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    Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds

    (www.bbc.com)
    126 points petermcneeley | 13 comments | 06 Dec 25 19:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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    bethekidyouwant ◴[06 Dec 25 23:21 UTC] No.46177546[source]▶
    “The change means that all 18-year-olds in Germany will be sent a questionnaire from January 2026 asking if they are interested and willing to join the armed forces. The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.“ - all men have to fill out and return a form, I suppose this will work to increase recruitment. Doesn’t seem very controversial.
    replies(6): >>46177581 #>>46177586 #>>46177606 #>>46177718 #>>46177787 #>>46177922 #
    1. throw310822 ◴[06 Dec 25 23:28 UTC] No.46177581[source]▶
    Why do they have to fill it in and return it just to say no? Could this be used against them at some time in the future? And why women instead can just ignore it?

    Usually HN is very wary of the consequences of the state collecting data about its citizens and restricting freedoms in small steps. Is it not the case now?

    replies(2): >>46177618 #>>46177772 #
    2. throwaway2027 ◴[06 Dec 25 23:33 UTC] No.46177618[source]▶
    When push comes to shove, men and women aren't equal
    replies(6): >>46177657 #>>46177692 #>>46177762 #>>46177932 #>>46179811 #>>46181575 #
    3. ◴[06 Dec 25 23:40 UTC] No.46177657[source]▶
    4. mystraline ◴[06 Dec 25 23:47 UTC] No.46177692[source]▶
    No, to a bunch of neoliberal elite politicians, women aren't equal. And those same politicians won't ever serve, nor compulsed to serve, and/or will shield their families from serving unless they really want to.

    But let's call it what it is: compulsed military service is slavery for the elite.

    5. nothercastle ◴[06 Dec 25 23:53 UTC] No.46177762[source]▶
    When it comes to being drone operators or targets it’s probably a negligible difference
    replies(1): >>46178375 #
    6. fabian2k ◴[06 Dec 25 23:54 UTC] No.46177772[source]▶
    Mandatory military service existed before in Germany, not all that long ago. So this is mostly returned to the same mechanisms as back then, though with the actual service being voluntary for now. And to include woman you'd have to change the constitution, as that part is specific to men.
    7. ◴[07 Dec 25 00:12 UTC] No.46177932[source]▶
    8. Balgair ◴[07 Dec 25 01:23 UTC] No.46178375{3}[source]▶
    Actually you make a good point here. Women have better reaction times then men, so female drone operators, all else being equal, may be better at the job.
    replies(3): >>46179147 #>>46180676 #>>46184974 #
    9. platevoltage ◴[07 Dec 25 07:10 UTC] No.46179811[source]▶
    The hand to hand combat, super common in modern warfare, should probably be left up to the men. Great point.
    10. jeffrallen ◴[07 Dec 25 10:24 UTC] No.46180676{4}[source]▶
    In my village's shooting club the women shoot just as well at the men, and quite a bit more consistently as well.
    replies(1): >>46184321 #
    11. c0balt ◴[07 Dec 25 13:35 UTC] No.46181575[source]▶
    to add to this, under German law they very much are different in regards to mandatory military service. Neither the old nor the new laws contain mandatory military service for women leading to mandatory conscription being only an issue for men.
    12. nothercastle ◴[07 Dec 25 19:28 UTC] No.46184321{5}[source]▶
    It’s mostly about ability to haul and dig as I understand it. I roles where you don’t need that as much strength is significantly less important
    13. wtcactus ◴[07 Dec 25 20:44 UTC] No.46184974{4}[source]▶
    Source?