For today's 18 year olds military service is a matter of chance

Doing a compulsory twelve months army service was a fate which most eighteen year old Czech boys were resigned to. Unless of course they got a so called "blue certificate" from the doctor stating that conscription was not possible for health reasons. Now, the army is in the process of becoming fully professional - and thousands of eighteen year olds will not be called upon to do military service. There's just one catch: who will and who will not serve in the army is a matter of pure chance.

The reform of the army is in full swing - and when the defense ministry announced it would need just half of the country's eligible young men for military service this year, eighteen year olds across the country pricked up their ears. For those who do not want a career in the army, the twelve months spent there is generally considered a waste of time. Those who will not be needed will thus be able to focus on their career - but the trouble is that firms don't like to employ people who may be called upon to join the army at any given moment. So naturally all those whom it concerns want to know where they stand. The army's spokeswoman for reform, Drahomira Nova, explains that it is a tricky situation:

"We are considering the possibility of informing those who will not be needed, sending them an official letter they could show their employer, but we find ourselves on thin ice here legally since such a practice could be viewed as a form of discrimination. So our legal experts are debating how this matter should best be dealt with. Of course the law on conscript remains in effect until we have a fully professional army, which means that we have a right to call on whoever suits our needs best at the given time - depending on whether we need someone with a knowledge of the legal system, or with a technical background, someone with a drivers license, or someone from the eastern part of the country. It will be a matter of chance. In the course of the next four years we will need fewer and fewer soldiers who are not professionals and, in the last stage of the process, we are considering making it a semi-professional service for which those who serve will receive some kind of salary."

Due to the fact that the army is financially strapped, payment for non-professional military service would only concern those who would serve in the final year of reform, that is 2006. As of 2007 only professionals will serve in the Czech armed forces.