Germany, this time you are on our side right? RIGHT??
I mean glad Germany still has motivated men to join but... Hopefully they know what they doing this time.
Whole article:
"The Bundeswehr hit its 2026 personnel target with volunteers, reaching about 186,700 soldiers on 31 July, its highest level in 13 years.
The application data is the sharper signal. July brought roughly 47,300 applications, 26 percent above the same month in 2025, while headcount grew by about 3,700 year on year. The defence ministry names the new Wehrdienstgesetz as the driver: since January every 18-year-old German citizen has been written to and asked whether they will serve at least six months. Around 378,000 letters had gone out by the end of July, with roughly 96 percent of men and about 4 percent of women responding. Some 12,100 people currently serve under the new short-service model.
For anyone hiring in Germany, this is a new competitor for the same 18 to 25 cohort that Ausbildung programmes, trade employers and graduate schemes are already fighting over in a market short of skilled workers. The Bundeswehr is targeting 260,000 active personnel plus 200,000 reservists by the mid-2030s, roughly 73,000 more active soldiers than it has today, drawn from a shrinking pool. Reported by Tagesschau, citing the Federal Ministry of Defence.
If the voluntary route falls short of that figure, the law provides for a compulsory duty. Anyone modelling German headcount into the 2030s has reason to watch the monthly application numbers."
Source: MS / Tagesschau / Federal Ministry of Defence
EDIT: source on Tagesschau
