Ursula von der Leyen, the current German defense minister and former family minister and then labor minister is taking point on a “Charm Offensive” to combat a declining recruit pool in Germany.  To make military service more attractive for the newly all volunteer force programs are envisioned to offer more at home work, job sharing and extended child care to match service shifts for military parents.

More details can be found at Military Industry Today here.

Left unstated is how this deters events in Ukraine, the anemic 1.3% German defense expenditure (vs. the NATO promised 2%) or any effort to modernize German defense.  Food for thought when you hear “let Europe handle it” when it comes to events in Europe.