A.E. Kalinin. The procedure for military service in foreign countries (USA, UK, France, Germany, etc.) // Military Legal Review. 2002. No. 2.

In the modern conditions of reforming the procedure for military service in the Russian Federation, it is interesting to get acquainted with the legal framework of leading foreign states regulating this issue. Based on this review, we will develop, taking into account foreign experience, practical recommendations for improving the current military legislation of the Russian Federation.

The principle of acquisition is contractual.

Recruiting the US armed forces on a volunteer basis is not new. According to the long-standing tradition of the United States, its armed forces in peacetime have always been staffed only by volunteers. Compulsory military service was introduced only in wartime.

To raise the prestige of military service, which was significantly lost as a result of the unpopular US war in Indochina, and to increase the level of combat readiness of the army, the US government decided to transfer all its armed forces from July 1, 1973, completely to a voluntary recruitment system.

Recruits were subject to a probationary period of initial military training (16 weeks) and a preliminary year of service, during which the volunteers' suitability for service in the armed forces was determined. Those who did not meet the requirements were subject to dismissal from the army.

It was established that US citizens are accepted for voluntary military service: males aged 17-34 years and single women aged 18-34 years. Enrollment of volunteers was carried out under contracts for military service for a period of 3 to 6 years for men and from 2 to 6 years for women, after which volunteers could extend these terms up to 6 years. Recruitment of volunteers into the armed forces was carried out throughout the year (see: Erashov A.Yu. The system of recruitment and service of privates and sergeants in the US armed forces in Europe: Ed. GSVG., 1988. - P. 6).

An officer who graduates from college is required to serve in the US armed forces for at least 5 years.

Service for officers is designed for 25-30 years, up to 50-60 years of age. The system for assigning military ranks requires mandatory compliance with the positions held. Therefore, the ranks of officers and generals are divided into temporary and permanent. Permanent ranks are awarded in accordance with performance appraisals, length of service and if there is a vacancy. Temporary ranks are assigned upon appointment to positions that, according to the state, are subject to replacement by officers of a higher rank. According to their legal status, those who have temporary ranks are equal to officers, generals and admirals who have the corresponding permanent ranks, and wear the same uniforms and insignia.

The issue of assigning military ranks is decided by special commissions, which are formed anew every year from officers whose ranks are higher than the ranks of the candidates under discussion. The task of the commissions is to select and evaluate candidates based on their certifications, characteristics and impressions of a personal meeting with an officer, his answers to questions from members of the commission in his specialty, in the field of military and general training.

Up to and including the rank of captain, military ranks are assigned to almost everyone who is certified with the conclusion “fully ready” for promotion. When assigning higher ranks, the principle of “best prepared” is applied. The possibility of implementing this principle is created by the excess of the number of candidates over the number of vacancies.

It is characteristic that the system of selecting candidates for receiving the next military rank or filling vacancies is maintained during the appointment of senior military leaders (2-4 or more candidates are considered, who are discussed among senior officers, articles about this are published in the American military press) (see. : Pribytkovsky F.Z. US Armed Forces at the present stage: Ed. GSVG, 1987. - P. 43).

To receive the next military rank, officers of the US Armed Forces must have the following length of service:

first lieutenant - 1.5-2 years;

captain - 3.5-4 years;

major - 10 years;

lieutenant colonel - 16 years;

Colonel - at least 22 years old.

The ranks of generals are awarded by special decision.

The rank of "Warrant Officer Class 1" is awarded to sergeants after 10 years of service in the armed forces and successful completion of the appropriate course of study in schools of the military branches and services. Warrant officers are assigned successive ranks upon reaching the following periods of service in the previous rank:

warrant officer 1st class - 3 years;

Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class - 6 years;

Chief Warrant Officer 3rd Class - 6 years;

Chief Warrant Officer Class 4 - after 15 years of service as a Chief Warrant Officer;

To receive the next rank, private and non-commissioned personnel of the ground forces (ground forces) must have the following minimum length of service in the previous rank and total length of service (in parentheses for the Air Force):

private - 6 months;

private 1st class - respectively 4 months. and 1 year (6 months and 6 months);

corporal - 6 months and 2 years (8 months and 1 year);

sergeant - 8 months and 3 years (6 months and 3 years);

staff sergeant - 10 months. and 7 years (18 months and 5 years).

