did not have any intention of registering for military service, especially since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out.
“If war breaks out here, we will have to go to the battlefield. I would probably die then,” Mueller said. Many young people in this country have the same opinion as him, not interested in a military career, creating a big challenge for the recruitment efforts of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr).
Attracting new talent is considered an urgent task for the Bundeswehr, in the context of the force's efforts to increase troop numbers and carry out reforms after the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
German infantry soldiers in the village of Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria, March 23, 3. Image: AFP
Decades of ineffective investment have left the Bundeswehr in a "worrying" state. German parliament's defense commissioner Eva Hoegl said the Bundeswehr "lacks everything", even worse than before the war in Ukraine broke out.
German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz's government last year announced a budget of 100 billion euros ($107 billion) for efforts to strengthen and overcome outstanding problems in the country's military. However, Hoegl said this fund has not yet been used.
Meanwhile, Germany has donated a lot of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine during the conflict with Russia, raising concerns about the risk of the country's ammunition reserves running out.
Efforts to increase military recruitment were initiated by the Bundeswehr before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. A few years ago, the German army set a goal of increasing its troop numbers from about 181.000 to 203.000 by 2031.
But German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who took office earlier this year, admitted this goal was "too ambitious". He recently revealed that the number of applications to join the Bundeswehr decreased by 7% in the first five months of 5 compared to the same period, despite increased requests for military consultation.
"The human resource challenge is even greater than the material one," Ms. Hoegl said in April, saying the main reason was the high rate of German recruits giving up and the military recruitment center being slow to respond to candidates' requests for advice. potential member.
Faced with this situation, the Bundeswehr opened a media campaign on online platforms to attract new recruits.
A military enlistment consulting official gave an interview to the press in Essen, Germany, August 22. Image: AFP
The task of attracting young people to join the army is also more difficult, as this group is used to a "comfortable life" in Germany, a country that has long supported a stance of peace and prosperous development in the post-war period.
Lisa Hoffmann, a nurse, is considering joining the German military medical force because she wants more opportunities, but she realizes the military's difficulties in attracting young people.
“Life in the barracks scares many young people today,” Hoffmann, 23, said. “No longer enjoying the comfortable feeling like before makes many people lose their motivation to serve the military. Our generation is a little more pampered.”
Germany is one of the countries that supplies the most weapons to Ukraine, but does not participate directly in the war. However, what is happening in Ukraine has "awakened old fears buried decades after World War II" among German youth.
The German army called on soldiers to deploy to NATO's eastern flank to ensure security, but the number of volunteer soldiers coming here was "very small". According to a recent survey by Spiegel, only one-fifth of the country's soldiers were willing to join the combat readiness brigade that Germany planned to deploy in Lithuania.
Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr's military recruitment resources are increasingly shrinking as the country's society ages.
“Changing demographics are a big challenge. As the older generation gradually retires, we have fewer young people looking for work and more recruiters," said Captain Heiko, a military recruitment consultant in Essen, Germany.
Duc Trung (Follow AFP)
