 | Conscription: Encyclopedia II - Conscription - Countries with mandatory military service partial list
Conscription - Countries with mandatory military service partial list
- Green: No armed services
- Blue: No conscription
- Orange: Plan for conscription to be abolished within 3 years
- Red: Conscription
- Gray: No information
A number of countries have mandatory military service:
Conscription - Austria
Austria has mandatory military service for fit male citizens from 18 to 35 years of age. Service lasts for 8 months but will be shortened to 6 months in 2006. Conscientious objectors join the civilian service (Zivildienst) for 12 months (reduction to 9 months in 2006).
Conscription - Belarus
Belarus has mandatory military service for all fit men from 18 to 27 years of age. Military service lasts for 18 months for those without higher education, and for 12 months for those with higher education.
Conscription - Bermuda
Bermuda, although a dependant territory of the United Kingdom, still maintains conscription for its local force. Males between the age of 18 and 32 are drawn by lottery to serve in The Bermuda Regiment for a period of 38 months. The commitment is only on a part time basis, however. Anyone who objects to this has the right to have their case heard by an exemption tribunal.
Conscription - Brazil
Brazil has mandatory military service for men from the age of 18 to 30. However, conscientious objection is allowed.
Conscription - Bulgaria
Bulgaria has mandatory military service for male citizens from 18 to 27 years of age. Currently (2004) the duration of the service depends on the degree of education. For citizens studying for or holding a bachelor degree or higher the service is 6 months, and for citizens with no higher education it is 9 months. During the last 10 years the duration of service has rapidly dropped (from 2 years in 1994) and as Bulgaria adopts a professional army mandatory service is expected to be replaced with voluntary service.
Conscription - Chile
Chile has mandatory military service for all citizens between 18 and 45. The duration of service is 12 months for the army and 24 months for Navy and Air Force.
Conscription - China PRC
Theoretically the People's Republic of China has conscription for both men and women. Women who are conscripted go into the army for two months and learn to use firearms. In practice, military service with the PLA is voluntary; all 18-year-old males have to register themselves with the government authorities, in a way similar to the Selective Service System of the United States. The main exception to this system applies to potential university students, who are required to undergo military training before their courses commence. An exception is also made for Hong Kong and Macau, whose residents are exempted from conscription as they are effectively barred from any military service.
Conscription - Croatia
Croatian law prescribes military service for male citizens from 18 to 27 years old. The duration of the normal military service is six months (as of 2004), while conscientious objectors can apply for civil service which lasts for eight months. Conscription is regularly postponed for students until the end of their studies, as long as they apply before they turn 28 years of age.
Over the last decade or so, the duration of military service has been halved and civil service was introduced together with the streamlining of the professional army. Should this trend continue, the mandatory service may eventually be completely replaced with voluntary service.
Conscription - Cyprus
Cyprus has compulsory military service for all Greek Cypriot men between the ages of 18 and 50. Military service lasts for 25 months. After that, ex-soldiers are considered reservists and participate in military exercises for a few days every year. Conscientious objectors can either do 33 months unarmed service in the army or 38 months community work. See official pages by the Greek Cypriot National Guard. In North Cyprus there is compulsory military service for Turkish Cypriots. The Annan Plan for Cyprus that was rejected in the 2004 reunification referendum mandated the demilitarisation of the island and the disbanding of both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot forces.
Conscription - Denmark
As described in the Constitution of Denmark, § 81, Denmark has mandatory service for all able men. Normal service is four months, and is normally served by men in the age of 18 to 27. Some special services will take longer. One will typically receive a letter around the time of one's 18th birthday, asking you when you will end your current education (if any), and some time later, depending on when, you will receive a notice on when to attend to the draft office, where you will be tested physically and psychologically. However some may be deemed unfit for service and not be required to show up.
Even if a person is deemed fit, or partially fit for service, he may avoid having to serve if he draws a high enough number randomly. Persons who are deemed partly fit for service will however be placed lower than those who are deemed fit for service, and therefore have a very low chance of being drafted. If you are deemed fit, you can be called upon for service until your 50th birthday in case of national crisis, regardless of whether you have served your normal conscription. This right is very rarely exercised by Danish authorities.
Conscientious objectors can choose to instead serve six months in a non-military position, for example in Redningsberedskabet (dealing with non-military disasters like fires, flood, pollution, etc.) or foreign aid work in a third world country. [1].
