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Iran
Source and Quality of Manpower
Armed forces manpower increased substantially throughout the
1970s as the shah implemented Iran's "guardian" role in the Gulf.
Following the outbreak of the Revolution, there was a sharp drop
in the number of military personnel, which in 1982 stood at 235,000,
including the Pasdaran but excluding reserves. In contrast, total
military personnel, including the Pasdaran but excluding reserves,
stood at 704,500 in 1986. In addition to active-duty personnel,
some 400,000 veterans, organized in reserve units after the outbreak
of the war, were subject to recall to duty. Two-thirds of army
personnel were conscripts; in the air force and navy, the majority
were volunteers.
The National Military Academy was the largest single source of
commissioned officers in the 1970s, but since 1980 a significant
number of commissions have been awarded for wartime heroism and
leadership at the front. Although air force and navy officers
had attended military academies or participated in cadet programs
in the United States, Britain, or Italy before 1979, few foreign
contacts have been recorded since the Revolution. In the few instances
in which contact was established, it was with Asian states, namely
China and North Korea. Unlike the army, the air force and navy
have experienced high attrition, and it must be assumed that operations
have been streamlined to be effective with fewer personnel.
Class differences in the armed forces remained virtually undisturbed
by the Revolution. Commissioned officers came from upper class
families, career noncommissioned and warrant officers from the
urban middle class, and conscripts from lower class backgrounds.
By 1986, an increasing segment of the officer corps came from
the educated middle class, and a significant number of lower middle-class
personnel were commissioned by Khomeini for leadership on the
battlefield.
Iran's 1986 population of approximately 48.2 million (including
approximately 2.6 million refugees) gave the armed forces a large
pool from which to fill its manpower needs, despite the existence
of rival irregular forces. Of about 8 million males between the
ages of eighteen and fourty-five, nearly 6 million were considered
physically and mentally fit for military service. Revolutionary
leaders have repeatedly declared that Iran could establish an
army of 20 million to defend the country against foreign aggression.
Since the beginning of 1986, women have also been encouraged to
receive military training, although no women were actually serving
in the regular armed forces as of late 1987. The decision to encourage
women to join in the military effort may indicate an increasing
demand for personnel or an effort to gain increased popular support
for the Revolution. It could also mean that conscription was not
replacing war losses or retirements.
Compulsory conscription has been in effect since 1926, when Reza
Shah's Military Service Act was passed by the Majlis. All males
must register at age nineteen and begin their military service
at age twenty-one; the law, however, is of limited significance
in view of government pressures for volunteer enlistments in military
units at an earlier age. According to the act, the total period
of service is twenty-five years, divided as follows: two years
of active military service, six years in standby military service
for draftees, then eight years in first-stage reserve and nine
years in second-stage reserve. In 1984 the Majlis passed the new
Military Act. It amended conscription laws to reduce the high
number of draft dodgers. Newspapers have carried reports of people
caught trying to buy their way out of military service, at an
unofficial figure of about US$8,000 for forged exemption documents.
Under the prerevolutionary law, temporary or permanent exemptions
were provided for the physically disabled, hardship cases, convicted
felons, students, and certain professions. Draft evaders were
subject to arrest, trial before a military court, and imprisonment
for a maximum of two years after serving the required
two years of active duty. Few draft dodgers, if any, were sent
to jail; the normal procedure was to fine them the equivalent
of US$75 (1986 exchange rate). Under the 1984 law, draft evaders
were subject to restrictions for a period of up to ten years.
They could be prevented from holding a driver's license, running
for elective office, registering property ownership, being put
on the government payroll, or receiving a passport, in addition
to being forced to pay fines and/or receive jail sentences. Exemptions
were given only to solve family problems. Moreover, all exemptions,
except for physical disabilities, were only for five years. Those
seeking relief for medical reasons had to serve but were not sent
on combat duty. Under the amended law, men of draft age were subject
to conscription, whether in war or peace, for a minimum period
of two years and could be recalled as needed.
In the past, a consistent weakness of the armed forces had been
the high illiteracy rate among conscripts and volunteers. This
reflected the country wide illiteracy rate, which stood at 60
percent in 1979. Compounding this dilemma, many conscripts came
from tribal areas where Persian was not spoken. Thus, the military
first had to teach the conscripts Persian by instituting extensive
literacy training programs.
By 1986 the country's overall literacy rate was estimated at
50 percent, a dramatic improvement. This gain was also reflected
in the regular armed forces. Of the three services, the air force
fared best in this respect, as it had always done. Yet even the
air force, which had developed training facilities for support
personnel and homafars, was short of its real requirements.
With the 1979 withdrawal of foreign military and civilian advisers,
particularly from the United States and Pakistan, the operation,
maintenance, and logistical functioning of armed forces' equipment
was hampered by a critical shortage of skilled manpower. As purchases
from non-Western countries increased, Iran came to rely on Chinese,
Syrian, Bulgarian (unconfirmed), and North Korean instructors
and those from the German Democratic Republic (East Germany),
among others.
In 1987 the impressive progress of the regular armed forces was
counterbalanced by manpower shortages. Without the support of
large numbers of irregular forces and volunteers, it was difficult
to foresee how this shortage might be overcome.
Data as of December 1987
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