Conscription in Greece

Since 1914, Greece (or the Hellenic Republic) has had mandatory military service (conscription) of 12 months in the Army, Navy or the Air Force for men between the age of 19 to 45.

Citizens discharged from active service are normally placed in the Reserve and are subject to periodic recall of 1–10 days at irregular intervals.

[1] Universal conscription was introduced in Greece during the military reforms of 1909, although various forms of selective draft had been in place earlier.

Soldiers receive no health insurance, but they are provided medical support during their army service, including hospitalization costs.

The number of conscripts affected to the Navy and the Air Force was greatly reduced, with an aim towards full professionalisation.

It was envisaged that the Civil Defence Organisation would respond to enemy action, natural disasters and all sorts of emergencies, but the law has not been enforced.

Service as a PRO is different from a simple conscript's in many ways: PROs are generally subject to a harder training at first as cadets, but are also offered many privileges such as better dwellings, infrastructures and education.

[3] The recognition of conscientious objectors and their placement to institutions of the broader public sector that have declared vacancies is under the powers of the Ministry of Defence.

The Ministry may refuse to recognize an applicant on grounds of failing to meet formal requirements, such as not owning a gun license, or by judging that his stated beliefs were not sufficiently proven to be sincere or serious or consistent to a general attitude to life.

In 2004, partial amnesty was granted to draft evaders, allowing them to visit Greece for up to 30 days in a single calendar year.

In addition, it is current practice to award two days of leave per month of service in front-line units, although there is no explicit provision for this in the conscription law.

In 2004, the Greek Parliament passed a law stating that men over the age of 35 would be allowed to buy off their military obligation after attending 45 days of basic training.

This price tag (810 euro for every month not served) is calculated based on the income of professional soldiers adjusted for taxes.

[citation needed] Mandatory military service is often perceived as part of the "natural" order of life, and as a final school of socialization and maturing for young Greek men before the real world.

The number of young men trying to achieve permanent deferment by stating (usually mental) health problems has also increased in recent years.

In past generations, the army would often be the first time a young male adult would find himself on his own and away from home; nowadays this has by and large been replaced by Higher Education studies.