For every young man, military service is considered an honorable duty that must be carried out with full responsibility. The conscription age begins at 18 years of age and lasts until 27. During the conscription campaign, young men receive summonses from the military registration and enlistment office, which indicate the time and date of appearance for a medical examination. But service in the army does not begin with receiving a summons, so it is worth exploring this issue in more detail and figuring out when the beginning of military service in the army by conscription is considered to have started.
How many served in the army before and how many are serving today?
According to Federal Law No. 53 “On Military Duty and Military Service,” adopted in 1998, the period of military service in the army in 2022 is exactly 1 year. During this period, young people aged 18-27 undergo training that will be useful to them if the state becomes a party to a military conflict.
Interestingly, men used to be liable for military service throughout their lives. And only in the 18th century, in 1793, the service life was reduced to a quarter of a century. A little less than 100 years later, in 1874, it became even smaller and amounted to 7 years. Afterwards, a reform was carried out, thanks to which military service lasted 15 years for the ground forces and 10 years for the navy.
In the 20th century in Russia, the term was reduced first to 3 (1906), and then to 2 years. It remained this way until World War II. And then changes happened again. You had to serve for 3 years in the aviation and ground forces, and 4 in the navy.
The next reforms took place in the second half of the last century. So, in 1967, they began to serve in the aviation and ground forces for 1.5 years, and in the navy - 2. During the Chechen campaigns, the service life was increased to 2 years for everyone.
And again a new reform. It happened in the early 2000s. At first, conscripts served in the army for a year and a half, and then for a year.
Why the service life may become longer
The proposal to extend the service life has been made more than once by State Duma deputies. They explained it by the impossibility of fully learning the basics of military training in a year. According to them, during this period of time young people can only learn to use simple weapons and master the simplest combat skills. And this is not enough to become a full-fledged warrior of a strong Russian army.
The current head of the Russian Federation has a different opinion about military service. According to him, preference should be given to contract soldiers. For the most part, these are people who consciously made a choice in favor of military affairs. Therefore, they are ready to learn and develop all the necessary skills. In the near future, it is planned to achieve a ratio of contract soldiers and conscripts of 80 to 20. And even later - up to 90 to 10.
The president also believes that in a year you can, if not become a real military man, then at least understand whether it is worth continuing to serve under a contract or not.
Possible increase in service life: reality or myth
Increasingly, one can hear talk about a possible extension of service life in the Russian army to one and a half or two years. These rumors contribute to panic among conscripts.
The decision to extend service comes down to obtaining more qualified personnel for the mobilization reserve. In addition, military equipment has become much more complex both in control and in equipment. The tactics of modern combat have also changed greatly. Therefore, as practice shows, a sufficient level of mastery of complex equipment implies the need to increase service life and conduct military training to maintain skills and abilities.
But to date, not a single proposal to increase the service life has been submitted to parliament for consideration. As for the real state of affairs, conscripts are more willing to serve in the army for a duration of one year, so today there is no provision for increasing the length of service.
Thus, the beginning of military service for a conscript soldier is the moment he is awarded the rank of private. This event sometimes occurs while at a collection point, from which the military personnel are distributed among the troops. The duration of service is 12 months and ends only when the soldier is removed from the lists of army personnel.
Possible changes
It is impossible to say for sure whether there will be any changes regarding the service life or not. At least to date, the State Duma has not adopted a single bill dedicated to it.
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Burdinsky said that the Ministry of Defense will not carry out reforms in the near future, so the duration of military service will remain unchanged in 2022.
The same Burdinsky said that contract service is now a priority. Now there are more than enough such military personnel, so conscripts need not worry.
Contract service
The term of service in the army in 2021-2022 under contract lasts longer and depends on the selected troops and rank:
- sailors, soldiers, foremen, sergeants who entered into a contract for the first time - 2-3 years (citizens of foreign states - 5);
- officers, midshipmen, warrant officers - 5 years.
Service members who choose to re-contract will serve from 1 to 10 years. They can also sign an agreement for an unlimited time.
Day of completion of military service
The day when a young man is completely excluded from the lists of a military unit is considered the day his term of service in the army ends.
But it is not always possible to remove all military personnel from the lists in time. This happens for the following reasons:
- A soldier undergoing treatment in a hospital;
- The decision to remain on the territory of the military unit until the vehicle arrives to take the soldier home;
- A serviceman takes part in a ship voyage;
- The soldier is considered temporarily missing or captured;
- The serviceman has been charged with committing a crime or is in a guardhouse;
- Other cases established by law.
