Georgia changes compulsory military service rules

Georgian Defence Ministry Juansher Burchuladze has said that men will be drafted in Georgia only for military service, which will be called “National Compulsory Military Service”, from 2025.

“In this case, conscripts will be drafted randomly,” Burchuladze told Imedi TV company, Caliber.Az reports. 

Compulsory military service will be paid and will consist of vacation days and days off. In this case, a conscript can choose one of three options for serving:

- service in a combat unit - six months;

- service in security and support units - eight months;

- service for obtaining a junior commander rank and for a certain specialty - 11 months.

Conscripts will have days off and vacation. Their jobs, salaries, all the benefits they received before the draft will be retained during the military service. Conscripts will be able to use public transport free of charge.

It will be possible to get a military deferment once and it will cost 5,000 lari (about $2,000).

Priests of all faiths upon the project will undergo alternative civilian service, and students will be able to choose the appropriate option - once a year during a month or an intensive course to obtain an officer rank without interrupting their studies.

According to the current legislation, the term of military service is one year and does not include vacations.

Military service will be divided into regular and reserve service. Regular military service will include professional and military service, while reserve service will include active reserve service and mobilisation reserve.

In this case, the active reserve service will be divided into a territorial reserve service and a reserve of specialists, while the mobilisation reserve will consist of a high-readiness mobilisation reserve and a general mobilisation reserve.

Only those serving in the defence forces will have the status of military personnel, while the rest will have special ranks.

The Georgian president signed the renewed Defence Code.

The military service will be compatible only with scientific, pedagogical, creative, medical activity, information technologies and production activity, as well as with the work in international organisations. It will be mandatory for people with special ranks.

The military rank award system is also changing. The time frame will be reduced to obtain a junior officer rank.

So, a year of service instead of two will be required to obtain the rank of corporal or specialist corporal while for a senior sergeant - three years instead of four.

The terms will increase for obtaining senior officer ranks. A captain must serve four years to obtain the rank of major, while a major must serve five years to obtain the rank of vice-colonel.

The maximum age of service for privates in the Georgian army will be reduced from 50 to 45. However, the maximum age of service in the army for sergeants will increase from 50 to 55. The same will be the maximum age for military doctors.