The spring draft in Russia starts on April 1. It is planned to send 122 thousand recruits to the security forces: to the army, Rosgvardiya, FSO, etc.
Residents of the Far North and education workers will start receiving summonses from May 1. And for rural areas, the spring call was canceled: young people in the village will help their parents to carry out the sowing campaign, and in the fall to harvest.
The draft is scheduled to end on July 15.
During last year's spring draft, 135 thousand children left to serve.
Army
Away from COVID
The draft is still two weeks away, and conscripts and their parents are already racking their brains in search of answers to many questions. What should the guys take on the road, how will they be met in military units, will the young soldiers have the opportunity to communicate with their relatives, will they have to stay in the service for more than a year, etc.?
About the term of conscription service: no changes are expected in the 12 months of "conscription" established by law. Moreover, according to the established tradition, the time of the end of the service is the day of conscription. They will be sent to the army, say, on May 20. On the same day, exactly a year later, he should be fired. Unless, of course, he decides to remain in the ranks as a contract soldier - almost every conscript has this opportunity.
As for being sent to the garrison. Judging by the experience of last year and the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country, relatives and friends of recruits leaving for the army may not be allowed to go to the assembly points again. You'll have to say goodbye at home. The Defense Ministry may also recommend that relatives of young soldiers do not come to the ceremony of taking the military oath.
The reason for the restrictions is the coronavirus. The Ministry of Defense is doing everything to leave the infection behind the threshold of military units. The same consideration dictates other security measures: one hundred percent testing of recruits for COVID-19, mask mode and mandatory telemetry in military enlistment offices, additional medical examination of recruits at assembly points.
And on the way to the service, the guys will not be left without constant monitoring. All draft teams will be accompanied by medics on the way. The number of people transported in one railway car, again based on the experience of last year, can be reduced by a third. Upon arrival at the unit, the young recruits are quarantined for two weeks.
The garrisons are already preparing for the reception of new recruits, a stock of masks and disinfectants has been created. The commanders who receive the recruits will stay with them until the end of the two-week quarantine. Therefore, you should not be afraid that young soldiers will fall under the "press" of already served soldiers or contract soldiers.
In addition, all recruits will undergo a medical psychological examination at the place of service. Every day, they are provided with a three-day thermometry. The children will not eat in the common dining room, but separately from other military personnel - food and disposable dishes will be brought to them.
Another important point: it is not necessary to send your sons to the army with a suitcase of all kinds of pills. The Armed Forces have all the necessary medicines, including for the treatment of coronavirus. There is now a mass vaccination against COVID-19. True, vaccinations are mainly made by the regular military. But it is quite possible that those conscripts who did not have time to be vaccinated before being sent to the army will voluntarily do so in the army.
By the way, the incidence rate in the Armed Forces is lower than in the whole country. In December last year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the following figures: if we take per 100 thousand people, the army has 25 percent fewer infected people. Now this gap has become larger. Therefore, in a sense, when conscripts leave for service, they increase their chance of not catching an infection.
A few practical tips for the guys. Do not take food from home on the road. It can deteriorate, and then the trouble can not be avoided. All recruits on the way to the military unit are fed hot food, on trains-even from the restaurant.
Further. Don't get ready for a service like a summer camp. The soldier is on full state support, and everything he needs, he will receive - from a uniform to a toothbrush. Even at the assembly point, each recruit will be given an army dressing case with a full set of hygiene products.
In the same place, the conscript will be handed a personalized bank card, where they will accrue a soldier's salary: 2 thousand rubles a month. On trips to the tea shop and the Voentorg store is quite enough. So taking a lot of money with you from home is also not worth it.
But don't forget your mobile phone. Better push-button, without Internet access. Fancy gadgets are not welcome in the army, since a military unit is still a regime object. Almost every company and battalion has mobile phone usage schedules, so new recruits will have the opportunity to communicate with friends and family.
Rosgvardiya
Thirteen thousand bayonets
The scheme of conscription to Rosgvardiya differs little from the general army. Future Russian guardsmen should be called up through military enlistment offices, and the pandemic has not changed anything here, only made some adjustments.
All military enlistment offices must be fully equipped with the necessary medical equipment for the draft campaign. At the recruiting stations, a mask regime will be observed and regular treatment with disinfectants will be carried out. Only employees who have antibodies to the coronavirus will work with conscripts, they are ordered to be vaccinated against covid in a timely manner. After arriving at the unit at their destination, each recruit is sent to a 14-day quarantine. Training of conscripts should be organized in a remote format.
About 13 thousand young people are called up to the Russian Guard every time, which is about 20 percent of the total number. The rest serve under contract.
For the reception and training of recruits in the formations and military units of the National Guard troops, more than 45 training points are usually deployed. During the month, not only combat training classes are held with conscripts, but also additional medical examinations, psychological tests. Military personnel are placed in barracks, where there are all the necessary living conditions.
Military service on conscription in the National Guard forces provides a number of benefits. Among them: the possibility of admission to higher educational institutions of the department both during the service and after leaving the reserve.
