But it’s a gamble. What if enough young Germans don’t accept the offer of military service the way Norwegians so enthusiastically do? What if the Bundeswehr needs so many soldiers that being selected for military service doesn’t quite resemble getting a place at Oxbridge? Would the government then force them to serve?
That’s the Gordian Knot the defense minister must now solve, and the coalition’s Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union on the one hand, and the Social Democrats on the other are divided on the issue.
The U.K., which also wants to grow its military, faces recruitment challenges too. At the moment, its armed forces comprise 148,230 active-duty personnel, and they have fallen short of recruitment targets. Even though the armed forces have produced some truly impressive recruitment advertisement campaigns in recent years, the numbers refuse to leap.
The issue is much the same in other European countries that don’t have military service. Even some that do haven’t managed to make the prospect of serving (including signing up for active duty after competing military service) quite as attractive as Norway does. One-quarter of Norwegian conscripts go on to active duty.
But there’s a solution: Ask the teenagers.
Discussions around military service naturally focus on what might work, what should work, how the youngsters might respond, how they can be incentivized to participate and much else. But the teenagers themselves aren’t consulted.