Military service

Military service in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g. Israel, Iran) require a specific amount of military service from each and every one of its citizens (except for special cases such as physical or mental disorders or religious beliefs). A nation with a fully volunteer military does not normally require mandatory military service from its citizens, unless it is faced with a recruitment crisis during a time of war.

Countries without mandatory military service

Voluntary Enlistment into Military Service in these countries is an important part of their nation's defense.

Argentina:

Argentina suspended military conscription in 1994 and replaced it with a voluntary military service, yet those already in service had to finish their time in service. This came as a result of political and social distrust of the military, dwindling budgets which forced the military to induct fewer conscripts every year, the experience of the 1982 Falklands War which proved the superiority of professional servicemen over conscripts and a series of conscription-related brutality scandals which came to a head with the murder of Private Omar Carrasco at an Army base in 1994, following a brutal disciplinary action. It should be noted that military conscription has not been abolished; the Mandatory Military Service Law is still in the books and might be enforced in times of war, crisis or national emergency. Conscription was known in Argentina as la colimba. The word colimba is a composite word made from the initial syllables of the verbs correr (to run), limpiar (to clean) and barrer (to sweep), as it was perceived that all a conscript did during service was running, cleaning and sweeping. Conscripts themselves were known and referred to as "colimbas".

Australia:

Although various levels of Conscription were in force during times of conflict (World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War), Australia currently has no conscription. All forms of conscription were abolished by the Whitlam Government in 1972.

Belgium:

Belgium suspended military Conscription in 1994.

Belize:

Belize has set minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces at 18. (According to the Section 16 of the Defense Act of the Defence Ordinance of 1977.) Conscription has never been prescribed in the Defense Act, but is at the Governor General’s determination.

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Bosnia and Herzegovina abolished compulsory military service as of January 1, 2006

Bulgaria:

Bulgaria abolished compulsory military service. The last conscripts were sent home on November 25, 2007. Previously there was mandatory military service for male citizens from eighteen to twenty-seven years of age. Duration of the service depended on the degree of education. For citizens studying for or holding a bachelor degree or higher the service was six months, and for citizens with no higher education it was nine months. The duration of service was two years in 1994, and was dropping steadily, until it was finally abolished.

Canada:

In Canada, Conscription has never taken place in peacetime. Conscription became an extremely controversial issue during both World War I and World War II, especially in the province of Quebec.

Costa Rica:

Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948. See Military of Costa Rica

Croatia:

On October 3, 2007, the government proposed to the parliament of the Republic of Croatia a decision to suspend all compulsory military service. This was supported by President Stjepan Mesic, and after a vote in the parliament on October 5, 2007, the decision became official. As of January 1, 2008, obligatory military (or civil) service is replaced with voluntary military service.

Czech Republic:

The Czech Republic abolished compulsory military service on December 31, 2004.

France:

Modern conscription was invented during the French Revolution, when the Republic wanted a stronger defense and to expand its radical ideas throughout Europe. The 1798 Jourdan Act stated: "Any French is a soldier and owes himself to the defense of the nation". Thus Napoleon Bonaparte could create afterward the Grande Armée with which he set out on the first large intra-European war. France suspended peacetime military conscription in 1996, while those born before 1979 had to complete their service; since the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), conscripts had not been deployed abroad or in war zones, except those volunteering for such deployments.

Hungary:

Hungary abolished mandatory military service by November 2004, after the parliament had modified the constitution, ending a long-standing political dispute. To restore drafting, a two-thirds vote in parliament is needed, which is unlikely in the short term. The country is currently developing a professional army, with strong emphasis on "contract soldiers" who voluntarily serve 4+4 years for a wage.

India:

India has never had mandatory military service, either under British rule or since independence in 1947. In WWII the Indian Army became the largest all-volunteer force in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in size. And It has since maintained the world's second largest army and the worlds largest all volunteer army

Iraq:

Saddam Hussein's large Iraqi army was largely composed of conscripts, except for the elite Republican Guard. About 100,000 conscripts died during the First Persian Gulf War, also known as Operation Desert Storm. In the intervening years, Iraq's military suffered from decay and poor leadership, but there was still compulsory service. One program of note was "Ashbal Saddam" known as "Saddam's Cubs" where children were trained to defend Iraq through "toughening" exercises such as firearms training and dismembering live chickens with their teeth. Following the Second Persian Gulf War where the original military was disbanded, the Iraqi Army was recreated as a volunteer force with training overseen at first by the Coalition Provisional Authority and later by the American presence.

