As happens every three years, the French ground forces have launched a new campaign to recruit personnel into their ranks. It includes posters, television and internet spots. Its cost is 2 million euros. The campaign is aimed at the personal qualities of applicants, gradually moving away from the slogan: "Your will, our pride." The goal of the recruiting campaign is to recruit 14,000 people.
Campaign poster for conscription into the French army. The inscription on it is translated as follows: "I am thirsty for adventure. For those who are eager for freedom" (c) French Ministry of Defense
Every first Monday of the month, the Ground Forces Centers receive new candidates and their families for a contract signing ceremony. This solemn moment this year will come for 14,000 people. 14,000 is the number of Ground Forces Volunteers (EVAT) due to be recruited in 2016. This is a slightly increased figure, as a result of the increase in the size of the army after the terrorist attacks in 2015. In 2014, there were 9,000 recruits, that is, an increase of almost 50% in two years.
The recruiter is working at full capacity. To the EVAT volunteers, an additional number of people should be added - officers and sergeants, legionnaires of the Foreign Legion, firefighters in Paris, as well as pilots and sailors. In total, 23,000 young people will open the door to the barracks for the first time this year. This is a pretty impressive figure. As a French army officer notes, “this year every recruiter must bring a platoon into the army,” or 30 people.
After the transition of the French army to a professional basis in 1996 and the demobilization of the last conscript in November 2001, only volunteers are joining the army. While countries such as the United States and Britain are struggling to recruit new soldiers, France has been an exception over the past twenty years. Ground forces can choose - there are two candidates for each seat. However, this average obscures the situation in various areas. Thus, the search for aircraft mechanics, chefs and information systems specialists is difficult due to strong demand in the civilian sector, while this year 150 worthy applications were submitted for 20 places for admission to the fifth year of the officer school in Saint-Cyr.
What is pushing a young man into the army today? And what, on the contrary, can turn him away from this decision? General Thierry Marchand, an officer in the Foreign Legion, is responsible for recruiting the land forces. In response to a question from "l'Opinion", he described the scheme of what is called the "fields of motivation and uncertainty" of candidates for admission to the army. We are immersed in the very heart of difficult trends in French society. “We fix the three most important expectations of young people who conclude a contract with us. One of them is new - this is the "Charlie effect". Young people tell us that they want to serve and protect the country. All also emphasize the difficulties that come with entering a fulfilling life, and they believe that the army is a good springboard for this. The third motivation is that the army is a busy life, an adventure, but also a search for a foothold and understandable starting points. We offer them something clearly outlined in this changing world, and it attracts them. "Money? "They never talk about it, we are dealing with this topic." The recruit's salary is generally at the level of the minimum wage, but at the same time the soldier is “shod, dressed and fed,” and the salary is sufficient to meet urgent needs, especially when he is sent to participate in operations abroad.
In terms of uncertainty, General Marchand sees three main components. “When they come to us, it is often like a burn for them. At first, they are confronted with a cramped room with six people, and for most, this is a serious injury. In addition, they do not have constant access to cell phones,”in other words, friends and social networks. "We are organizing special recreation areas for this, but they must understand that it will be impossible for them to perform a combat mission." Sailors are familiar with this firsthand. The complete interruption of communication during long military campaigns becomes a serious obstacle for many sailors when it comes to settling on a ship.
The last rather sensitive point: families. “Now we have to view military service as a family project. We try to instill in families an army culture by inviting them to the unit and informing them. The recruits' fathers no longer have experience of serving in the army, which still gives rise to many myths. What we are most afraid of is the mother's appeal to her son following the results of the first week of the service: "This is very difficult, come back home."
Despite the treatment of prospective recruits and their family members, the rate of contract break (“attrition”) during the first year is about 20%. General Marchand tries to look confident, he said, “This is not only seen in the army. This is such a mobile generation. To make recruitment and training cost-effective while keeping the soldier's age relatively low, Ground Forces expect an EVAT to average at least eight years of service. However, so far it has not been possible to achieve such an indicator - the average service life today is six years. “Increasing loyalty” among the military remains a serious field of activity for the General Staff.
Despite popular belief, the military does not offer a guaranteed job comparable to the civil service. Generally speaking, two out of three military personnel serve on fixed-term contracts (for several years), and this is the case for the rank and file. Only the officers are partly distinguished by their “professional approach”. In the ground forces, the share of military personnel on a fixed-term contract is 72%.
More than half of the rank and file have graduated with a bachelor's degree [that is, have a complete secondary education], among the sergeants are dominated by people with incomplete higher education, and among the officers, the majority have university degrees. The average age of the volunteers is 20 years. Girls account for 10% of candidates and about the same number among recruits. General Marchand does not hide the fact that he would like to see the growth of this indicator.
Geographically, some regions "supply" more troops than others. This is the case for the northeastern and southeastern regions of France, but in the west there are fewer fans of military affairs. Overseas territories account for 12% of recruits, the number of volunteers from there is three times higher than the metropolis, if you count in terms of population.
