Conscription will be cut to 19 months


Conscription will be cut to 19 months

Part of broader plan to

restructure National Guard

By Elias Hazou

Good news for soon-to-be conscripts: yes, the army’s going to get you, but at least you won’t have to wear those boots for 24 long months.

The government intends to cut military service to 19 months as part of a broader plan to restructure the National Guard.

Cyprus’ 10,000-strong army currently depends on draftees fresh out of high school.

Ultimately, military service will be reduced to 19 months, but this will be done gradually over a period of two to three years, according to Defence Minister Costas Papacostas.

The change will apply retroactiovely, so that young males drafted this year will still be able to benefit from a somewhat shorter stint.

Papacostas said a team of experts from the National Guard General Staff are working out different scenarios. In any case, the threshold had to be 19 months so as to ensure smooth rotation and sufficient numbers.

Drafted

Currently, conscripts are drafted twice every year, in January and then in the summer. This arrangement would be kept in place under the new system, Papacostas said.

As soon as the military experts decided which scenario was the best, they would hand over their report to Papacostas, who will then pass it on to the Cabinet for ratification.

This is expected to happen in October.

The project also envisages changes to the reserves.

At present, reserves are called up about five times a year, but under the new regime this would be reduced to two or three times.

In addition, the number of reserves would also be slashed, the age requirement dropping from 50 to 45.

Surplus reserves would beef up the Civil Defence.

Operational

Apart from the purely operational aspect, the plan also involves on cutting back on costs.

According to press reports, the proposal also envisages a steep reduction in the number of officers hired on five-year contracts, known as EPY, whose salaries are relatively high.

But asked to comment, Papacostas sought to allay fears that people would lose their jobs, saying the number of EPYs would remain the same.

During the election campaign, then presidential candidate Demetris Christofias had promised a reduction in army service, citing 19 months as the sweet spot.

Rival Ioannis Kasoulides, running on the Disy ticket, had proposed 14 months, as part of a wider scheme to reorganise the National Guard into a semi-professional force.

Disy’s study, conducted by a private accounting firm, concluded that hiring professionals in the army was financially sound. Ultimately, its plan would have 2,500 paid professionals serving alongside 4,500 conscripts, and could be implemented over a two-year period.

According to that study, a 14-month stint would allow young males to enter the labour force a full year earlier, thus contributing to the economy.

Economic analyst Dr. Stelios Platis, whose firm carried out the study, told the Weekly he had serious doubts about the government’s 19-month scheme.

"Frankly, it makes no sense. Assuming you’re drafted in July and discharged in February, the kids will already have missed spring enrolment into universities. So they’ll have to wait for September, which means sitting doing nothing for six to seven months.

"During this time, maybe some of them will get odd jobs, like in a burger joint, making some pocket money. But I somehow dread the idea of having thousands of idle teens on their bikes unleashed on the streets during the whole summer," said Platis.

"There seems to be a certain fixation on this 19 months, perhaps because it was an election promise."

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