Why hasn't the conscription been canceled yet? Will the Russian army be able to refuse conscripts?

We, faithful citizens of the Russian Federation, ask to cancel conscription into the armed forces in peacetime, while maintaining the obligation of citizens to register for military service.

Justifications for abolishing military service in Russia:

At the moment, there are approximately 800 thousand military personnel in the armed forces. Of these, about 400 thousand are in contract service. Moreover, in terms of size, the Russian Army ranks 5th in the world. One of the best and strongest Armies in the world. Abolition of conscription would allow hundreds of thousands of young people to work after school and pay taxes to the state to support the army. At first glance, one year is not very much, but if hundreds of thousands of people lose this year at the same time every year, that’s a decent amount of time. In one year, the state receives less taxes from 400 thousand people. For 5 years: 400,000 x 5 = 2,000,000. Draw your own conclusions about how much taxes these people could pay to maintain the army. For time is also capital.
Today, the already economically difficult situation is complicated by another reason: young people do not go to work and benefit society, but enter universities due to a deferment from the army. We are not against universities, but against the fact that those who do not need it for their reasons and abilities enroll there. The result: the value and quality of higher education is declining, and the state is losing hundreds of thousands of promising workers and taxes every year.
This point comes from the first two: a state that has received good taxes is able to use them to strengthen the Army. This includes an increase in military salaries, promising research, and modernization of the armed forces. As a consequence: the abolition of conscription will have a beneficial effect on the prestige of the Army, its defense capability and professionalism, and the state will have new financial and human resources.
The abolition of conscription would make it possible to raise the authority of our Motherland Russia in the eyes of foreigners. Today there is a stereotype that the Russian Army is not an army of patriots, professional volunteers trained, strong in spirit and ready to break up any aggressor if necessary, but a crowd of weak-willed, unprepared people drafted into the army against their will.
If the Army becomes fully contract-based, then the standards for entering the army will increase. Today, unfortunately, people who cannot do one pull-up on the bar are called upon to do 10 push-ups, etc. Current question: do the Army need such people or could they become outstanding musicians, scientists, engineers and benefit the state in their own way?
The conscript army provokes corruption. There are many cases where conscripts who are unfit for health reasons, despite this circumstance, are called up for service, one way or another fall under the yoke of the bureaucratic apparatus and try to pay off hopelessness (despite the fact that many are forced to treat this crime as an extreme to the extent that appealing to the courts and other authorized bodies is not able to help). Thousands of unnecessary organizations profiting from conscription are appearing, providing “assistance in obtaining a military ID.” What nonsense? The abolition of conscription would allow every person, if there are objective reasons, not to join the Army.
The army as a social elevator. Don’t know what to do after school, haven’t decided yet, or have no life prospects at all? No problem - the contract Army is for you. A good salary in the army and, perhaps, as a bonus, other benefits would help those people who need a better life.
Counter-argument for people who say that the army makes men out of people: you won’t be nice by force. If you are not a man, then none of you will make one by force. You don’t have to join the army to know what boxing is, how to run 5 kilometers in 22 minutes and then do 10 pull-ups on the bar. A person could learn how to handle weapons in specially created shooting clubs.
There are about 200 countries on planet Earth. Of these, about 100 have already refused conscription. And not all of them are economically developed countries. This suggests that the state of the state’s economy cannot justify the existence of conscription. States with weak economies that refused conscription: Iraq, Lebanon, India, Afghanistan, Albania, Ethiopia, Pakistan and many others. Russia simply must not become last in this ranking of countries.
The conscription is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The Constitution enshrines the right of every person: to freedom of movement, non-forced activity, equality and equal opportunities for all citizens, regardless of gender and other characteristics. To those who try to argue that this cannot concern military service and so on, we answer the following: any society, state and law evolves. Some time ago, serfdom existed and then it was considered justified, it was considered a state-guaranteed right of certain classes. The first US president owned about 300 slaves. Now he would have been tried and imprisoned, but then it was his right. And there are many, many such examples. Military conscription today is an atavism of the past.
The conscription destroys many young families and prevents many promising young people from starting a family. The phenomenon is not rare. Anyone who has encountered this will understand without further comment.
Military conscription ceased to be relevant in the second half of the 20th century due to the end of the Second World War and the creation of the United Nations (UN). International law has established norms according to which waging aggressive war has become a crime. As a result, there has not been a single major bloody war between states since 1945.
The call is not effective. Let’s imagine what would happen if in our country musicians and singers were recruited by conscription (no voice or hearing? No problem - we’ll teach you how to sing) or doctors and lawyers? There would be a collapse. Military service is as respected and prestigious a profession as any other. There is such a profession - to defend the Motherland. Efficiency and success in work directly depends on the talent, predisposition and desire of the candidate himself.
This reason is different for everyone.

