A questionnaire will be sent to all 17-year-olds in the Netherlands to gauge their willingness and suitability to sign up for a job in the armed forces, starting on Tuesday. “Staffing levels will have to go up in case of a crisis or war, or the run-up to a war,” Tuinman said. That number may double, Tuinman told MPs earlier. There are currently some 44,000 professional soldiers, 27,000 civilian staff and 8,500 reservists in the Dutch armed forces. Tuinman said the questionnaire will only become compulsory if “the Russian threat accelerates or the “army staffing drive stagnates”.