Germany debates ending the draft: Germans worry about a depletion in public services

[pampango]

if military conscription ends.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/germany/100824/germany-draft-conscription-nato-afghanistan

Feeding elderly residents at nursing homes. Corralling children in kindergarten. Packing boxes of food to be sent to the world’s latest scene of natural disaster.

That’s what a force of 60,000 or more young German men will do when they begin a compulsory six-month period of civil service next month — as an alternative to six months of military service. Their paychecks are paltry, and most of their jobs don’t require much brainpower, but their work helps keep the country moving. They are part of the infrastructure that creates a system of cradle-to-grave social services.

Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is trying to convince legislators to get rid of the draft, which pulls the men into six months of combat training, gun-cleaning and errand-running. Military service is required — unless the conscript is a conscientious objector, doesn't pass his physical or qualifies for another of the many exemptions — in which case, civil service is required. At present, 250,000 soldiers serve in the German military, including about 72,000 conscripts.

Germany is among a small number of West European countries that still has a military draft: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Switzerland all retain some form of conscription.

This year, about 450,000 men became eligible for the draft, according to German government statistics. About 40 percent of those young men were exempted from service for a slew of reasons. Some didn’t pass a medical exam, others chose to volunteer with a local fire brigade. University students who choose to study certain topics, including theology, are assumed to have a conscientious objection to serving in the military and are therefore exempted from the draft. Of the remaining 60 percent, tens of thousands of men avoid service by citing a moral objection, or by choosing civil service instead. In the end, only about 16 percent of those 450,000 young men - around 72,000 people - wind up in the military.