Well regulated militia

A lesson well understood in Poland:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, . . .

Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has called on Poles between the ages of 18 and 50 to undertake voluntary military training to defend their homeland.

Young Poles training

Fears that the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region is just the beginning of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's expansionist plans, Poland needs to prepare for the worst.

After Putin's defiance of international law by invading eastern Ukraine, Poland has embarked on an 18% increase in defense spending in the last year - the biggest increase of any country in Europe.

The more than $10 billion budget will fund replacement and a revamp of its aging Soviet-era military equipment.

Though conscription is not currently the law in Poland,  next door neighbor Lithuania has instituted a measure to draft young men into the military to defend their country against possible Russian aggression.

See also from this blog:
Training to fight
Beefing up defenses
Joint military unit formed