At the same time, the minimum time frame for assigning regular military ranks to privates and senior officers in the US armed forces is different for the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and depends on length of service, length of service, characteristics of the serviceman, results of various tests, awards, availability of vacancies and from the decision of the selection committee (see: Erashov A.Yu. Decree. op. - P. 26).

The entire promotion system for officers in the US Armed Forces is built on cultivating a spirit of competition according to the principle: the higher the military rank and position, the more stringent the selection criteria should be.

Military personnel who are twice recognized by commissions in accordance with the “top or out” personnel program in certifications as not worthy of promotion are subject to dismissal. Similar measures can be applied to persons who have failed to pass physical fitness standards more than 2 times (see: Pribytkovsky F.Z. Right there. - P. 43).

Certification of officers is carried out annually. The command of the US Armed Forces requires commanders and superiors to take an informal approach to writing evaluations and to carefully and objectively assess the officer’s business and human qualities. For these purposes, lists of words and phrases that can be used in certification are specially prepared, for example: general impression - good manners, energetic, polite, rude, shy, balanced, attractive, trustworthy, does not stand out, eccentric, etc.; character - brave, firm, (not) selfish, tolerant, superstitious, envious, stubborn, cowardly, timid, simple, impatient, etc.; mindset - rich imagination, analytical mind, sensitive, quick (slow) grasping, witty (in)flexible, etc. (cm.: Zheglova Yu.G. US Armed Forces Officer Corps: Ed. GSVG., 1987. - P. 9, 12-13).

Due to the low popularity among US military personnel of serving outside the country, their period of military service both in the continental United States and in the “overseas territories” is clearly regulated. Thus, personnel stationed in the United States, Alaska and Hawaii serve for 4 years; in Europe, Japan - for military personnel of the first 3-4-year contract - 2 years; for family professional military personnel (professionals in the US armed forces are considered to be military personnel serving under a new (not first) contract) who came to Europe with their family, and for bachelors who served 2 or more terms - 3.5 years, and for those arriving without family - 2.5 years. However, many senior officers, and especially generals, serve abroad for up to 5-7 years.

The replenishment of the US armed forces with personnel occurs, on the one hand, through the hiring of volunteers (about 14% of the personnel of the armed forces), on the other, by retaining in the army those who have served the established terms, but have expressed a desire to extend their contracts.

Recruitment of the US armed forces, depending on the method, is carried out in two ways: individually and as part of units.

The individual principle of recruitment was introduced in 1973, after the abolition of military service. It is based on the recruitment of volunteers - US citizens aged 17 years or older.

The sending of officers and generals to serve in the “overseas territories” is a mandatory stage of their career and is carried out in accordance with the established procedure, as a rule, to equal positions. Their downward direction is not allowed. In order to reduce personnel turnover, especially at junior command levels, the transfer of officers during their service abroad, for example in Europe, is not practiced. Such a relatively long stay in one position is compensated by the existing certification system, which provides for mandatory replacement in the United States with the promotion of those officers who are certified for higher positions.

Also worthy of attention is the regimental individual system of recruitment and service in the US armed forces. Its essence lies in the formal consolidation of units of the same type stationed on the continental United States and in the “overseas territories” into separate regiments, which only determines their belonging to a given unit, but does not mean the formation of a regiment as a full-time combat unit.

This satisfies one of the main desires of persons entering military service by concluding a contract - to serve in the desired areas in the United States. The regimental system allows a service member to be transferred only within a specific regiment, including to units stationed in “overseas territories”, after the expiration of the term of service in which the service member returns to units of the regiment located in the United States.