Conscription - Egypt
Egypt has a mandatory military service program for males between the ages of 18 and 30. Females of comparable age serve in a civilian program. Conscription is regularly postponed for students until the end of their studies, as long as they apply before they turn 28 years of age. By the age of 30 a male is considered unfit to join the army and pays a fine. Males with no brothers, or those supporting parents are exempted from the service. Males serve for a period ranging from 14 months to 48 months depending on their education; high school dropouts serve for 48 months during which they finish their high-school education. College graduates serve for lesser periods of time, depending on their education, and college graduates with special skills are still conscripted yet at a different rank and with a different pay scale with the option of remaining with the service as a career. Some Egyptians evade conscription and travel overseas until they reach the age of 30, at which point they are tried, pay a $580 fine (as of 2004), and are dishonorably relieved of their obligation to serve in the army. Such an offense, legally considered an offense of "bad moral character", prevents the "unpatriotic" citizen from ever holding public office.
Conscription - Eritrea
Eritrea has a mandatory military service program for both men and women aged 18 through 40. The term of service is 18 months. There is no alternate service. The Eritrean government is well-known for hunting down and torturing suspected draft evaders. Draft evaders often flee the country to nearby countries.
Conscription - Finland
As of 2004, Finland has mandatory military service for men of at least six months (180 days), depending on the assigned position: those trained as officers or NCOs serve for twelve months (362 days), specialist troops serve for nine (270 days) or twelve months, and other rank and file serve for six months. Unarmed service is also possible, and lasts eleven months (330 days). Since 1995, women have been given the option of voluntary military service. During the first 56 days, women have an option to quit the service without having to provide a reason. After serving for 56 days, they fall under the same obligation to serve as men.
Non-military service of thirteen months (395 days) is available for men whose conscience prevents them from serving in the military. Men who refuse to serve at all are sent to prison for up to 6.5 months (197 days). On principle, male citizens from the demilitarized Åland region have to serve in customs offices or lighthouses, but since this service has not been arranged, they are always exempted from the service. Jehovah's Witnesses' service is postponed every two years until they, at the age of 28, are exempted.
Military service has been mandatory for men throughout the history of independent Finland since 1917. Soldiers and civil servicemen receive a daily salary of 3.60 € (days 1-180), 5.75 € (days 181-270) and 8.25 € (onward from day 271).
After the training part of the service is done, the soldier enters the reserve. The reservists can be called to mandatory refresher exercises. Rank and file serves 40 days maximum, specialists 75 days and officers 100 days. For this, a salary of about 50 euro per day is paid. The service is mandatory; it is not possible to refuse an order to attend the refresher exercise.
The length of non-military service has been criticized as being punitive by Amnesty International because it is over twice as long as the most common alternative, six-month military service. Several motions to shorten it have been made in the Finnish Parliament but none have passed.
Conscription - Germany
Main article at Conscription in Germany
Germany has mandatory military service of nine months for men. Women may volunteer and are allowed to perform the same jobs as men. A conscientious objector may petition for permission to do civilian "alternative service" (Ersatzdienst) or "(alternative) civilian service" (Zivildienst) instead for nine months, which is usually accepted. A third option is to become a foreign "development helper" (Entwicklungshelfer) for at least eighteen months. Overall, however, during the past few years, the number of men being drafted has declined significantly.
Save for a few exceptions, military service is compulsory for all men between the ages of 18 and 23 years. Those who are engaged in educational or vocational training programs prior to their military assessment are allowed to postpone service until they have completed the programs and can be called upon to perform their national duty at any time thereafter.
Conscription - Greece
Main article at Conscription in Greece
As of 2004, Greece (Hellenic Republic) has mandatory military service of 12 months for men. However, it is developing a professional army system, and it is widely expected that the mandatory military service will be cut to 6 months by 2008 or even abolished completely. Although women are accepted into the Greek army, they are not obliged to join as men are. Soldiers receive no health insurance, but they can receive medical support during their army service, including hospitalization costs. They receive a symbolic salary of approximately 9 euros per month for privates, 12 euros for the rank of draft corporal and draft sergeant, and 600 euros as a draft cadet. The wages are not sufficient to sustain a draftee serving his tour away from his place of residence and most draftees depend financially on their parents to support them financially while they are on their tour.
