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Soviet Union [USSR] Conscripts
Under the 1967 Law on Universal Military Service, all male
citizens must serve in the armed forces beginning at the age of
eighteen. The conscription period for servicemen was two years
except for sailors, which was three years. The 1967 law reduced the
conscription period from three and four years, respectively, to
provide more labor for the economy. A nationwide system of over
4,000 military commissariats (voennye komissariaty--
voenkomat; see Glossary) at the republic, oblast, raion,
and city levels was responsible for conscription and veterans
affairs. A voenkomat was accountable to the commander of the
military district in which it was located. All males had to report
to a voenkomat when they turned seventeen. The induction
commission of the voenkomat gave potential recruits a
physical examination and reviewed their school and DOSAAF training
records.
Each year over 2 million eighteen-year-olds have reported to
voenkomat induction commissions. They have reported in the
spring and the fall depending on whether their birthdays were in
the first or second half of the year. Based on quotas assigned by
the General Staff's Main Organization and Mobilization Directorate,
the voenkomat either assigned recruits to one of the armed
services or granted deferments. Assignments were based on the
physical attributes, education, skills, and political background of
individual conscripts. The services that required technical
abilities or high reliability, therefore, received conscripts with
the highest qualifications. For example, the Airborne Troops
accepted only recruits that had been fully trained in parachute
jumping by DOSAAF. By contrast, the Ground Forces and the Rear
Services have had to take less qualified inductees. Overall,
however, 90 percent of servicemen have had a secondary education.
The voenkomaty granted about one-quarter of eighteenyear -old men deferments from service because of ill health or
family hardship. Eighteen-year-olds were also exempted from service
if they were enrolled in a higher education institution. They were
required, however, to participate in the reserve officer training
program of that institution. Those who had participated in such
training programs could serve as little as a year of active duty
after graduation. In 1982 education exemptions were restricted to
those enrolled in a list of universities approved by the Ministry
of Defense. Young men not conscripted into the armed forces at
eighteen remained liable to induction until age twenty-seven. The
number of men deferred and later conscripted was probably small,
however. Deferments were reportedly obtained from some induction
commissions for a bribe of 1,000 rubles. The practice has been
common enough that the Law on Universal Military Service mentions
punishment for granting illegal deferments. Soviet law did not
provide for a conscientious objector status. In 1987, however, a
pacifist group called Trust took advantage of Gorbachev's policy of
glasnost' to protest compulsory service in the armed forces.
Data as of May 1989
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