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Countries take steps to recruit more for military service
Countries are seeking new ways to recruit young soldiers as global conflicts push governments to invest more on defense.
Last month, Denmark announced plans to make its military service mandatory for women. Up until now only men have been required to serve.
In the US, which doesn’t have mandatory military service, the armed forces are struggling to attract recruits in part because too many young Americans are out of shape and lack proper academic skills.
To deal with that problem the US Army has recently launched the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, reports The Economist.
The Future Soldier Preparatory Course helps overweight participants get in shape as well as improve their reading and math skills. The goal is to help more people meet the requirements of military training.
so what?
Those are the latest examples of countries efforts to add new soldiers to their armed forces.
In recent years, even before the war in Ukraine, countries including Sweden, Kuwait and Ukraine reinstated conscription. Norway extended mandatory military service to include women.
In some countries, the nature and length of military service is also changing. For example, Taiwan plans to extend mandatory military service from four months to one year.
Find more statistics at Statista. 
Reference shelf:
Denmark Calls for Mandatory Military Service for Women (Bloomberg)
America’s army has launched a scheme to slim down its recruits (The Economist)
How Long Is Compulsory Military Service? (Statista)
More by WONKedition:Countries are bringing back the military draft
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