Another method of recruitment, which is becoming increasingly common in the US armed forces, is group, within a unit, in accordance with the so-called “Cohort” program. In accordance with this program, units at the company (battery) level will be replaced in full, including in Europe, by related units transferred from the United States.

The full cycle of the “Cohorts” program lasts 3 years and is divided into 2 main stages:

the period of staffing a company (battery) and combat training on the continental United States (lasts 18 months);

period of service in a European group (or in another region in overseas territories) as part of a given company.

Recruitment into companies (batteries) under the “Cohorts” program is carried out mainly through recruits of the first term of service (see: Pribytkovsky F.Z. Decree. op. - P. 20-27).

Officers are subject to dismissal from military service upon reaching 62 years of age or earlier for health reasons. On average, up to 56% of officers leave the army after 15 years of service. For officers holding senior positions in the central apparatus, as well as representatives of higher military educational institutions, by decision of Congress on an individual basis, service can be extended to 64 years.

The maximum service life for a brigadier general and colonel is 30 years, for a lieutenant colonel - 28 years, for a major - 21 years. But these terms in some cases can be extended by 5 years.

The maximum age for sergeants is 60 years or 30 years of service.

Dismissal of rank and file personnel is carried out upon expiration of the contract, for family reasons, disability, for disciplinary offenses, military and criminal offenses.

Great Britain

The armed forces have been staffed since 1960 on a voluntary basis by persons aged from 17.5 to 30 years (in the Navy - up to 33 years). British citizens who have reached a certain age and have expressed a desire to enlist in military service enter into a contract with the Ministry of Defense for a certain period of time, which provides for the mutual rights and obligations of the parties. These rights and obligations, the procedure for serving, as well as all matters relating to personnel, are determined by the Military Service Act and the Royal Decree of 1947. They are supplemented by military regulations and regularly updated manuals and instructions for the branches of the armed forces.

In the ground forces, the initial training course for enlisted personnel consists of two stages. The first - single training (duration - 6 weeks) - includes physical, combat, fire, tactical and general education training. The second stage - training in a specialty (duration from 2 to 6 months) includes the study of special subjects and is carried out in the training center (school) of the military branch.

After receiving initial military training, recruits are assigned the primary military rank of “private” (private 4th class, sailor 2nd class), and they are sent to the troops for further service in accordance with the signed contract.

Persons who enlist in the Army and Air Force enter into a regular (main) or short-term contract. The main contract is for a period of 22 years, the short-term contract is for 3 years, then it can be extended to 6, 9, 12 and 22 years. In the Navy, the contract is for 12 years, of which volunteers are required to serve 9 years in the regular fleet and 3 years in the reserves. At the request of military personnel, the service life can be increased to 22 years.

In order to identify hesitant people who accidentally ended up in the army and their timely screening, the current recruitment system allows the person who signed the contract to break it within 28 days after signing without any damage to himself. After the specified period, the person refusing to serve will suffer significant losses, since he will have to pay a certain amount spent on his maintenance and training. As a rule, a fairly large proportion of recruits leave in the first month after signing the contract, then this number decreases. After 3 years of service of one recruitment, personnel turnover is reduced to a minimum, the composition of the army becomes stable (see: Merzlikin A.A. The recruitment system for the British armed forces: Ed. ZGV, 1990. - pp. 6-7).

The rank and file of the fleet is divided into 4 categories: cabin boy, junior sailor, sailor and senior sailor. The rank of junior sailor is assigned upon reaching the age of 17.5 years. After 6-18 months (depending on the specialty), after successfully passing the exams, the sailor receives the rank of sailor. The average age of production for senior sailors is 23-24 years.

Sergeant ranks may be assigned without completing courses to privates who have sufficiently long service, who have successfully passed exams in general education and special training, with positive certification by the command. To obtain the primary rank of “corporal” (and its equals), you must pass tests for a 3rd class certificate, to obtain the rank of “sergeant” - for a 2nd class certificate, and “staff sergeant” - for a 1st class certificate. The total length of service to obtain the rank of "staff sergeant" is 18 years, "sergeant" - 12 years.

