EUROMILEuropean aisblOrganisation of(European Military Organisation Associations of Military Associations) 33, av. G é n éral de Gaulle RueB- 1050 John Bruxelles Waterloo Wilson 78 Tel:B-1000 0032.2.626.06.80 Brussels Fax:Tel: 0032.2.626.06.99 +32.2.626.06.80 Email:E-mail:
[email protected] [email protected] N° Ent.: 0538.809.759 Average number of years’ soldiers (OR1-OR9) serve in the European armed forces Document based on information provided by EUROMIL member associations in January 2017. I. Belgium • There is no difference between officers, NCO’s and other enlisted personnel. • In average, young men and women enter the armed forces at 22. Except for the generals, all of them must leave at the age of 56 years, which is the mandatory retirement age. This means that most of the Belgian military personnel serve in average about 34 years in active duty. • Of course, those who choose to can always leave the armed forces earlier on personnel request. • A couple of years ago, a new law was promulgated creating a new legal status for all service personnel. With this law an ADDITIONAL career path was created with a service time limited to 8 years (approx. the age of 30 years), however providing the possibility for a LIMITED number of military to make the transition to the regular career path up to the age of 56. • For information, political discussions are currently conducted in Belgium to raise the retirement age to above 60 years. Their outcome is still unclear. II. Cyprus There are no professional soldiers serving in the Cyprus Armed Forces – with the exception of a very small number of professional soldiers that were hired in the National Guard mid-2016 and which will be serving for 10 years only.