If we summarize all of the above, we can say that the abolition of conscription would have a beneficial effect not only on the development of the economy of our Motherland, but also on its defense capabilities, the ability to resist internal and external threats more effectively, the well-being of the military personnel themselves would also improve, and more people would appear who would perceive the Army not as a duty or an inevitable obstacle in their career, but as a prospect in life and would be personally interested in service.

“It is impossible to defeat a free person, for he will stand for his freedom and the freedom of his loved ones with a wall so that no one can take it away. The forced one is weak, because he already has nothing to lose.”

Join in supporting the petition, and together we can help our state become great again!

Recently, many unconfirmed rumors have spread about the complete transition of the Russian armed forces to a contract basis. Will the mandatory universal conscription into the army in Russia be abolished in 2019 - read below.

Briefly about what we have now

Content

Today, compulsory conscription applies to men aged 18 to 27 years. Those who will not have a statutory deferment or health contraindications will be called up. The period of service in 2019 will be 12 months. There are two conscription campaigns a year:

Spring – from April 1 to July 15;
Autumn – from October 1 to December 31.

Every year about 300 thousand recruits undergo military service.

Let's start with the most important thing

The current President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin in 2017 in the Kremlin, at an official meeting with the winners of the Wordskills competition, promised that the refusal of military service in Russia is a matter of time, and this should happen in the foreseeable future. The President still remained silent about the complete “recipe for transition” in the context of implementing budget policy.

Having touched upon such an interesting topic as alternative service, V.V. Putin said that the state will further develop this version of the service. Not long ago, two scientific companies were organized - in Voronezh and the Moscow region, and the systematic creation of a Technopark is underway.

Interesting! A scientific company is a specially created army unit where young people with higher education have the opportunity to continue their scientific activities under the supervision of scientific supervisors.

Contract service

The number of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation annually amounts to about 800 thousand military personnel, half of whom are contract soldiers. Selection for contract service is stricter than in the case of compulsory conscription. Thus, not any young man who expresses a desire can become a contract soldier (girls are also allowed), but only one who has served at least 3 months as a conscript or has previously been on a contract. Only those who, as a result of a medical examination, have been assigned fitness categories A or B, as well as with the required level of physical fitness, are allowed to perform such service.

Contract service, naturally, is voluntary, lasts from 3 to 5 years, has its own conditions and provides military personnel with many advantages and benefits:

The average salary of an ordinary contract soldier is 30,000 rubles;
The average salary of a sergeant is 40,000 rubles;
The average salary of a lieutenant is 55,000 rubles.

In addition, contract workers are provided with compensation for rental housing (if a service apartment was not allocated), allowances for all family members when moving to a new duty station, free medical care, free travel on transport, health insurance, as well as retirement at 45 years and a solid pension provision.

Agree, this is a very good employment option in modern realities of life, especially for residents of villages where finding a decent job has always been a problem.

Two negatives make an affirmative

Speaking about contract service in the army, we should not forget about its disadvantages:

Still, this work carries an increased risk to the soldier’s life;
The established order and subordination will not please everyone;
Some military personnel cannot withstand such conditions and break the contract. According to the latest statistics, such people give up, about 20%.

There is more than one example! Many European countries and non-CIS countries have long switched to a professional contract army. Let's give some examples.

France

French legionnaires are famous all over the world. They even make movies about them. The service life in the French army is 3-5 years. The salary ranges from 1,500 to 3,000 euros; during foreign business trips, the salary increases at least twice. Legal leave every year is 60 days without days off, of which the serviceman chooses 45 days himself.

While serving, a contract soldier has the opportunity to undergo free training in more than 50 civilian professions - IT specialist, translator, signalman, etc. Perhaps that is why the French army is a major employer in the country, hiring from 10 to 20 thousand people annually.