Conscription - Israel
Israel has mandatory military service for both Jewish men and women not married by the conscription age. All Israeli Jews are conscripted, except Haredim, who can choose to serve but mostly do not. Israeli Arabs are exempt from service, although they can volunteer and some communities such as the Druze, Bedouin, and Circassians do serve.
Young women can generally not serve if they are married, pregnant, or otherwise - Israel is generally very lenient with Israeli women when it comes to the draft. However, most that can do serve out of patriotism.
Typically, men serve for 36 months, women serve for 24 months. See also: Israel Defence Forces.
There are limited number of refuseniks who resist military service, particularly in the West Bank, some of them serving short prison terms as a result (no more than a few months). See also: Refusal to serve in the Israeli military.
Conscription - Korea South
As of 2004, South Korea has mandatory military service of 24 months. See: [2].
Conscription - Lebanon
Lebanon previously had mandatory military service of one year for men. On the 4th of May 2005, a new conscription system was adopted, making for a six-month service, and pledging to end conscription within two years. See Official Information from Lebanese Army.
Conscription - Malaysia
As of 2004, Malaysia has mandatory national service of three months for a selected group of both men and women. Twenty per cent of 18-year-olds are selected through a lottery system to join this program. Trainees are not trained to use firearms. The first training date was February 16, 2004. See Official Information from Malaysia National Service Training Department.
Conscription - Mexico
Currently, all males reaching 18 years of age must register for military service (Servicio Militar Nacional, or SMN) of one year, though selection is made by a lottery system using the following color scheme: whoever draws a black ball must serve as a "disponibility reservist", that is, they must not follow any activities whatsoever and get their discharge card at the end of the year. The ones who get a white ball serve in a Batallón del Servicio Militar Nacional (National Military Service Battalion) composed entirely of one-year SMN conscripts. Those with a community service interest may participate in Literacy Campaigns as teachers, or as Phys-Ed instructors. Military service is also (voluntarily) open to women. In certain cities, such as Mexico City and Veracruz, there is a third option: a red ball (Mexico City) and a Blue ball (Veracruz), which entails serving a full year as a recruit in a Paratrooper Battalion in the case of Mexico City residents, or a Infantería de Marina unit (Navy Marines) in Veracruz. In other cities which have a Navy HQ (such as Ciudad Madero), it is the Navy which takes charge of the conscripts, instead of the Army.
Conscription - Norway
Norway has mandatory military service of 18 months for men between the ages of 18 (17 with parental consent) and 44. The actual draft time is 6 months for the national guard, and 9-12 months for the regular army and navy. The remaining months are supposed to be served in annual exercises, but very few conscripts do this due to lack of funding to the Norwegian armed forces. The decreased funding and greater reliance on high technology in the armed forces has resulted in only a third of the male population completing the service (since the late 1990's). The remaining two thirds have mostly formally been dismissed after medical tests or obtained deferral of the service due to studies or stays abroad. Many Norwegians consider it unfair that they are the "unlucky" 1/3 that have to complete the compulsory military duty when so many others are dismissed. The Norwegian armed forces will normally not draft a person who has reached the age of 28. In Norway certain voluntary specialist training programs entail extended conscription of one to eight years. Pacifists can apply for non-military service, lasting 13 months. Women can volunteer for military service in any part of the armed forces.
Conscription - Poland
Poland has a compulsory service term of 12 months for all mature men. However, many of those are considered unfit for mandatory military service during peacetime. Effectively, many tens of thousands of men are drafted each autumn. Alternative service can be requested, e.g. in the police force.
Conscription - Romania
Romania still has conscription. In 2003 an amendment to the Constitution allowed the Parliament to mark the military service facultative and the conscription will end in January 2007. Men serve for 12 months (6 months if they have graduated a form of higher education). As of 2004, conscripts no longer serve in the Romanian Navy.
The Romanian parliament voted in October 2005 to end the draft after the October 2006 "class" of draftees reports for duty. Beginning in January 2007, 20 year-old Romanian men will have to register with the government but the men will only be liable to call up in the case of war. The parliamentary vote formalized one of many military modernization and reform programs Romania agreed to when it joined NATO. By 2012, the age to require to be is 17 year-old Romanian men l have to register for the government.
Conscription - Russia
As of 2002, Russia (Russian Federation) has a mandatory two-year draft but most Russians avoid it by bribing officials and/or talking doctors into signing a letter that the draftee is in poor health and cannot serve. As a result, Russian generals have complained on numerous times that the bulk of the army is made up of drug-addicts, imbeciles, and ex-convicts, which in turn has lead to an overall decline of the morale and function of the Russian armed services. Conscripts often face brutal hazing and bullying upon their enterance into the military known as dedovschina, some dying as a result. Suicide among Russian conscripts is at an all time high.
