The French armies are recruiting. Not only professional soldiers, but also reservists who make up the National Guard in the armies (land, air, sea, cyber, space), energy, or weapons. On July 13, during a reception at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to double the number of civilian volunteers, increasing it from 40,000 civilian volunteers aged at least 17 years to 80,000 to support the workforce of the French army that with 205,000 soldiers is the largest in Europe.
The Ministry of the Armed Forces created a working group that met for the first time on November 21. Its mission is to determine the missions and evaluate the needs of the reserve to take them into account in the next law of military programming. This group is made up of soldiers, parliamentarians, union representatives (employees and businessmen)
The reserve is actually made up of 77,000, of whom 21% are women. Civilians form the 1st level. They are divided according to their competence. 25,000 serve in the Army, 6,000 in the Navy, and 9,000 in other units. The idea of turning it into an organization of 80,000 people. The second is made up of active ex-servicemen subject to an obligation to be available during the 5 years following their departure from the armed forces.
Skills and age limit
This ambition to increase the reserve was launched more than a year ago by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (Cema), General Thierry Burkhard. In October 2021, in the strategic vision, he announced the need to give more space to the operational reserve.
The task force is working on recruiting these reservists. It will be necessary to extend the conditions of access both at the level of physical abilities and age. “For missions such as cybernetics, skills are the most important thing,” says the Ministry of the Armed Forces. As for age, it could be increased by 5 years and could reach 77 years in certain functions, such as medical. “It will be done where appropriate, but the objective is above all to attract young people.”
The missions entrusted to these troops are diverse. Although the vast majority are affected in the national territory and abroad, in certain circumstances and with specific capacities, some have gone on mission abroad.
The financial question
To do this, the working group plans to make the rules more flexible to allow missions to be carried out without penalizing the operation of companies. Talks are even being held with employers’ organizations and trade unions. The Medef, whose president Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux is a reservist marine command, should also support the project.
Finally, there is the financial question. The Ministry of the Armed Forces intends to include the cost of doubling the reserve in the next military programming law.
Source: BFM TV
