Swiss Army" Redirects Here
"Swiss Army" redirects here. For the multi-function pocket knife, see Swiss Army knife. Military of Switzerland Service branches Land Forces, Air Force Leadership General Vacant in peacetime Minister of Defense Swiss Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer Chief of the Armed Lt Gen André Blattmann Forces Manpower Military age 19 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; Conscription 19–34 years of age obligatorily 36 for subaltern officers, 52 for staff officers and higher Available for 1,852,580 males, age 16–49 military service (2009 est.), 1,807,667 females, age 16–49 (2009 est.) Fit for 1,510,259 males, age 16–49 military service (2009 est.), 1,475,993 females, age 16–49 (2009 est.) Reaching military 48,076 males (2009 est.), age annually 44,049 females (2009 est.) Active personnel 147,075 (2013)[1] (ranked 38th) Reserve personnel 77,000 [2] Expenditures Budget CHF4.53 billion (~US$4.83 billionFY12)[3] Percent of GDP 0.76% (2012)[4] The Swiss Armed Forces (German: Schweizer Armee, French: Armée suisse, Italian: Esercito svizzero, Romanisch: Armada svizra)operate on land, in the air, and in international waters. Under the country's militia system, professional soldiers constitute about 5 percent[citation needed] of the military and the the rest are conscripts or volunteers aged 19 to 34 (in some cases up to 50). Because of Switzerland's long history of neutrality, the army does not take part in armed conflicts in other countries, but it does participate ininternational peacekeeping missions.
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