Republic of Ireland:

The Republic of Ireland has always had a fully voluntary military, it remains a neutral nation.

Italy:

Italy had mandatory military service, for men only, until December 31, 2004. The right to conscientious objection was legally recognized in 1972 so that a "non armed military service", or a community service, could be authorised as an alternative to those who required it. The Italian Parliament approved the suspension of the mandatory military service in 2004, with effect starting from January 1, 2005, and the Italian armed forces will now be entirely composed of professional volunteer troops, both male and female, except in case of war or serious international military crisis, when conscription can be implemented.

Jamaica:

In Jamaica the military service is voluntary from 18 years of age up. Younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent.

Japan:

Japan's Self Defence Forces have been a volunteer force since their establishment in the 1950s, following the end of the Allied occupation. As the Japanese constitution expressly prohibits Japan from maintaining any offensive military force, conscription will most likely not be an issue in the near future.

Latvia:

Latvia abolished military service on 1 January 2007.

Lebanon:

Lebanon previously had mandatory military service of one year for men. On 4 May 2005, a new conscription system was adopted, making for a six-month service, and pledging to end conscription within two years. By 10 February 2007 it did.

Luxembourg:

Luxembourg has a volunteer military.

Republic of Macedonia:

Republic of Macedonia abolished compulsory military service as of October 2006.

Montenegro:

President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic has, as of 30 August 2006, abolished conscription for the military.

Morocco:

Morocco eliminated compulsory military service as of August 31, 2006.

Netherlands:

The Netherlands established conscription for a territorial militia in 1814, simultaneously establishing a standing army which was to be manned by volunteers only. However, lack of sufficient volunteers caused the two components to be merged in 1819 into a "cadre-militia" army, in which the bulk of troops were conscripts, led by professional officers and NCOs. This system remained in use until the end of the Cold War. Between 1991 and 1996, the Dutch armed forces phased out their conscript personnel and converted to an all-volunteer force. The last conscript troops were inducted in 1995 and demobilized in 1996. Formally, the Netherlands has not abolished conscription; that is to say, the laws and systems which provide for the conscription of armed forces personnel remain in place, and Dutch citizens can still, theoretically, be mobilized in the event of a national emergency.

New Zealand:

Conscription of men into the armed forces of New Zealand came into effect in 1940, and was abolished in 1972.

Pakistan:

Like India, Pakistan has always maintained a purely volunteer military. However, in the immediate aftermath of independence, and the 1948 war; at a time when the army was just reorganising from a colonial force to a new national army; militias raised for service from, the Frontier, Punjab and Kashmir were often raised from locals tribe; each tribe was given a quota and many of the individuals sent did not "volunteer" in the strictest sense (though many did). This is the only example of a conscription like situation in Pakistan.

Panama:

Panama officially abolished the entire military in 1992, and transformed it in National Police. Prior to that, the US invasion to Panama practically destroyed what was in that time the Defence Forces of Panama, in 1989.

Peru:

Peru abolished conscription in 1999.

Philippines:

The Philippines does not have compulsory military service, however military training is a compulsory part of the high school curriculum and is optional for the college curriculum. As the training lasts for only a few hours a week and is embedded in the school curriculum, students do not have to live away from their homes during the year they receive the training. Filipino citizens who refuse to undergo such training in senior year of high school (known as Citizen's Advancement Tranining or CAT) are not eligible for graduation. Prior to 2003, CAT used to be oriented towards purely military skills but today, non-military aspects have been added to the training programme. In college, military training, known as Reserved Officers' Training Corps or ROTC is now one of the options for the compulsory National Service Training Programme (NSTP), the other two being Citizen Welfare Training Service (CWTS) and Literacy Training Service (LTS). ROTC used to be compulsory until 2001 when controversies surrounding officer misconduct prompted it to be reformed. Students are required to complete 6 units of NSTP to be eligible for graduation which is reduced from 12 units when ROTC was the sole option (6 units per year). Depending on the school a student is in, military training can either be oriented towards the army, navy or air Force. Aliens are exempt from undergoing the national service programmes however those who hold dual-citizenship with one of them being Filipino are not.

