Ukraine war drives German civilians to military training programme

By Leon Kuegeler and Martin Schlicht

BRUECK, Germany (Reuters) - Holding a rifle at a training range in a pine forest near Berlin, 23-year-old student Hannes was already anticipating the odd sense of disconnection he would feel upon returning home that day.

"When I will be sitting on my couch at home this evening, I will think, Wow, what did I do today? Where was I?" he said, describing the contrast to his normally "pretty relaxed" life.

"You see these images from Ukraine and you see what terrible things are happening there. And you ask yourself, do I want to prepare for something like that too?" said Hannes, giving only his first name under Bundeswehr policy.

As an "Ungediente" - a civilian without prior military service - his rifle training is part of a Bundeswehr programme designed to prepare Germans to support the army.

The programme, launched in 2018, aims to fill a gap left when Germany abolished conscription in 2011. Germany's Bundeswehr has around 180,000 active personnel with plans to expand to 203,000 by 2031. It has just 60,000 reservists, but plans to more than triple this number.

Because of its Nazi past, post-war Germany developed a pacifist political culture and avoided acquiring the advanced warfighting capabilities possessed by European peers Britain and France.

But war in Ukraine has prompted a change in public attitudes towards the armed forces, culminating this week in the announcement by the parties due to form the next government of a plan to rip up spending rules to ramp up investment in defence.

"The changed security situation in the world provided the motivation to take action," said Dennis, a 30-year-old marketing CEO, who always wanted to join the military but never had the chance before.

Selim, the officer supervising the training at Berlin regional command, said the programme's three-week part-time course had seen tremendous interest.

After completing it, trainees assist active-duty personnel and civilian organizations such as the German Red Cross, and are responsible for safeguarding infrastructure in the event of a national or NATO defence scenario.

According to the Bundeswehr, about 3,000 such auxiliary personnel currently serve with the homeland security forces.

As gunpowder lingers in the air, an instructor calls "Clear to fire," prompting prone shooters to take aim, their G36 rifles cracking in measured bursts as they progress from 200 meters to just five in a test of precision. When the final shots fade, they gather to inspect their targets.

"You know how it is in movies and video games, where the heroes blast away with guns like it's no big deal? And then you actually get your hands on one of these things," Hannes said.

"You definitely start to respect the weapon".

(Reporting by Martin Schlicht, Leon Kuegeler and Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Peter Graff)