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A Private's Privates

DW staff (sms)January 4, 2008

Ever since the horrors of World War II, the German Army has gone to great lengths to maintain an understated demeanor. But one would-be volunteer was surprised to have the principle applied to her breasts.

A braid of blond hair sticks out from behind a female soldier's helmet
The military said implants -- unlike bullets -- cause too great a risk of injury for it to bearImage: AP

While the Bundeswehr doesn't have any regulations on the books prohibiting its buffed-up troops from pumping up their biceps, a 23-year-old German woman found out that -- surprisingly to some -- the army isn't interested in big breasts.

At least not in artificially large ones.

"I still can't believe that my silicon breasts are going to destroy my dream," the woman told the mass-market Bild newspaper on Thursday, Dec. 3. "I could cry."

"I wanted to be a paramedic," she added. "To save lives."

Identified only as Alessija, the woman said she had hoped to sign a 12-year contract with the armed forces but was classified as "not usable" because of the pair of 250 milliliter (8.5 fluid ounce) implants.

What kind of risk?

Higher-ups don't like big breasts -- but what about the rank-and-file troops?Image: AP

A Bundeswehr official did not say if the military was concerned the woman would shoot her -- or a fellow soldier's -- eye out.

"The abstract risk of injury is too large of a responsibility to bear," the paper quoted Marion Krauskopf, head of Berlin district draft board.

The army added that the health regulations currently prohibit people with implants from joining the military are being re-examined, leaving Alessija with a chance of fulfilling her dream.

"The rule is no longer contemporary," Harald Kammerbauer, a defense ministry spokesman, told the Bild. "In the future there will be a case-by-case analysis. The lady should apply again."

There has, however, been no word on whether implants could help German men avert mandatory military service.

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