Ministry of Defense responds to voters' petition to shorten military service time from 24 months to 12 months
Voters proposed to consider amending the military service period from 24 months to 12 months for citizens performing military service.
On March 21, the Ministry of National Defense responded to the petition of voters of Bac Ninh province sent by the Petition Committee with the following content: "Voters reflect that according to Article 21 of the 2015 Law on Military Service, the term of service for non-commissioned officers and soldiers of 24 months is too long. Voters wish to study and submit to the National Assembly for consideration to amend the term of service from 24 months to 12 months."
According to the Ministry of National Defense, the term of service of non-commissioned officers and soldiers is stipulated in the Law on Military Service 2015: "The term of service in peacetime of non-commissioned officers and soldiers is 24 months". In the current situation, the above regulation is consistent with the requirements and tasks of the Army.
Regarding the quality of training, practice, use of modern weapons and equipment, and improvement of technical expertise and combat readiness of units, the reduction of active service time from 24 months to 12 months needs to be studied more comprehensively and thoroughly.
The Ministry of Defense said it will direct relevant agencies to continue research to ensure practicality in the current situation.
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| Illustration: Nguyen Bong |
The Ministry of National Defense also received a petition from voters in Ninh Thuan province with the following content: "According to Article 41 of the Law on Military Service, students studying at colleges and universities are allowed to postpone their military service examination, while students studying at intermediate schools are not allowed to postpone their military service examination."
Voters recommend that the Ministry of National Defense study, review, and advise competent authorities to review and amend the Law on Military Service in the direction of temporarily postponing military service examination for students studying at secondary schools.
The Ministry of National Defense said that before 2015, the Law on Military Service stipulated temporary deferment of military service in peacetime for citizens studying at general schools, vocational schools, professional secondary schools, colleges and universities.
Such a provision of temporary postponement is too broad, causing a shortage of human resources in military recruitment, not ensuring social justice in performing military service, affecting the quality of military construction, and citizens having few opportunities to exercise their rights and obligations to the Fatherland.
In fact, many citizens take advantage of studying at educational institutions or training at intermediate vocational training institutions to avoid performing military service.
The Law on Military Service 2015 stipulates the subjects of temporary deferment from military service: “Studying at a general education institution; receiving regular university training at a university, regular college training at a vocational education institution during the duration of a training course of a training level”.
Thus, the scope of temporary deferment from military service has been narrowed compared to previous regulations.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, to ensure social justice, citizens who have graduated from college or university and have had their military service deferred will have their military service age extended to 27 years old.
The regulation on temporary deferment of military service for citizens who are studying at college or university level is completely consistent with the social life and aspirations of the people in the current period. This regulation both meets the legitimate aspirations of the right to study and work according to the provisions of the law, and at the same time, creates a high-quality human resource, necessary for the country.
Currently, the average number of people nationwide who are temporarily deferred from military service is over 56%, and in Ninh Thuan province alone, it is over 70% compared to the total number of young people of military age.
Therefore, the Ministry of National Defense believes that expanding the scope of deferment to citizens studying intermediate and vocational training programs is not suitable for the current situation./.