USA

The American army, which today ranks first in the world in terms of combat power and number of weapons, switched to a contract basis in the distant 1970s, after the military operation in Vietnam. 250 thousand dollars - this is the amount of initial insurance for a serviceman who has entered into a contract.

There are countless benefits for a contract soldier; the requirements are not exorbitant. In 2017, 10% of new military personnel had a criminal record.

Hungary

Since 2005, in this small European country, people are invited, rather than required, to serve in the army. The conditions of service in the Hungarian army are also quite attractive. The salary of a private with all allowances will be about 1000 euros, a lieutenant - more than 2200 euros.

When sent to foreign missions, among the closest ones is the security of the Kabul airport, the salary, as a rule, doubles. In the event of a sudden death, the state undertakes to help the family of the deceased over the next years.

Australia

This distant country has long switched to a contract army. The service life ranges from 3 to 6 years with subsequent extensions of 3 years. According to research data, one in five Australian army soldiers is a woman.

Among the benefits provided are free medical care, assistance from the state in purchasing housing, subsidies for utilities, and the opportunity to travel around the country. Well, the minimum salary for an ordinary contract soldier is $2,500.

Arguments for abolishing universal conscription

The abolition of urgent conscription into the army in Russia is becoming a topic of heated debate among both military and civilian experts. Political parties and public organizations are making their case for repeal. By and large, logic and common sense are present in all their arguments.

If universal compulsory conscription is abolished, young people will go to work and, accordingly, will pay taxes. Thanks to the new taxes, it will be possible to strengthen the material and technical base of the Armed Forces, increase payrolls for contract soldiers and officers, and develop new types of weapons.

Indeed! Every year about 400 thousand young people are drafted. But they could be employed in the economy and bring considerable benefit to their country. The downside of such conscription is that, not wanting to serve, young people are desperately trying to get a deferment from the army on legal grounds. In particular, they enter higher educational institutions, but do so solely for the purpose of being removed from service, and not to obtain an education. There are enough such examples.

Physically and psychologically prepared people will serve. Today, the physical training standards for conscript soldiers sometimes do not stand up to criticism; for most, the army is a stress that few manage to survive.

Gray schemes for evading the army by any means are flourishing in the current conditions. Corruption and bribery schemes can be found at every stage of recruitment events.

Children grow up without fathers, families are destroyed, and new ones are not created. Experience shows that not all relationships can withstand long-term separation.

Hazing among military personnel will be reduced to a minimum. Such a concept as “hazing” will disappear forever.

Conscripts, for the most part, perform the functions of service personnel for officers or contract soldiers.

Sometimes it happens! Employees of the military registration and enlistment office strive by hook or by crook to fulfill the established numbers for the recruitment of recruits. It often happens that sick people enter the army and spend more than half of their 12 months of service in hospitals for inpatient treatment. Each such patient costs the state 100 thousand rubles a month.

And this is already an argument! Today, over 100 countries have switched to a contract army. Among them are Albania, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia. Essentially, these are not countries with outstanding economies. This suggests that compulsory service should not be justified by the poor state of the economy in the country.

If everyone were in favor, that would be a different matter.

Not all public figures advocate the abolition of universal conscription. Many consider the army to be a school of life, in which a young, fragile mind will learn important lessons that will help him in his future life. Where else, they argue, will a young man learn to quickly establish contacts with strangers, follow clear instructions from his superiors under conditions of the strictest discipline, correctly set priorities, and treat his body carefully?

How can I explain to such smart guys that all these questions were asked by the military leadership of all those countries that switched to a contract basis for filling the army. They did not find any contradictions, but they created conditions (you read about them above), thanks to which no one is afraid of serving in the army, but rather, on the contrary, wants and strives to get there.

Conclusion

Thus, the situation in the world is such that many developed countries have long, or not so long ago, switched to a professional army consisting of contract soldiers. Russia has yet to abolish conscription. No one knows how many years it will take to travel this path.

In the meantime, the main goal for the near future is to achieve a ratio of 90% to 10%, where the last figure will be conscript soldiers.

Where in the Russian army today do only contract soldiers serve?

