The German military is looking for new recruits. But, where to find them? How to seduce them? Marketing the army was never so difficult as it is today. Becoming a soldier is not a popular career option at this moment in the most successful country of the European Union… The German government has set up intro camps to provide insights into the soldiers’ daily routine, while aiming to allay fears and generate interest in a career with the armed forces.
This Deutsche Welle’s production follows 19-year-old Leia who originally wanted to go for a music career, but her grades weren’t good enough to be admitted at the conservatory. So, in her search for a life’s alternative she found the German armed forces. Leia then took part in a course with the 21st armored brigade in North-Rhine Westphalia. Among other things, she realized that joining up might involve dangerous foreign missions, and not only experiencing exciting tasks.
“Filling the Ranks” is a 2017 documentary by Udo Bauer from the DW, that shows the trend in Germany in regard to finding new blood for the German security forces.
Given the scarcity of new recruits, Germany is even considering the possibility of adding recruits from other countries of the EU…
Could this documentary be featuring the dawn of new ways of filling the ranks of armies in Europe and around the world? Could this be the origin of multinational-regional armies, more then national-ethnic ones, as one of the consequences of the difficulty of nationally recruiting, and of the power of commercial and security regions in the world?
References:
YouTube. 2017. The German military – filling the ranks. Retrieved on November 23, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlahWQC2smE
Grande stratégie 
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