France will implement new military program for volunteers aged 18 and 19

Описание: (20 Feb 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toulon, France - 19 February 2026
1. Various of French Navy soldiers with rifles, patrolling the coast

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saint-Mandrier, France - 19 February 2026
2. Pan left of base exterior of the French Navy's training schools
3. Mid of instructor speaking to trainees
4. Various of new recruits training at the shooting range
5. Various of French army instructor teaching combat and intervention techniques to recruits
6. Various of recruits learning how to do sailor’s knots in a classroom

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Toulon, France - 19 February 2026
7. Various of French Navy ships docked in military harbor
8. Mid of marine walking on the dock
9. Mid of marine inside ship
10. Wide pan right of ships docked
STORYLINE:
France is implementing a new program to bolster the country’s armed forces by training thousands of volunteers aged 18 and 19.

It’s part of a broader response to concerns over Russia’s threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine.

The young volunteers will serve in uniform for 10 months in France’s mainland and oversea territories only, not in military operations abroad.

The program will start with 3,000 recruits to be selected this summer and will gradually increase to 10,000 per year by 2030.

France has ambitions to reach up to 50,000 volunteers per year by 2035, a figure that will be adjusted depending on the global context.

Volunteers will hold military status and receive wages and equipment.

After a month of training, they will be assigned for nine months to a unit in which they will perform the same missions as active military personnel.

They will then join the military reserve and continue their education or start working.

AP video by Philippe Magoni

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