The submarines of the Russian Navy today are fully staffed by contract servicemen. Soon it is planned to completely switch over all surface and coastal forces to contract soldiers.

According to the expert, the Ministry of Defense is already showing today that the army does not particularly need conscripts: for example, students are sometimes allowed to enter into contracts without mandatory conscription service, and graduates of various military departments are generally considered not to be drafted into the army, but immediately sent to the reserves.

“A contract soldier is also distinguished by a special legal status, according to which he is actually equated to an officer. A contractor can protect his rights; he has the concept of work time, and the rest of the time is personal. He can live outside the barracks, rent housing, and has free access from the unit. There are many advantages,” explains Lenta.ru’s interlocutor.

According to Krivenko, today in the regions outside the military registration and enlistment offices there are recruitment centers for contracts, where people line up, despite strict selection criteria. Young people are attracted by good and stable salaries.

“You shouldn’t be afraid that there won’t be enough people for the contract, which has stricter requirements than conscript service. About a third of our young men are unfit for military service - but this is a global situation. Plus, we are now gradually emerging from the demographic hole of 2014-2016. So I don’t see any serious obstacles to the complete transfer of the army to a contract basis,” the expert concludes.

If tomorrow there is war

“Today the Russian army formally has about a million “bayonets” - although in reality there are about 800 thousand of them. Of these, about 500 thousand are ground forces, but with such forces, if something happens, it is impossible to block even the western direction of the country, explains military expert, retired colonel Mikhail Timoshenko. - The military understands that in the event of war, contract soldiers will burn out in the first month in border battles. Actually, they are needed precisely so that the military has time to mobilize all its forces and equip combat units with reserves.”

Lenta.ru's interlocutor notes that making the army completely contract-based is pointless, since in this case the military will be left without an organized reserve that can be used if necessary.

Photo: Alexander Kryazhev / RIA Novosti

“Many people use the United States as an example, where the entire army exists on a contract basis, but the specifics there are different,” explains Tymoshenko. - The American army is aimed at solving expeditionary tasks, and we are talking not only about the Marines, but also about other troops too. In the United States, the military, in principle, is not aimed at defending the country’s borders, which is understandable: are we going to ski to them across the Bering Strait? Or will the Chinese sail to them on ships? The American army and ours have completely different tasks.”

Therefore, based on the tasks of our army, it needs to have reservists - those same conscripts who are capable of joining the ranks in case of military necessity. However, their combat effectiveness is alarming. According to the expert, a conscript in the modern Russian army is like a suitcase without a handle, which is both inconvenient to carry and impossible to throw away. The level of pre-conscription training leaves much to be desired, and during military service, turning yesterday's schoolboy into a good soldier is a difficult task.

“With the workload and the limits on the expenditure of material, technical means and ammunition that we allocate for combat training, a year of service is not enough. Moreover, there is not enough time for a full year there. The first month a conscript undergoes a young fighter course, then he has three months of training, followed by service. During Soviet times, training lasted six months, and military equipment has since become much more complex. As for the majority of conscripts, they haven’t gotten much wiser since then: they still needed six months to study an army specialty. However, I don’t think that today anyone will decide to increase the length of conscription service: such an initiative will not meet with understanding in society,” the specialist concludes.

In other words, in the coming years, the Russian army will most likely be able to completely switch to a contract form, but this is unlikely to increase its combat effectiveness in the event of a large-scale conflict.

“On measures for a phased transition to staffing the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation with military personnel on a voluntary basis - under a contract.” The document obliged the Ministry of Defense from 1993 to begin organizational work on a phased transition to military service on the basis of a contract. At the first stage, the ministry was supposed to engage in attracting citizens to contract service in regions with “excess labor resources”, as well as recruit soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen who had already served in the army on conscription for contract service. 6 billion rubles were allocated for the initial stage of the reform. On January 31, 2012, the document became invalid.

On May 16, 1996, Presidential Decree No. 723 was also signed, which allowed conscripts to be sent to an armed conflict zone only on a voluntary basis and after concluding a contract with them. However, this decree was changed two years later - now the document stated that soldiers, sailors, foremen and conscripted officers could be sent to “hot spots” on a voluntary basis, but without concluding a contract. In October 1999, the decree completely lost force.

