Poland’s defence ministry is offering thousands of places for people aged 15 to 65 to undertake voluntary training with the army during the upcoming winter holidays. It says the aim is to provide citizens with military skills and some “adventure”, as well as to encourage more people to sign up for the armed forces.
The programme – titled “Train With The Army” – is being run for the second time. The first edition in October and November (pictured above) saw more applicants than there were places available, says defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak.
In response to that demand, the number of places has been doubled for the second edition, with over 8,000 spots available at 31 military garrisons around Poland. The training will be held on Saturdays from mid-January to the end of February – a holiday period in Poland known as ferie.
#Teleexpress | Wojsko Polskie zaprasza na wspólne ćwiczenia. Od połowy stycznia do końca lutego w ponad 30 garnizonach na terenie całego kraju będzie można wziąć udział w sobotnich szkoleniach "Trenuj z wojskiem w ferie". pic.twitter.com/E5kPCweLEL
— Teleexpress (@TeleexpressTVP) December 19, 2022
Sessions will be available free of charge and will last for eight hours, with military instructors teaching weapons handling, basic survival, close combat and first aid. Participants aged under 18 will need the consent of parents or other guardians to attend.
“Train With The Army is time well spent but also an adventure!” tweeted the defence ministry. “Each training [session] finishes with a campfire to sum up the day,” adds Błaszczak.
The minister says that they “are not hiding” the fact that one of the goals of the programme is “to encourage all those who have not yet decided what they want to do in the future to serve in the Polish army”.
#TrenujzWojskiem to dobrze spędzony czas, ale też przygoda!. Mamy nadzieję, że część z uczestników, zainspirowanych tym szkoleniem, postanowi spróbować sił w wojsku – jako żołnierz zawodowy, @terytorialsi
czy żołnierz rezerwy.
Zapraszamy!
—
Zapisy ➡️➡️➡️https://t.co/vSlgkH03rM pic.twitter.com/zB4z3XIDgi— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) December 19, 2022
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year, Poland passed a new Homeland Defence Act that raises defence spending to 3% of GDP – one of the highest levels in NATO – and aims to more than double the number of personnel serving in the armed forces from 143,500 to 300,000.
In May, the government launched recruitment for a new voluntary military service that involves one year of paid military training. This month, it announced that up to 200,000 Poles can be called up for military exercises next year, including some who have never put their name forward for service but are deemed to have “useful skills”.
As well as seeking to boost the number of troops, Poland has also gone on a defence procurement spree this year, spending billions of dollars on tanks, artillery and other equipment from South Korea and the United States in particular.
Main image credit: Łódzki Urząd Wojewódzki w Łodzi (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