Alternative service
This is one way to avoid military conscription. It is used by those young people who cannot serve in the army due to religious, moral, ethical and other principles. The alternative service first appeared in 1993.
Since the beginning of 2008, this type of service can be performed for 21 or 18 months. In the first case, the conscript works in organizations subordinate to the subject or federal executive authorities. In the second, he serves as a civilian employee in organizations related to the Russian Armed Forces.
How many years have they served in the armies of other countries?
Most countries in the world have switched to contract service. But there are also those where every man is still obliged to repay the so-called debt to his homeland. Let's take a closer look:
- Austria - six months. If desired, it can be replaced with an alternative service for a period of 9 months.
- North Korea - 10 years. And these are not the final numbers yet.
- South Korea - 27 months. The state is always under pressure, and therefore needs qualified military personnel.
- Libya - 2 years. Women are also subject to conscription.
An interesting situation has developed in Norway. How many years have they served in the army in this country? According to the law, military service lasts 19 months. But in reality, conscripts only wear the uniform for a year. And then only after space becomes available. It turns out that they will still have to wait.
When does military service begin?
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the day of the beginning of military service in the army by conscription is not the day when the conscript was sent to the unit, but the day when he was awarded the first rank. That is, when the young man was awarded the rank of “private.” It is from this moment that the service life begins. This happens when the young man arrives at the distribution point.
Many conscripts are inclined to believe that the day of arrival at the assembly point is considered the starting day of military service, but in fact this is not the case. After the young people arrive at the assembly point, they must once again undergo a medical commission, which recognizes their suitability, and only after that will they be awarded the rank of private. Next, the young men conduct interviews with the commanders of various troops, into which they are selected. Sometimes there is a delay in distribution, so a conscript can stay at a distribution point from one day to two weeks.
Basically, this hitch occurs because it is necessary to recruit a certain number of conscripts in order to send them to the target military unit. They can no longer send conscripts back to the military registration and enlistment office from the distribution point, so sometimes you need to be patient and wait for them to be sent to the military unit. Until the required number of recruits is recruited, even commanders will be denied leave or absence from the assembly point.
Can the service life be shortened?
Yes they can. But there must be good reasons for this. Here are some of them:
- A close blood relative of a potential conscript died in an armed conflict. We are talking about a father or brother.
- The conscript must take custody of a minor blood relative. This is a sister or brother.
- One of the relatives has a serious illness that requires constant care, which will be provided by the young man.
- The conscript had a second child.
- The family has a disabled child under 3 years of age, the responsibility for caring for whom lies with the conscript.
- A potential soldier is left with a child as a result of the death of his wife.
A complete list of situations in which a decision may be made to reduce the length of service in the army is in Article 51 of the Law on Military Service.
Conscription into the army
With the start of the conscription campaign, the military registration and enlistment office begins sending out summonses to conscripts, according to which young people are required to appear for a medical examination. During his medical examination, the conscript goes through several doctors, such as a dentist, surgeon, psychiatrist, neurologist, therapist, ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist.
If, after passing the medical examination, the conscript is found to have health problems, then the young man will be sent for additional examination to the clinic at his place of residence.
After passing the medical commission, young people are given a final fitness category, which will decide the conscript’s future fate in the army. But at this stage the call does not end. After the draft category has been adopted, the young man’s personal file is transferred to the control commission, where the assigned category will be finally approved or cancelled.
As a rule, a control medical examination is carried out without the conscript’s personal presence. He is called if the commission has questions about the provided medical documents or if the young man himself volunteered to be present at the final decision.
In some cases, the approval of a particular fitness category may take an indefinite period of time, and because of this, the period of the conscription campaign may end. In such cases, the decision of the military registration and enlistment office is completely annulled and during a new conscription the young man undergoes a medical examination again.
Will the service be contract only?
Discussions on this topic are ongoing. But no one is going to take decisive action yet, at least in the next few years. That's exactly what the Minister of Defense said. The main reason is lack of funds.
Paying for the “work” of contract workers requires not just millions, but billions of rubles. The state does not have that kind of money. This is the first thing. And secondly, the funds allocated for the armed forces will always find use. First of all, this is the re-equipment and purchase of new equipment.
