Warsaw, SEP 26: The Polish army is to offer a basic one-day training course to all citizens aged between 18 and 65, the Defence Ministry announced in Warsaw on Monday.
The course is to include weapons handling, shooting, close combat and map reading and will be held at 17 army bases on Saturdays in October and November, it said. Only Polish citizens will be eligible.
The war in Ukraine has lent increased urgency to longstanding plans to increase the size of the Polish military.
Voluntary military service has recently been introduced and employees of the postal service have been urged to to undergo weapons training with the country’s Territorial Defence Force (WOT).
The Polish military currently numbers 110,000, with an additional 30,000 men and women in the (WOT).
The government aims to increase this figure to 250,000 professionals and 50,000 in the WOT.
