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. III. Denmark See inserted document on the next page. 1 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 IV. Germany Number of active soldiers and the length of service: The Bundeswehr includes 177.608 active soldiers. The compulsory retirement ages are 62 or 65 years. The Federal Ministry of Defence reports in the German Parliament on the average number of years’ professional soldiers serve in the Bundeswehr. It is regulated in the Legal Status of Military Personnel Act, § 45. The minimum and maximum length of service to maximise pension entitlements cannot be schematically depicted. In Germany, you should differentiate between professional soldiers and soldiers for fixed terms. The pensionable age of professional soldiers can be normal (62 or 65 years) or special (individual case between 55 and 62 years). If the maximum pension is reached, you need in average 40 chargeable years of service. Exemptions are possible. Distribution: - Federal Ministry of Defence: 967 - departments, which are directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of Defence: 1.449 - Army: 60.303 - Joint Support Service: 40.941 - Air Force: 28.262 - Central Medical Service: 19.695 - Navy: 16.011 - area of Infrastructure, Environmental Protection, Services: 960 - area of Equipment, Information Technology, Utilization: 1.778 - area of Personnel (civil and military): 7.242, of whom 4.492 are students at the Bundeswehr universities Status: - 168.342 professional soldiers and soldiers for fixed terms - 9.266 volunteers 2 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 Women in the Bundeswehr: 20.079 women V. Hungary Lack of data but independently of his/her rank, a professional or contractual soldier can serve between the ages of 18 and 65 (universal pensionable age) in the Hungarian Defence Forces, if he/she meets the health, psychic and physical requirements. VI. Ireland No data available. VII. Italy Until the end of 2018, personnel from the Italian police and armed forces may retire, regardless of age, after 40 years and 7 months of active service. VIII. The Netherlands The number of soldiers drops sharply around the age of 30 years. This is because many soldiers in the Netherlands get dismissed after a temporary contract. This dismissal usually takes place around the age of 30-35 years. Therefore, the average age of soldiers in the Netherlands is 35 years. 3 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 IX. Portugal The provision of service in the Portuguese armed forces is carried out by military personnel of the permanent staff in situations of active service and in the situation of reserve in effectiveness and in complement with the military under contractual regime. Well, the military of the active, and according to the statutory regulations, have defined age limits of passage to the reserve (out of service) according to the respective rank, but never before 57 years of age. Naturally, this condition is assured if the career is regular, although the statutes approved in 2015 have created conditions for the most natural occurrences to take place in the armed forces, trapped with compensatory punishments. Posts from OR1 to OR4, in active service situation, is only present in the Navy. The remaining branches of the Armed Forces only have these positions in the service in contract regime (only 6 years of service). Although the long-term contract is foreseen in the armed forces, it does not apply to posts from OR1 to OR4 and a situation similar to that occurring and taking place in Spain is expected to occur in Portugal. Under the contract regime, the age for admission is limited to 25 years old and the period of service in this situation is never more than 6 years, when the military becomes available, that is, leave the armed forces. Thus, the age of the soldiers at time of departure will never be more than 31 years of age. In the case of OR5, the only one rank under contract is precisely the same situation. And in the case of officials, OF1 posts, the only ones under contract, fulfill the same assumptions. 4 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 In order to be able to bear with more consistency the request addressed to us, we have attached two files. In one we present the amount of Navy personnel distributed by ranks (OR1 to OR9) and their age distribution. The information regarding the data of the Army and Air Force, are still awaited. In any case, in the second file, the quantities currently authorized for the Portuguese Armed Forces are sent, in which the information elements required may be projected. See annex on the next page. X. Sweden In Sweden, a soldier OR1-OR5 can be employed full time for a maximum of 12 years. On average, they stay employed for 4 years. But it is too early to draw any conclusion since the system is still quite new. For OR6-OR9, there is no limit in time but as for OR1-OR5 the system is still quite new so it is difficult to draw any conclusion at this stage. 5 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 ANNEX: Portugal QT OF MILITARIES IN ACTIVE QT OF MILITARIES IN ACTIVE QT OF MILITARIES IN ACTIVE QT OF MILITARIES IN ACTIVE SERVICE IN THE ORGANIC SERVICE IN THE STRUCTURE OF NATO UK RANKS PORTUGAL RANKS TOTAL TOTAL SERVICE OUT OF THE ARMED TOTAL SERVICE IN THE DIFFERENT TOTAL STRUCTURE OF THE ARMED CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE ARMED FORCES SITUATIONS FORCES FORCES NATO ORDER PORTUGUESE NAVY ARMY AIR FORCE NAVY ARMY AIR FORCE ALL SERVICES NAVY ARMY AIR FORCE ALL SERVICES NAVY ARMY AIR FORCE ALL SERVICES NAVY ARMY AIR FORCE ALL SERVICES RANKS DESIGNATIONS RANKS AIR CHIEF ADMIRAL GENERAL CHEFE DE ESTADO MAIOR OF-9 MARSHALL 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 (CNO) (CAO) ALMIRANTE/GENERAL (CAFO) VICE- LIEUTENANT VICE-CHEFE DE ESTADO AIR MARSHALL OF-8 ADMIRAL GENERAL MAIOR ALMIRANTE 1 2 1 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 5 (VICE-CAFO) (VICE-CNO) (VICE-CAO) /GENERAL VICE- LIEUTENANT VICE-ALMIRANTE/TENENTE- OF-8 AIR MARSHALL 7 7 6 20 1 2 2 5 1 1 1 3 9 10 9 28 ADMIRAL GENERAL GENERAL CONTRA- REAR- MAJOR AIR VICE OF-7 ALMIRANTE/MAJOR- 8 18 10 36 2 6 2 10 3 10 1 14 13 34 13 60 ADMIRAL GENERAL MARSHALL GENERAL AIR COMODORO/BRIGADEIRO- OF-6 COMMODORE BRIGADIER 12 10 12 34 4 2 3 9 0 0 0 0 16 12 15 43 COMMODORE GENERAL GROUP CAPITÃO-DE-MAR-E- OF-5 CAPTAIN COLONEL 93 162 86 341 25 40 18 83 18 28 14 60 136 230 118 484 CAPTAIN GUERRA/CORONEL CAPITÃO-DE- LIEUTENANT WING OF-4 COMMANDER FRAGATA/TENENTE- 194 455 223 872 80 170 62 312 45