Military service


Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft.
Few nations, such as Israel, require a specific amount of military service from every citizen, except for special cases, such as limitation determined by a military physical or religious belief. Most countries that use conscription systems only conscript men; a few countries also conscript women. For example, Norway, Sweden, North Korea, Israel, and Eritrea conscript both men and women. However, only Norway and Sweden have a gender-neutral conscription system, where men and women are conscripted and serve on equal formal terms. Some nations with conscription systems do not enforce them.
Nations which conscript for military service typically also rely on citizens choosing to join the armed forces as a career.
Some nations with armed forces do not conscript their personnel. Instead, they promote military careers to attract and select recruits; see military recruitment.
Some, usually smaller, nations have no armed forces at all or rely on an armed domestic security force.

World summary

In this summary, 195 countries are included.

No enforced conscription

The following 106 countries and territories have been identified as having no enforced conscription:

  • Both compulsory and voluntary

The following countries and regions have been identified as having both compulsory and voluntary military service:

Selective conscription

The following 13 countries have been identified as having selective conscription:

  • Civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service option

The following fifteen countries have been identified as having a civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service optional alternative to compulsory military service:

  • Compulsory for both genders

  • Limited to 1 year or less

The following twenty-five countries have been identified as having compulsory military service limited to 1 year or less:

  • Limited to 18 months

The following 11 countries have been identified to having compulsory military service limited to 18 months or less:

  • Longer than 18 months

The following 25 countries have been identified as having compulsory military service terms longer than 18 months:
  • Cuba

  • No defense force

The following 21 countries have been identified as having no defense forces or as having no standing army but having very limited military forces:
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *

    By country

Non-mandatory

Compulsory military service has declined considerably since 1970. A 2016 study finds "that the probability of a shorter military service time is positively associated with smaller country populations, smaller lagged army sizes, increases in primary schooling among young males, and having common law legal origins."

Albania

had compulsory military service. Albania's armed forces announced an objective to create a professional army by the end of 2010.

Argentina

suspended military conscription in 1995 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.
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, limpiar and barrer, 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

Australians participated in the Boer War as volunteer forces. Two conscription referendums were defeated during World War I, and military service during WWI was voluntary. Military service was initially voluntary in World War II. Volunteer militia units were to be used only within the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1942, some militia units were deployed to Papua New Guinea, as it was considered part of Australia at that time, to fight the advancing and later withdrawing Japanese invasion army. Various levels of conscription were in force during the 1950s, but only for service in Australia during times of conflict. In 1964, compulsory national service for 20-year-old males was introduced under the National Service Act 1964. Australian troops were later deployed in the Vietnam War, with over 500 men killed in action and thousands wounded in action. The Vietnam War was lost on 1 May, 1975, over three years after the Australian Defence Force withdrew in late 1971. All forms of conscription were abolished by the Whitlam government in later 1972. Conscription can be reactivated at any time should war break out; first upon mere declaration by the Governor General, followed by final approval 90 days later as a retrospective action by parliament. The defense act of 1903 clearly states this.

Barbados

has no conscription. The country has set the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Barbados Defence Force at 18. Younger recruits may be conscripted with parental consent.

Belgium

suspended conscription on 31 December 1992 by amending the 1962 Law on Conscription, which became applicable only to conscripts drafted in 1993 and earlier. In practice this meant that the law no longer applied to those born in 1975 and later. Since 1 March 1995 the Belgian armed forces consist of professional volunteers only.

Belize

has set minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the Armed Forces at 18. Conscription has never been prescribed in the Defense Act, but is at the Governor General's discretion.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

abolished compulsory military service as of 1 January 2006.

Bulgaria

abolished compulsory military service. The last conscripts were sent home on 25 November 2007.
Previously there was mandatory military service for male citizens from 18 to 27 years of age. Duration of the service depended on the degree of education. For citizens studying for or holding a bachelor's 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 1992, and was dropping steadily, until it was finally abolished.

Canada

Compulsory service in a sedentary militia was practiced in Canada as early as 1669. In peacetime, compulsory service was typically limited to attending an annual muster, although they were mobilized for longer periods during war. Compulsory service in the sedentary militia continued until the late 19th century when Canada's sedentary Reserve Militia system fell into disuse. The legislative provision that formally made every male inhabitant of military age a member of the Reserve Militia was removed in 1904, replaced with provisions that made them theoretically "liable to serve in the militia".
Conscription into a full-time military service had only been instituted twice by the government of Canada, during both world wars. Conscription into the Canadian Expeditionary Force was practiced in the last year of the First World War in 1918. During the Second World War, conscription for home defence was introduced in 1940 and for overseas service in 1944. Conscription has not been practiced in Canada since the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Chile

All Chilean men between 17 and 24 years are eligible for military service. Since 2005, military service is voluntary and then mandatory if quotas necessary for the armed forces are not completed. The General Directorate of National Mobilization is responsible for the recruitment of volunteers and conscripts. Since 1992, according to the Law 19.992, due to the creation of the Corporación Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación, sons and certain other relatives of victims of human rights violations and/or political violence, during Pinochet's dictatorship, are extempt of the military service draft, that was compulsory at that time. In 2009, with the Law 20.405, more victims were recognised by the Republic of Chile and the exemption of relatives was also amended

China

At present, military conscription only exists in theory and has done so since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Compositional military conscription has never been enforced.
In 1955, the legal basis for conscription in China, the first Military Service Law created a system of compulsory military service. Since the late 1970s, the Chinese conscription laws mandate a hybrid system that combines conscripts and volunteers. The Chinese system operates through a process of draft registration or levy system with recruitment quotas. De jure, military service with the PLA is obligatory for all Chinese citizens. In practice, mandatory military service has not been implemented since 1949 as the People's Liberation Army has been able to recruit sufficient numbers voluntarily.