See Only 11 percent of Russian men enter mandatory military service.
See also Dedovschina.
Conscription - Singapore
In Singapore, the NS (Amendment) Act was passed on 14 March 1967, under which all able-bodied male citizens of 18-21 years of age were required to serve a compulsory military service of two years (down from two and a half years, amended in 2005). Upon completion of full-time NS, they undergo reservist training cycles of 40 days a year for the next 10 years.
Singapore, which currently has a mandatory service period of 24 months, used to have one of the longest mandatory military service periods for males, at 30 months. It also has special policies for ethnic Malays, because of possible conflicts in allegiances with neighbour Malaysia. Some of the Malays are drafted into the police or Civil Defense.
See National Service
Conscription - Sweden
In Sweden military service is mandatory for men only. As of 2002, Sweden's government asked the army to consider mandatory military service for women. Less than one third of the country's eligible 19-year-olds are actually drafted each year. See Sweden considers mandatory military service for women. Men may choose to do unarmed service, for instance as a firefighter. Generally, unarmed service is longer than armed.
Conscription - Switzerland
Switzerland has the largest militia army in the world (220,000 including reserves). Military service for Swiss men is obligatory according to the Federal Constitution, and includes 17 weeks of basic training as well as annual 3-week-refresher courses until a number of service days which increases with rank (260 days for privates) is reached. Service for women is voluntary, but identical in all respects. Conscientious objectors can choose 450 days of community service instead of military service. Medical deferments and dismissals from basic training (often on somewhat dubious grounds) have increased significantly in the last years. Therefore, only about 33% of Swiss men actually complete basic training.
Conscription - Taiwan ROC
See also: Conscription in the Republic of China
The Republic of China has had mandatory military service for all males since 1949. Females from the outlying islands of Fuchien were also required to serve in a civil defense role, although this requirement has been dropped since the democratization of the ROC government. In October 1999, the mandatory service was shortened from 24 months to 22 months. From January 2004, the mandatory service was shortened futher. At this point, the duration of mandatory military service is 18 months. Beginning Jan 1, 2006, the duration will decrease to 16 months and by 2008, it will be shortened to 12 months. ROC nationals with Overseas Chinese status are exempt from service. Draftees may also request alternative service, usually in community service areas, although the required service period would be longer than military service. Qualified draftees with graduate degrees in the sciences or engineering who pass officer candidate exams may also apply to fulfill their obligations in a national defense service option which involves three months of military training, followed by an officer commission in the reserves and four years working in technical jobs in the defense industry or government research institutions.
The Ministry of Interior is responsible for administering the National Conscription Agency. Ministry of Interior site on Consciption Administration
Conscription - Turkey
In Turkey, compulsory military service applies to all male citizens from 20 to 41 years of age (with some exceptions). Those who are engaged in higher education or vocational training programs prior to their military drafting are allowed to delay service until they have completed the programs. The duration of the basic military service varies. As of July 2003, the reduced durations are as follows: 15 months for privates (previously 18 months), 12 months for reserve officers (previously 16 months) and 6 months for short-term privates, which denotes those who have earned a university degree and not have been enlisted as reserve officers (previously 8 months).
For Turkish citizens who have lived or worked abroad of Turkey for at least three years, on condition that they pay a certain fee in foreign currencies, a basic military training of one month is offered instead of the full-term military service. Also, when the General Staff assesses that the military reserve exceeds the required amount, paid military service of one-month's basic training is established.
Although women have in principle no military service, they are allowed to become officers.
Refusing the obligatory military service due to conscientious objection is illegal in Turkey, and punishable with imprisonment by law.
Conscription - Ukraine
The options are either reserve officer training for two years (offered in universities as a part of a program), or one year regular service.
Conscription - Venezuela
In Venezuela, all citizens over 18 should report to the local military authority for evaluation. If the citizen can provide enough proof that they should not serve (They are college students, or have medical reason not to) they are exempt. However if they cannot prove this, they are conscripted and must serve up to 2 years of mandatory military service.
Raids are usually made in night clubs and other nocturnal entertainment places to check whether or not men inside are 'registered' as reservists.
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 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Countries with mandatory military service partial list", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
