In the summer, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer presented the new voluntary service for homeland security for the first time.
There is great interest in the new program - but there is also criticism.
Update from April 6, 4:25 p.m.:
The Bundeswehr has started its new military service in homeland security with 325 volunteers.
The voluntary service should give young people the opportunity “to be able to stand up for Germany in a very flexible way,” said Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) in Berlin.
From Tuesday, the service providers will first undergo a seven-month training course close to their place of residence and should then be available to the reserve.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the homeland security - interest higher than the offer
A total of 1,000 volunteers will start their service in homeland security this year, as the minister said.
She was pleased that the number of interested parties had significantly exceeded the number of vacancies: This shows the willingness of young people to serve in the country.
The offer is aimed primarily at young people who are interested in the Bundeswehr, but who do not want to be “so tight” with it, said Kramp-Karrenbauer.
According to the Bundeswehr, one sixth of the new service providers is female.
According to the ministry, the greatest differences to traditional voluntary military service are the "home-based planning in reservist service" after training and the renouncement of foreign assignments.
The volunteers first go through a normal basic training, which is then followed by a three-month special training in homeland security - the main focus is on property protection.
However, the training also includes areas such as medical services and fire protection.
The name Heimatschutz was chosen deliberately and corrected earlier mistakes in leaving this term to the right, Kramp-Karrenbauer announced on Tuesday.
She rejected criticism that paid military training weakens other organizations.
The applicants were specifically interested in the Bundeswehr, but did not want to go abroad.
Kramp-Karrenbauer presents voluntary service for homeland security - for whom it is suitable
Original article from April 6, 2021:
Berlin - "Your year for Germany": With this motto Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to advertise her new volunteer service for homeland security on Tuesday (
April 6
).
This is intended to arouse young people's interest in a year-long service in the German Armed Forces.
At least that's the Defense Minister's plan.
The CDU politician's plan provides that the soldiers, after seven months of military training, will be available as reservists for homeland security for six years.
At the start of the new program, a total of 1,000 places are to be made available.
The ministry announced in advance that it was an offer before starting work, before starting studies and training, during a career change or during a chosen professional break.
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Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to recruit young people with a new voluntary service
© Jan Woitas / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa / picture alliance
Kramp-Karrenbauer: Starting signal for your new project "Your year for Germany"
There are already the first critical voices.
The Armed Forces Commissioner Eva Högl urges more realism when recruiting the new voluntary service.
"I often hear from soldiers that when recruiting personnel they convey a wrong image of the Bundeswehr and that everyday life is then very different," the SPD politician explained in an interview with the newspapers of the Funke media group on Tuesday.
“That does more harm than good,” Högl makes clear and hopes for “a realistic picture” when recruiting young people.
In the summer, Kramp-Karrenbauer announced their idea publicly for the first time, and the Ministry of Defense subsequently reported a positive response from the population.
For the 1000 places to be allocated, 9000 people would have registered.
20 percent of them are said to have been women.
Kramp-Karrenbauer has to take criticism - voluntary service is "taster course for the Bundeswehr"
The new program is intended to provide a “temporary, meaningful service” in the armed forces, then flexibly in the reserve.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the future soldiers should be used “after basic and special training, if possible in the regional living environment”.
Even then, criticism came from Caritas President Peter Neher.
In an interview with the ARD capital studio, he made it clear: “The Bundeswehr should call it what it is: It's a kind of taster course for the Bundeswehr.
Volunteering is the prerogative of civil society, not the state. "
List of rubric lists: © Jan Woitas
