On the front line just outside Bakhmut, Ukraine, a 32-year-old commander of a Ukrainian artillery platoon rocked to and fro in the passenger seat of a beat-up Lada, as another soldier navigated the car through a thick forest, sometimes mowing down young trees. When they reached their destination, a small village less than two miles […]
Read MoreTag: Draft and Recruitment (Military)
Gaza War Is Shifting Ties Between Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Israelis
In a neighborhood of Jerusalem, ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents cheered a soldier returning from military service. At a religious seminary, similarly devout students gathered to hear an officer talk about his military duties. And at a synagogue attended by some of the most observant Jews in the country, members devoted a Torah scroll in memory of […]
Read MoreShort on Soldiers, Ukraine Debates How to Find the Next Wave of Troops
Soldiers fight in freezing, muddy trenches bombarded by artillery, or in warrens of burned and blown-up houses in urban combat. Casualty rates are high and dangerous missions, such as storming enemy-held tree lines, abound. As they planned for a renewal of Ukraine’s military under extreme conditions, both the country’s former top commander and his replacement […]
Read MoreLike Two Soldiers Killed in Jordan, Young Black Women Look to the Army for Opportunity
At a dusty military base in northeastern Jordan, Specialist Kennedy Sanders drove bulldozers and road graders. When she had free time, she liked to spend it knitting, or feeding her sneaker-head habit by shopping online for rare pairs of Nike Dunks that she would make her mother unbox for her over FaceTime. She spent a […]
Read MoreAfter Two Years of Bloody Fighting, Ukraine Wrestles With Conscription
When Russian troops and tanks invaded Ukraine in February 2022, tens of thousands of Ukrainians rushed to serve in the army in a surge of patriotic fervor. The influx of fighters who dutifully answered their draft notices or enlisted as volunteers helped to repel Russia’s initial assault and thwart the Kremlin’s plans to decapitate the […]
Read MoreTo Bolster Army, Putin Eases Citizenship Path for Foreigners
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has approved a measure that makes it easier for foreigners to acquire Russian citizenship if they enlist in the army amid the war in Ukraine, part of an effort to increase the military’s ranks while also sparing Russians from being deployed to the battlefield. Under the decree, which the […]
Read MoreUkraine Military Recruiters Use Harsh Tactics to Fill Ranks
With Ukraine’s military facing mounting deaths and a stalemate on the battlefield, army recruiters have become increasingly aggressive in their efforts to replenish the ranks, in some cases pulling men off the streets and whisking them to recruiting centers using intimidation and even physical force. Recruiters have confiscated passports, taken people from their jobs and, […]
Read MoreJapan Wants a Stronger Military. Can It Find Enough Troops?
After 75 years of peace, Japan is facing immense challenges in its rush to build a more formidable military. To understand why, consider the Noshiro, a newly commissioned navy frigate equipped with anti-ship missiles and submarine-tracking sonar. The vessel was designed with an understaffed force in mind: It can function with about two-thirds of the […]
Read MoreAll 7 Members of BTS Are Now in Military Service in South Korea
Fans of the K-pop band BTS have known for years that a day would come when its seven members would all be doing mandatory service in the South Korean military. That day arrived on Tuesday. For many BTS fans, who happen to call themselves Army, seeing their favorite musicians enter the armed forces was as […]
Read MoreRussia Tries to Lure Wagner Veterans Back Into Ukraine War
Russia’s armed forces are stepping up their efforts to recruit veterans of the Wagner paramilitary group, according to former fighters and military bloggers, as the Kremlin tries to avoid another round of mobilization and salvage some of the force’s fighting potential in the wake of its leader’s mutiny and death. Four former Russian inmates who […]
Read MoreAs Ukraine Seeks Troops, Women Prepare for the Call
Halyna Vynokur, a clerk in a hardware store in Kyiv, was shouldering a firearm for the first time. Iryna Sychova, a purchasing manager at a department store, disassembled and reassembled the jumble of rods and springs in a Kalashnikov rifle. They were among two dozen women who turned out in a forest near Kyiv one […]
Read MoreU.S. Army, Navy, Air Force Struggle for Recruits, but the Marines Have Plenty.
These are dark days for military recruiting. The Army, Navy and Air Force have tried almost everything in their power to bring in new people. They’ve relaxed enlistment standards, set up remedial schools for recruits who can’t pass entry tests, and offered signing bonuses worth up to $75,000. Still, this year the three services together […]
Read MoreFinland’s Military Prepares as Russia-Ukraine War Gets Closer to Home
The facade of the apartment building was blown off, the remains sagging to one side. Working together, the military police, the emergency services, the fire department and the explosives team cordoned off the scene, swept for other explosives, disarmed one, and searched for those still alive in the rubble with sniffer dogs, while removing the […]
Read MoreSenator’s Blockade of Military Promotions Begins to Cut Deep
Near the river entrance of the outermost ring of the Pentagon, where visiting dignitaries are greeted with full honors, the hallways that usually house photos of senior military leaders are more bare these days. A section reserved for the country’s most senior military leaders will be missing four photos out of eight when Gen. Mark […]
Read More