In addition, in September 1999 it was determined that conscripts could be sent to a combat zone after six months of military training. On February 11, 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that reduced the period of such preparation to four months.

At the end of December 2016, a law on short-term contracts was adopted, which allows conscripts who signed the corresponding document to be sent abroad “to participate in activities to maintain or restore international peace and security or suppress international terrorist activities.”

“At the same time, the implementation of the government initiative will not require additional financial costs,” noted Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

May 16, 1996 President Boris Yeltsin issued Decree No. 722 “On the transition to filling positions of privates and sergeants in the Armed Forces and other troops of the Russian Federation on a professional basis.” The decree in its original version determined that from the spring of 2000, the Armed Forces must completely switch to “staffing positions of privates and sergeants on the basis of the voluntary admission of citizens to military service under a contract with the abolition of conscription.” The development of the procedure for entering contract service was to be completed by 2000. In July 1996, Yeltsin was re-elected as president.

In two years the decree was amended - now the document provided for a transition to contract service “as the necessary conditions are created.” Soon, the State Duma adopted the federal law “On Military Duty and Military Service,” in which “conscription military service” was recorded as an obligation, and the fulfillment of the “constitutional duty to defend the Fatherland through voluntary enlistment in military service” as a citizen’s right.

In November 2001 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov presented a report to President Vladimir Putin on the gradual transition of the Armed Forces from conscription to the contract principle of recruitment. The report stated that Russia needed a gradual transition to a fully professional army; the number of contract soldiers in the Armed Forces should grow annually; the pace of reform will depend on the economic capabilities of the country, the prime minister specified. Newly appointed Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov estimates that the transition to a fully professional army would take at least 10 years.

In August 2002 At a meeting with sailors of the Pacific Fleet, Putin called the transition to contract service “task number one.” At the same time, he did not talk about the abolition of conscription as the ultimate goal of military reform. “In general, in continental countries, rarely does anyone switch to 100% contract service. But at the same time, contract service can be and, apparently, will be in the future, as it were, the main component,” Putin reasoned. - Initially it seemed that it was enough to simply increase the salary, and that’s all. No. Some of our politicians say: let us transfer everything to a contract basis within a year. You can transfer it to a contract basis within a year, but this will discredit the idea itself.”

In 2003 the government approved the federal target program “Transition to manning a number of formations and military units with contract military personnel,” according to which almost half of the units were to be transferred to the category of permanent combat readiness units; From now on, only contract soldiers could serve in them. The same program provided that from 2008, conscription service would be reduced to 12 months. According to a member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, director of the human rights group “Citizen. Army. Right” by Sergei Krivenko, the military department failed to implement the program - “soldiers were forced to sign a contract,” and conscripts continued to serve “in real military units,” although the Federal Target Program assumed that they would only master military specialties.

In 2004 Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that conscription into the army would not be cancelled; Only units with constant combat readiness will switch completely to the contract. “In Russia, no one has set or intends to set the task of completely transitioning to a contract system for recruiting the army and navy,” Ivanov said, explaining that “the state does not have such capabilities, and this must be directly recognized.”

In 2006 Vladimir Putin, at a meeting of the leadership of the Armed Forces, promised that by 2008, 70% of military personnel will be contract soldiers.

In November 2011 President Dmitry Medvedev has promised to reduce the number of conscripts to a minimum over the next five to seven years. According to Medvedev’s plans, by 2018 the share of contract soldiers in the army was supposed to be 80-90%. Those who consider it “extremely important and necessary for themselves” could serve under conscription, the president admitted. “We made, in essence, a political decision to calmly move towards a professional army,” the head of state said then. He emphasized: reform will require significant costs; To make contract service attractive, military personnel need to raise salaries.

In January 2012 Prime Minister Putin said that the requirement for a complete transition to contract service is related to the task of training military specialists, since “a year of service, of course, is not enough to master modern technology.” “We, of course, will retain a significant part of the conscript army for now, but gradually, especially for high-tech branches of the armed forces such as aviation, air defense, and the navy, we need to gradually switch to a contract basis,” he concluded.