Poland:

Poland suspended compulsory military service on December 5, 2008 by the order of the Minister of Defence. Compulsory military service was formally abolished when the Polish parliament amended conscription law on January 9, 2009, the law came into effect on February 11.

Portugal:

Portugal abolished compulsory military service on November 19, 2004.

Romania:

Romania suspended compulsory military service on October 23, 2006. This came about due to a 2003 constitutional amendment which allowed the parliament to make military service optional. The Romanian Parliament voted to abolish conscription in October 2005, with the vote formalising one of many military modernisation and reform programmes that Romania agreed to when it joined NATO.

Slovakia:

Slovakia abolished compulsory military service on January 1, 2006.

Slovenia:

Slovenia's Prime Minister Anton Rop abolished mandatory military service on September 9, 2003.

South Africa:

South Africa under the apartheid system had two years of compulsory military service for white men, followed by camps at intervals. This was abolished in 1994. See End Conscription Campaign.

Spain:

Military service in Spain (1945)Spain abolished compulsory military service in 2001. It was known derogatively as "la mili", more often than not with an obscene adjective, as in the name of a supplement ("Puta Mili") attached to the popular satyrical "El Jueves" magazine. Military and alternative service was nine months long and in recent years the majority of conscripts chose to perform alternative, rather than military, service.

Tanzania:

Tanzania used to employ conscription, but has abolished it.

United Kingdom:

The United Kingdom introduced conscription during both world wars. For the first two years of World War I the British relied on volunteers. But by 1916 the need for yet more soldiers to replace losses at the front, forced the British Government to introduce conscription under the Military Service Act. Conscientious objectors received relatively harsh treatment in the 1914-18 war. Most had to do war-related work of a non-military sort. Some went to jail. Ireland was initially exempt from conscription in the First World War, but it was extended to Ireland on April 9, 1918. This led a Conscription Crisis in Ireland and was a decisive factor in pushing the country into seeking its independence. The poet W.B. Yeats wrote to Lord Haldane in protest: "...it seems to me a strangely wanton thing that England, for the sake of 50,000 Irish soldiers, is prepared to hollow another trench between the countries and fill it with blood." Also in protest, Lady Gregory declared "women and children will stand in front of their men and receive the bullets, rather than let them be taken to the front." Conscription was reintroduced in 1939 at the start of World War II. Not only was conscription used for the three branches of the armed forces, it was also introduced to aid in coal mining with the Bevin Boys, and later in the war with the introduction of conscription of women into the Women's Land Army to help with agricultural production. Conscientious objectors were treated more tolerantly, but could still go to prison if they refused war-related work. Northern Ireland was exempt from conscription in the Second World War, and was also excluded from the post-war National Service. After World War II, the Government introduced National Service, which was abolished in 1963.

United States:

Main article: Conscription in the United States The United States has employed conscription intermittently. For example, in 1863 the imposition of a draft during the Civil War touched off the New York Draft Riots. Conscription was next used after the United States entered World War I in 1917. The first peacetime conscription came with the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. Active conscription ("the draft") ended in 1973. Currently, male U.S. citizens, if aged eighteen through twenty five, are required to register with the Selective Service System, whose mission is "to provide manpower to the armed forces in an emergency" including a "Health Care Personnel Delivery System" and "to run an Alternative Service Program for men classified as conscientious objectors during a draft." No one has been prosecuted for violating the conscription law in the USA since 1986. Women do not register for Selective Service in the United States, but they may enlist for voluntary service.

References

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland, 1997, via Nationmaster: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_con-military-conscription

The CIA World Fact book — Military service age and obligation. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2024.html

J. Jih. Dual Nationality, Conscription and Death Penalty. http://www.geocities.com/jusjih/dncdp.html

NATO and the Defence Reform Commission: partners for progress (SETimes.com)

Bulgaria's last conscripts - News news

Bulgaria Scraps the Draft (New York Times) - ExpatsBulgaria.com

Bulgaria to abolish compulsory military service as of 2008 (SETimes.com)

"Bulgarian military service reduced", BBC News, May 17, 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2006.

Vijesti.net - Hrvatska uvodi profesionalnu vojsku od 1. sijecnja 2008

Ministerstvo obrany - Stránka nebyla nalezena - Not Found

BBC NEWS | Europe | Last conscripts leave Czech army

BBC News | EUROPE | France salutes end of military service

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