Citizens who have successfully served in the military units of Rosgvardiya are readily accepted for work in the internal affairs bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and other law enforcement agencies.
For those who want to continue their service in the OMON, SOBR or non-departmental security units, the procedure for processing documents has now been significantly simplified.
For conscripted military personnel who want to sign a contract, such an opportunity is provided - for this it is necessary to serve on the draft for three months. If you have a secondary professional education, you can sign a contract almost immediately.
The conscript has the opportunity to get an additional specialty during the period of military service, which will later be useful to him in civilian life. For example, here you can become a cook, a minesweeper, a medical worker, a dog handler, a driver.
Recall that in 2017, an educational and scientific company was formed in Rosgvardiya. Recruitment to this division is conducted on a competitive basis. Preference is given to the winners of Olympiads, competitions, fellows of the President of Russia and special state scholarships of the Government of Russia, participants of scientific works that have a special applied value for the National Guard troops.
What about them
I painted my nails - and went on the attack
USA
American soldiers are eligible for free medical masks, but only in black. Camouflage colors are also allowed, but you need to buy them at your own expense.
However, this is the least of the innovations that have hit the army and the National Guard of the United States. Female military personnel (there are 127 thousand of them!) have the right to make their own stylish hairstyles since this year. In peacetime, they were allowed to wear short ponytails and pigtails, in combat conditions-long ponytails, but on condition that they fit under the helmet. Even girls in uniform are allowed to paint their nails and breastfeed their children on duty. Why they give out T-shirts with slits that can be worn under camouflage. Also in the US army, it is allowed to wear gold, silver and diamond earrings with a combat uniform. Honey, not the service. They will defeat the enemy, if not with a bullet, then with beauty.
Earlier, President Biden legalized the service of transgender people, who were restricted under Trump. Moreover, the military can now change their gender for free. In civilian life, such an operation costs from 100 thousand to 200 thousand dollars, while the army takes on all the costs. According to various sources, they have between 9,000 and 15,000 transgender people in active military service in the United States. And more than 130,000 veterans identify as transgender.
And the soldiers are also seeking the right to grow beards. The generals persist. Today, beards are worn by those who have proved that their religion requires it. Or on medical evidence. So far, only 550 fighters have succeeded.
Israel
The spring conscription for the Israel Defense Forces started this week. The command demanded that the commanders of the units pay attention to the moral (stress due to the pandemic) and physical (excessive weight gained during quarantines) condition of the recruits. The IDF is the first army in the world to achieve collective immunity. Units in which 90% of the personnel are vaccinated (or have been ill) are eligible for benefits. The average figure for the army is 85%.
Tajikistan
In Tajikistan, it was allowed to replace conscription with monthly military fees, but at the same time it is necessary to pay a certain amount to the treasury (the amount has not yet been determined). But it was announced: from now on, only those who served in the army will work in law enforcement and customs.
SOUTH AFRICA
Female members of the South African Defence Force have been allowed to wear the hijab on duty.
China
Starting this year, recruitment for military service in China will be twice a year: from February 20 to March 31 and from August 15 to September 30. The advantage is given to college graduates, holders of engineering specialties and scientific degrees. In this country, it is difficult to get into the army, and it is prestigious to serve. Previously, the army simply chose candidates from millions of applicants. So, last year, more than 3 million applications were submitted. The PLA (People's Liberation Army of China), even after being reduced in 2020 from 2.6 million to 2.3 million bayonets, is the largest army in the world.
By the way
How long does the conscript serve
Belarus: Without higher education - 18 months. With the highest - 12 months. Those who have been trained at military departments in the training programs for junior commanders - six months. The days of detention in the guardhouse are not counted in the term of military service.
Greece: Men between the ages of 19 and 45 are called up for one year.
Austria: They are called up for six months. Alternative service - nine months.
Norway: Men and women between the ages of 19 and 44 are encouraged. The total service life is 19 months. They serve in the National Guard troops for seven months with interruptions.
Bermuda: They are conscripted into the army by the national lottery for 38 months.
Switzerland: They are called up from the age of 20 (volunteers go from the age of 16) for 18 or 21 weeks, followed by retraining courses: three-week training camps every two years. Persons deemed unfit for service under the age of 30 pay a tax to the treasury: 3% of income.
Denmark: Conscription to the army, Air Force, and Navy - for four months. In the cavalry, they serve for 12 months, on the royal yacht - nine. The same number serve in the emergency management agency. Men from Greenland and the Faroe Islands are not required to serve.
North Korea: conscription from 17 years to 5-10 years (depends on the type of troops).
Israel: Men - from 2 years and 6 months to three years, women-two years, but there are positions in which they serve for 2 years and 8 months. After the "demobel" - regular army training camps.
Cyprus: Call-up for 14 months. Foreign-born Cypriots are called up for a period of 3 to 14 months.
Yuri Gavrilov, Igor Elkov, Mikhail Falaleev