A month later“Rossiyskaya Gazeta” published Putin’s “Be Strong,” dedicated to the development of the military-industrial complex. The author wrote that by 2020 the number of conscripts should be reduced to 145 thousand people, with a total number of armed forces of one million people. However, the presidential candidate made a reservation: “Of course, the Army should become professional, and its core should be contract soldiers. However, we cannot abolish the concept of honorable military duty for men, and they must be ready to defend the Motherland in a moment of danger.”

In November 2013 Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with the Rossiya 1 TV channel that the Russian army cannot completely switch to contract service. “We have a very large country. In order to have an exclusively professional army, we have a very large territory. In case of a threat, we must be able to mobilize,” the minister explained. - And in order to mobilize, we must have a mobilization resource. For this, there is a solution to create four reserve armies, and by 2020 we will move away from the use of conscripts in combat operations.”

A year and a half later, in the spring of 2015 Shoigu said he still hopes that in the future the Russian army will be completely contract-based. However, the official did not give specific dates for the possible refusal of conscription. The minister noted that the number of contract soldiers in 2015 for the first time exceeded the number of conscripts: 300 thousand people versus 276 thousand, respectively.

Spring is a reason for excitement for many young people. However, this is not at all connected with the onset of warmth and sunny days, but with the fact that recruitment into the army takes place just in spring.

The modern military service system is the result of many changes. They affected both the timing and the army composition itself. As for 2017, according to preliminary data, conscripts will make up approximately 2/3 of the people who will serve under a contract. Conscripts must serve for exactly one year, while contract service requires two years of service.

Should I wait for cancellation?

The question that worries many is whether military service will be abolished in the coming year 2018? Young men whose age is just right for conscription are especially interested in this.

There is indeed information that from 2018 it will be possible to serve exclusively under a contract. Rumors about such an innovation have been circulating for a long time. However, how true are they?

At the same time, if we consider this issue from the side of people responsible for the country’s security, then this option will turn out to be extremely beneficial for them. The whole point is that people who go to serve voluntarily and receive material rewards for it are more interested than those who are forced into the army.

In addition, every educated person should understand that mastering military basics in one year is unrealistic. This requires much more time. However, who would want to spend their youth acquiring military knowledge?

Reforms

Future reforms are aimed at maintaining the Russian army. Thus, the changes will affect rearmament and equipping conscripts with more modern equipment.

It is believed that more effective weapons will make it possible to better prepare for the defense of the homeland. At the same time, it is worth saying that rearmament will not be completed overnight; on the contrary, it will occur gradually and will require a certain amount of time.

Another innovation will concern raising service standards. It is believed that the new level will make the army more prepared, and its work more coordinated and efficient. The authorities will spare no expense especially for this purpose.

About the military department

Attending a military department is a good option to avoid military service. For such university students, conscription issues are, as a rule, uninteresting. However, in this case, the student will have a hard time: in addition to his main studies, he will need to attend additional classes, where he will be introduced to the intricacies of military affairs.

The result of visiting the military department is an officer rank. As for the duration of such training, it is approximately 450 hours.
What options were considered?

Along with information about the abolition of military service, there is another point of view. It concerns the fact that the period of military service can be increased to 1.8 years. That is, eight more months can be added to the existing twelve months. Is it so?

It is impossible to give an exact answer to this question, since not a single person can look into the future and say what awaits him, even tomorrow. One thing is clear: no such changes have been made so far.

In addition, the increase in service life has no basis. Accordingly, no changes can be expected in the next year or two.

About service reduction

Along with information about the abolition of army service and increasing it by eight months, there is another option - reducing the stay in the army to 45 days, that is, up to one and a half months.

Such information exists, but where it came from is very difficult to determine. Most likely it came to light from some unreliable sources that should be treated with distrust.

What does the president say?

The word of the President - the Supreme Commander-in-Chief - is one of the most significant. Many future conscripts of 2017 were waiting with great excitement to see what V.V. himself would tell them. Putin.

As it turned out, the president’s plans do not include either increasing the service life, or, especially, reducing it. This statement was made by V.V. Putin officially.

Therefore, there is nothing more to add to his assurance. In the near future, future soldiers can rest easy. The period of military service will be, as before, 1 year.

And to make the twelve months of war easier, you should start preparing for them in advance, increasing your level of physical fitness, patience and endurance.

The same applies to those who plan to serve under a contract. Perhaps this decision will play a role and in the future the soldier will want to connect his entire life with a military career.