Donald Tusk told parliament on Friday that if Russia took control of parts of Ukraine, then Poland would find itself in a “difficult geographical situation.”
He said: “We are preparing large-scale military training for every adult man in Poland. Our goal is to finalize the plan by year’s end to ensure a well-trained reserve force ready for potential threats.
“If Ukraine loses the war, or if it accepts the terms of peace, armistice, or capitulation in such a way that weakens its sovereignty and makes it easier for Putin to gain control over Ukraine, then without a doubt—and we will all agree on this—Poland will find itself in a much more difficult geopolitical situation.”
Talking to reporters, Tusk later clarified that he was not announcing a resumption of basic military service.
“If I were proposing a return to basic military service, I would say so. We have several models. One of the most appreciated ones is the Swiss model,” he said, adding that in the latter system training is “not compulsory, but there are incentives that cause men to opt for annual training.”
It wouldn’t hurt. It would sure enough get me back in shape.
In all seriousness: I truly believe it would not hurt to put everyone through some sort of basic training, including gun handling.
There’s a lot of things that could be included in such a program that would be useful for the general population to know both in times of war and in peace. Civil defense and emergency response. First aid, evacuation of wounded/incapacitated people from dangerous areas. Basic firefighting, shelter locations and evacuation protocols etc.
During world war II, a Japanese general was once quoted as saying “you do not invade the mainland US. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass”.
Compare the cost of doing this, with the deterrent effect of your enemy’s knowing that basically the entire population can mobilize as a militia, it’s pretty extreme.
Go Poland!
So I’m not in… horrible shape but certainly haven’t been exercising recently. The thought did cross my mind of starting again, just in case of complete societal collapse. Never thought id see the day where that was an ACTUAL possibility.