Maybe Americans will get back the draft in 2005? ¹ Well, in Switzerland we have a militia army. I say “we” eventhough I am not Swiss, and not being Swiss, I never served and look at it through the eyes of a foreigner living here. 😄
What does it mean, to have a militia army?
When you’re 20, you go to the military for fifteen weeks (with leave on the week-end unless you have guard duty). From then on, every one or two years, you serve another few weeks, and the older you get, the less time it will take, until you are about 40.
During that time, you have your uniform and basic gear including your assault rifle at home – as well as 25 rounds. You must store ammunition separate from the rifle, and you the ammunition is sealed (but you can buy them in stores).
See also *Swiss Gun Control and Gun Laws* on GunCite ², talking about the percentage of households with automatic weapons (14% according to their page), and the opportunities to buy ammunition at the range. Note that GunCite is a Second Amendment _ Gun Control site... Let me just make it clear that I believe that the USA has a serious gun control problem and the availability of guns is part of the problem, not part of the solution. 🙁 If you want to discuss this, do it on the GunControl page._
You have to go to target practice every year, showing that you can shoot. If you fail the minimum points, you must do extra training.
Every *Gemeinde* (county, a village size political entity) has a shooting range to actually enable you to do this.
There are conscientous objectors, but traditionally that meant a prison term of several months (eg. five months). These days, if you can *prove* that you object on moral or religious grounds, you can get away with it. You will serve longer in the *civil service*, however. ³ “Proving” means a long interview with three people, etc. Being a pacifist doesn’t count. Some of my friends got away by knowing doctors that would attest your incapability of serving due to allergies or back problems, some fake psychological problems.
If you’re incapable of serving, you will have to pay military service tax ⁴, which is a significant amount of money. In my case, it would be well over USD 1000, for example.
See also *The situation of conscientious objectors in Switzerland- compared with the guidelines of the European Union* by Ruedi Winet ⁵, published as part of *Conscientious Objection in Europe: Documentation of a Conference on 17th and 18th october 1997*:
In contrast to many other countries the military service in Switzerland is not served in one part. The conscripts have to serve their days of duty - between the age of 19 and 42 - over several singular parts in several years. The military service consists of a basic course, the so-called school of recruits of 100 days, and approximately 10 repetitive courses of 20 days each. Those who have relatively acceptable qualifications have to be aware that they have to become a non-commissioned officer which means they have to serve at least 160 additional days. In addition all conscripts have to complete half a day of target practice in the years without repetitive courses.
Amnesty International reported in March 2002 ⁶ about a conscientous objector. I hope this illustrates how hard it is to get away unless you’re prepared to lie and cheat:
Marino Keckeis, a 24-year-old qualified forestry worker, has been serving a five-month sentence in Grosshof Prison, Kriens (Canton of Lucerne), since 15 January 2002 for refusing to perform compulsory military service. Amnesty International (AI) believes his refusal of military service is the result of his conscientiously-held, ethical and religious convictions, and considers him to be a prisoner of conscience who should be released immediately.
(A Swiss friend of mine doesn’t believe this story, claiming that these days it is really easy to get away from military service and do civil service instead. My friend himself, however, was incapable of serving and thus doesn’t really know the military. ;))
Note that military service is voluntary for women. We get a few every year. At first they were not allowed to do combat training and were only issued a small firearm upon request. I *think* this part of the discrimination has been lifted, however.
The website of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (DDPS) ⁷ is not very informative; the website of the *Gruppe Schweiz ohne Armee* (!GSoA, group Switzerland without an army) ⁸ is equally lacking the basic information.
The Swiss constitution PDF also has some interesting passages on the Swiss army:
Art. 58 **Army**
1. Switzerland shall have an army. The army shall be organized, in principle, as a militia.
2. The army shall contribute to prevent war and to maintain peace; it shall defend the country and protect its population. It shall lend support to the civil authorities when they must repel serious threats to internal security or master other exceptional circumstances. The statute may provide for further tasks.
3. The use of the army is a federal matter. The Cantons may engage their troops to maintain public order on their territory, if the means of the civil authorities no longer suffice to repel serious threats to inner security.
Art. 59 **Military and Alternative Service**
1. Every Swiss man must render military service. The statute shall provide for an alternative service.
2. For Swiss women, military service is voluntary.
3. Swiss men who render neither military nor alternative service owe a tax. The tax is levied by the Confederation and is assessed and collected by the Cantons.
4. The Confederation shall legislate on fair compensation for loss of income.