Poland’s “Vacation with the Army” program has drawn 10,000 volunteers aged 18 to 35 this summer, offering 27 days of training that ends with reservist status.
Launched in 2024, the scheme is a summer edition of voluntary military service introduced in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Participants are paid 6,000 zloty (about €1,400) and receive training in weapons use, navigation, first aid, radio communication, and chemical defense, along with instruction in tactics and grenade and mine handling.
Poland, which ended conscription in 2010, now fields NATO’s largest army at 212,000 troops and spends 4.7% of GDP on defense.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk plans to expand voluntary service to 100,000 recruits a year and extend training to all citizens.
Firearms training has been mandatory in schools since 2024.
But with a birth rate of just 1.09 children per woman, demographic decline threatens Warsaw’s long-term military ambitions.
