Military of France: Encyclopedia II - Military of France - Manpower

Military of France - Manpower

The total number of military personnel is approximately 300,000. However, 100,000 of these are in the Gendarmerie, and thus a vast majority of these 100,000 are used in everyday law enforcement operation inside France and are not fit for external operations. Elements of the Gendarmerie are however present in all French external operations, providing troops specialised in order enforcement and military police.

Previously, France relied a great deal on conscription to provide manpower to its armies, with only a minority of career soldiers. Following from the Algerian War of Independence, the use of non-volunteer draftees in foreign operations was ended; if their unit is called for duty in war zones, draftees are now offered the choice between requiring a mutation to another unit or joining the mission. In 1996, President Jacques Chirac's government announced the end of conscription; in 2001, conscription was ended. However, young people must still register for possible conscription should the events call for it, with the cosmetic change that now females must register as well.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Manpower", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki