The Commander of the Landeskommando NRW of the German Federal Armed Forces, Brigadier General Hans-Dieter Müller, advocates for employers to be required to provide reservists for military training again.
“I recommend reinstating the ‘Double Voluntary Principle’ for the conscription of reservists performing military service” Müller told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and Westfalenpost in their Monday editions. This would mean that companies would be obligated to release reservists, for example, for two weeks a year to serve in the military. “At the moment, it’s almost entirely voluntary, as both the reservist and the employer need to agree to such a training exercise” the highest representative of the German Federal Armed Forces in NRW said. The current practice significantly limits the opportunities for those interested in engaging in home defense, he added.
The interest in the home defense regiment is significant, according to Müller: “We have received around 2,500 applications since its establishment in October 2023” he said. Of those, 665 have so far led to a “deployment.” Due to the voluntary principle, however, it is estimated that around 4,000 reservists need to be invited to participate in training, with only 1,000 of them ultimately taking part. “Usually, only one in four can follow an invitation due to professional reasons” the brigadier general said.