The non-commissioned officer corps is recruited by selecting the most reliable and diligent sailors who are well trained professionally. Non-commissioned officers make up up to 60% of the total fleet personnel (on surface ships - 40%, on diesel submarines - 60%, on nuclear submarines - over 70%).

The vast majority of non-commissioned officers serve in the Navy for more than 10 years. The non-commissioned officer corps is divided into non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers. Promotion to non-commissioned officers occurs upon reaching 28-30 years of age, i.e. after 10-12 years of service. A non-commissioned officer with a higher education can receive the rank of senior non-commissioned officer after 5 years of excellent service and after successfully passing examinations.

There are permanent and temporary ranks for sergeants and warrant officers. The permanent title is the main one. Temporary is assigned to persons holding a position with a higher staff category for a period of at least 35 days. Temporary ranks are paid in the same way as permanent ones, but are not retained upon dismissal from office.

The maximum service age for privates and sergeants is 47 years.

According to new service rules introduced in January 1982, non-commissioned officers of submarines have the right to serve up to 50 years (previously the age limit was 45 years). Specialists in whom the fleet command is interested can extend their contract and receive an increase in their pension.

The officer corps of the armed forces is formed both by graduates of military schools (career officers) and by graduates of civilian universities recruited under contracts (short-term service personnel). In addition to these two categories, there is a small stratum of officers in the British Army (about 5%) who began their service as privates and then completed prescribed training and retraining courses. The last category is used, as a rule, in lower administrative and technical positions (see: Merzlikin A.A. Right there. - P. 9).

The core of the officer corps and its most privileged part are graduates of Dartmouth Naval College for the Navy, and Sandhurst Military School for the Army. They make up 95% of admirals and generals and the bulk of senior officers.

The officer corps of the British Armed Forces is divided into senior (brigadier, major general, lieutenant general, general), senior (major, lieutenant colonel, colonel) and junior (second lieutenant, lieutenant, captain) corps.

The junior officer corps is staffed mainly by short-term service officers (up to 10 years, but at least 3 years in the armed forces and at least 5 years then in the reserve). These are mainly graduates of civilian universities who were recruited to serve in the armed forces under contracts (pilots, engineers and technicians, doctors, lawyers, priests, etc.).

Military rank strictly corresponds to the position held. If an officer is appointed to a higher position, and his period of service for the assignment of the next permanent military rank has expired, he is assigned a temporary rank corresponding to the new position. The legal consequences of assigning a temporary rank are exactly the same as when receiving a permanent rank, but upon transfer from the specified position or dismissal from military service, the temporary rank is removed.

To obtain the senior officer rank of lieutenant commander (corresponding to the rank of major in the ground forces), an officer must serve in the rank of lieutenant (corresponding to the rank of captain in the ground forces) for 8 years. To obtain the military rank of “captain” in the ground forces - 6 years, “lieutenant” - 4 years (see: Korovnikov A.V. Social protection of military personnel in foreign countries: legal regulation. - M., 1997. - P. 98).

The maximum service age for admirals and generals is 60 years, for officers - 55 years. However, an officer can submit a resignation letter after 5 years of service (see: Great Britain. Information and reference material: KSF Publishing House, 1996. - P. 55, 61-65).

Physical training plays an important role in the British armed forces. Every year, officers pass physical training standards. Those who have not completed them are given two weeks to train. If the officer fails to pass the test again, he is sent for a medical examination. If the officer is physically healthy, money is withheld from him. If this does not help, then this officer is demoted in rank.

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The army of any state is a shield that is designed to protect the peaceful life of citizens and the territorial integrity of the country. This social formation existed long before people invented writing, law and other forms of their activity. In other words, the culture of killing people, and it is for this purpose that armies are created, is one of the most ancient spheres of the direct functioning of society. Over the course of many centuries, the armies of all states without exception have evolved. This is also due to the history of development of a particular country. It should be noted that many cultural traditions of the troops that existed several centuries ago are still preserved in active armies. Of course, this approach indicates an established system of personnel training, as well as cohesion within the troops. But out of the entire number of armed forces of different countries, there are armies that stand out from the general background. These are the British Armed Forces today. The history of the formation of the army of this country is filled with amazing heroic deeds and valiant battles. The long stay of the state in the status of the British troops also had a significant influence on the development of the British troops. All this together makes the British Armed Forces a highly professional and mobile military formation that represents significant combat power. The structure of the troops of this state and their functions will be discussed later in the article.

