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German army seeks out gamers in hunt for computer-savvy recruits

The sight of fatigue-clad soldiers manning the German military's brightly-lit stall at Cologne's Gamescom draws in the curious - but some guests consciously stayed away.

German army seeks out gamers in hunt for computer-savvy recruits
A Bundeswehr soldier guides a boy through a virtual tornado at the Gamescom fair in Cologne. Photo: DPA

With a stand boasting a helicopter simulator and ultra-fast games, the Bundeswehr, Germany's army, has turned to the Gamescom fair in its bid to recruit computer-savvy potential soldiers.

The call to arms is clear under a “Centre of Cyber Operations” sign with a keyboard-inspired logo in the colours of the German flag — “the Cyber-force of the Bundeswehr”.

“We are looking for people who specialize in information technology — those with a taste for computers are knocking at the right door,” Nils Feldhoff, an army communications officer, told AFP.

READ ALSO: More women soldiers and less equipment: A look at Germany's military in numbers

Dozens of young gamers, visiting the stand at the Gamescom convention, flocked to try their hand at the army's flight simulator or test their reactions on a two-player game.

However, the military personnel was careful to spell out the difference between the reality of life in the ranks and violent military-based video games.

“We have a clear educational mission: we strictly try to separate virtual games from reality by explaining to any interested young people that this is not a video game,” Feldhoff said.

If a gamer “wants to become a soldier because he is interested in weapons, that's not a good argument,” he added.

READ ALSO: Gamers in Cologne take aim at Trump's criticism of virtual violence

An advertisement for the Bundeswehr at Gamescom. Photo: DPA

Online battles

Drawn by the unusual stand, 19-year-old computer enthusiast Lucas Heilmann said he “answered a few questions about different programming languages, networks and databases”.

The army's broad campaign to enlist computer-savvy youngsters includes a series of computer-themed posters, one featuring a blond female recruit in fatigues working on a robot.

It is part of an initiative to change the public image of obsolete equipment and under-investment that has plagued the Bundeswehr, made worse by recent scandals over the presence of far-right soldiers in the ranks.

Since Germany ended conscription in 2011, the military must now recruit pro-actively.

READ ALSO: German military seeks to recruit in other EU nations

But it has struggled to find talent in the information technology field, badly needed in a possible cyber warfare.

While the army's stand was buzzing with visitors, other Gamescom visitors chose to stay away as they voiced scepticism over the recruitment campaign.

“Frankly, the competent hackers here are not stupid enough to sit down with the military to show off their skills right next to… the intelligence services,” said 20-year-old Gamescom visitor Linus Niebuhr.

His gaze lands on a nearby stand from Germany's intelligence service, which is also seeking to attract information technology fans and, according to a spokeswoman, also potential “employees to deal with and observe right-wing extremists”.

“We attach great importance to reliability, willingness to take responsibility and the ability to work as a team,” she said.

But others were not convinced.

“My generation of players defend a free internet and when you see the intelligence services, you think you will be controlled,” said 34-year-old lawyer and occasional gamer Tim Henrik Walter.

“It's better to stay away.”

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BUNDESWEHR

German army suspends soldiers over far-right suspicions

The German army has suspended soldiers in its ceremonial guard over suspicion of sexual aggression and sympathy with the far-right, a recurring problem within the Bundeswehr.

Members of the German Armed Forces at a ceremony in Brandenburg.
Members of the German Armed Forces at a ceremony in Brandenburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fabian Sommer

The company, part of a prestigious battalion tasked with welcoming foreign heads of state, was “withdrawn” from active service in relation to incidents which occurred “in a far right context”, a spokesman for the German defence ministry said Friday.

The group is said to have participated in “perverse initiation and drinking rituals” and submitted new recruits to “sexualised violence”, according to the spokesman.

A witness told the German weekly Der Spiegel, which uncovered the affair, that within the battalion’s second company, at least six soldiers had formed a far-right group, calling themselves the “wolf pack”.

The head of the group is said to have aimed racial insults at other soldiers from minority backgrounds. A soldier at a rank equivalent to corporal is said to have worn a t-shirt with the slogan “Sonnenstudio 88”, a number which represents “Heil Hitler” in the neo-Nazi movement.

The alleged incidents “bring shame on us all”, the defence ministry spokesman said.

The German army, the Bundeswehr, will “pursue all legal means” to “remove” the culprits identified by other soldiers.

The German government has been worried for years about some soldiers, including those in the special forces, adhering to far-right groups.

The elite KSK commando force was partially dissolved in 2020 after munitions were stolen and members were seen performing a Hitler salute at a party.

In June, a platoon stationed in Lithuania was recalled after accusations of racist and anti-Semitic behaviour.

READ ALSO: Germany shakes up elite army force right links

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