well as a certain improvement in soft skills. Total resisters (Totalverweigerung) If a conscripted man refused to serve in the military or do any alternative service, this man was to be subject to legal prosecution and may have been sentenced to confinement in prison. In 2007 a 20-year-old was arrested by the Bundeswehr for being AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave). The sentence was dependent upon the way the conscripted man refuses to serve. In the military it was dealt with under military law. In the civilian alternative service it was AWOL. The court is never a court-martial. The accused was often dealt with by juvenile law and in theory could be punished by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years or fined. In practice, 3 months was often imposed, as only longer first-time punishments are recorded in the "certificate of good conduct" Polizeiliches Führungszeugnis. Political debate to suspend conscription The post-Cold War downsizing of the Bundeswehr led to a considerable decrease in demand for young conscripts. Of all men reaching draftable age, less than one half actually served. In 2005 about 15% served in the military, while 31% performed civilian service or some other form of alternative service. More than 36% were screened out for medical reasons. This percentage was lower in the past (15% in 2003), but to avoid drafting more men than needed, medical standards had been raised. The remainder includes those who were exempt for various reasons, but is mostly made up of men who were not drafted because the military had already reached its recruitment goals. This had led to discussions about "draft equality" (), which is the principle that the draft should have applied equally and non-discriminatorily to all men. The issue of was one aspect of the political debate over whether the Bundeswehr should be converted into a purely volunteer-based, professional army. Historical arguments Proponents of the draft argue that it conserved the military's firm rooting in civilian society and warn that a professional army might return to the militaristic, anti-democratic and elitist traditions of the Nazi and German Empire eras, despite the fact that those regimes practiced conscription. Draft service is sometimes defended as a tradition dating back to the 1848 Revolution, intended to ensure the continuity of the democratic state. Military arguments Military detractors of the draft claimed that shortening the service to six months, which was necessary to accommodate