General concept of the British armed forces

The British Army is a collective concept of a number of different ones. That is, the term denotes all military formations of the state that are part of a single defense structure. The activities of the British Army are quite specific, taking into account some political and territorial features. In addition, the country's military formation has a long history. The army is controlled through the Ministry of Defense, the structural element of which is a special defense council. As in many progressive modern countries today, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the head of state. In the case of Great Britain, this is the monarch - Queen Elizabeth II.

The initial stage of development of the British armed forces

There are many historical versions about when the British Army arose. The most common opinion is that the British Armed Forces arose in 1707, as a result of the unification of England and Scotland. But some scientists are of the opinion that the starting point of the history of the army of this state is a much more ancient date. In this case, such a statement is erroneous. Since before the unification of the previously represented states, England was a series of independent countries at war with each other. During its formation, the British Army took part in a large number of wars both on the territory of its colonies and against other states. The most famous military conflicts in which the British armed forces took part are the following:

Napoleonic and Seven Years' War.

Crimean War.

War against the American Colonies.

Opium Wars 1840-1860.

It should also be noted that at this stage of development the British Army has a strong navy and a small number of ground forces. Thanks to this approach to the issue of organizing troops, the empire for a long time had the status of “mistress of the seas.” It should also be noted that throughout the entire period of development, the armies of France and Great Britain constantly competed with each other. This is due not only to the dominant positions of these states in Europe, but also to national enmity.

Development of the army in the 20th century

Subsequent stages of the development of the British army are characterized by the participation of the state in the First and Second World Wars. Some reorganization actions were also carried out at this time. For example, in 1916, the British authorities introduced universal conscription. In addition, in 1922, the state officially abandoned the principle of “two fleets,” according to which the British Navy was supposed to have twice the size of the fleet of other major naval powers. A fairly significant fact for the development of the army of the empire was the country’s entry into NATO in 1949. This led to the participation of Great Britain in almost all major operations carried out by the bloc.

British armed forces in the 21st century

In the 21st century, the British army took part in the war against Afghanistan, as well as Iraq. It should also be noted that a large number of British troops were sent for the military intervention of the state of Libya, which took place in 2013. In addition, British representatives played a significant role in the implementation of Operation Serval. Thus, the British Army, which numbers 421 thousand personnel, is today one of the best military formations in the world.

UK Armed Forces Structure

The entire structure of the British army is built in such a way as to facilitate the implementation of the functions of this formation as much as possible. In addition, the state Armed Forces have some specific types of troops that have a rather interesting field of activity. Thus, the British Army, the size of which was presented above, has the following structural elements:

1. Air Force.
2. Ground troops.
3. Special Forces.
4. Medical service.

This structure, as mentioned earlier, is best suited for performing individual functional tasks. At the same time, the medical troops of the armed forces are unique in their kind. Because medical units in other world armies are not identified as a separate structural element of the Armed Forces.

Ground troops

Like the British armed forces as a whole, the ground forces also begin their history in 1707. Today, the British Army is a professional unit whose main goal is to defeat enemy personnel on the ground. The main striking force of the army, as we understand it, is the infantry. Today it includes about 36 regular battalions. In addition to this, the strength of the British Army also consists of the Armored Corps, Artillery Regiment, Corps of Engineers, Army Air Corps, Intelligence Corps and Signal Corps. Also, this type of troops includes territorial military formations, which are analogous to the national guard.

British Navy

So, in the article we looked at the features of the British armed forces. It should be noted that today the armed forces of this state are among the strongest on Earth. But let's hope that it will not be possible to clearly see the full power of the British army.