Galvanized by the Russia-Ukraine war, Poland now spends more of its GDP on defense than any other NATO member. It has grown into the alliance's third-largest military, with 216,000 personnel, and plans to expand its forces by nearly a third over the next decade, Reuters reported.
Dubbed by Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz as "the largest defence training in Polish history", the programme "At Readiness" will be voluntary and open to all citizens - from schoolchildren to working adults, companies, and seniors.
The programme will offer a basic security course, survival training, medical instruction, and cyber-hygiene classes.
"In November and December alone (...) we will train about 20,000 people in individual training, but the total number..., in terms of all forms of training, is about 100,000 people," Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk told a conference.
The ministry plans next year to train approximately 400,000 people "individually, in groups, as part of 'Education with the Army', reserve training and voluntary compulsory military service", Tomczyk added.
The chief of Poland's General Staff, Wieslaw Kukula, said the programme had two primary goals - to strengthen the resilience of citizens and communities, and to boost the availability, readiness, and capacity of reserves.
The program was first announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk in March to "build an army of reservists" amid heightened security concerns amid the Ukraine war.