Mandatory Service for Young Adults

The following countries have a one-year or less mandatory military service requirement (according to Wiki):

Albania (12 months)
Austria (6–12 months)
Bolivia (12 months)
Brazil (9–12 months)
Cape Verde (12–14 months, selective)
Denmark (4–12 months)
Estonia (8–11 months)
El Salvador (12 months, selective)
Finland (6–12 months)
Greece (9 months)
Guatemala (12–24 months)
Moldova (12 months)
Mongolia (12 months)
Norway (6–12 months)
Paraguay (12 months for Army, 24 months for Navy)
Russia (12 months)
Switzerland (5 months)
Republic of China (Taiwan) (12 months, selective)
Tunisia (12 months)
Turkey (6–15 months)
Ukraine (12 months)
Uzbekistan (12 months)
Zimbabwe (6–12 months)

These countries allow for a civilian, unarmed or non-combatant service option (according to Wiki) (14):
Angola
Algeria
Austria (9 months civilian, 6 armed)
Belarus
Cyprus (32 months civilian, 24 armed)
Denmark
Estonia
Finland (12 months civilian, unarmed 9 months, armed 6, 9 or 12 months)
Greece
Mexico
Norway
Paraguay
Switzerland (390 days civilian, 260 armed)
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Israel has mandatory military service for both men and women. All Israeli citizens are conscripted at age 18 or the conclusion of 12th Grade, with the following exceptions:

- Haredim are eligible for a deferral during their religious studies, which essentially becomes an exemption.
- Israeli Arabs are exempt from conscription, although they may volunteer. The men of other non-Jewish communities in Israel, notably the Druze, Bedouin, and Circassians, are conscripted; women are not though may volunteer.
- Religiously observant Jewish women can apply for an exemption from army service. Although some choose to serve, many opt to serve voluntarily in civilian "national service" Sherut Leumi.
- Women are not inducted if they are married or pregnant.
- Candidates who do not qualify on grounds of mental or physical health.
- Typically, men are required to serve for 3 years and women for 24 months.[5] Officers and other soldiers in certain voluntary units such as Nahal and Hesder are required to sign on for additional service. Those studying in a "Mechina" (pre-induction preparatory course) defer service until the conclusion of the program, typically one academic year. An additional program (called "Atuda'i") for qualified applicants allows post-secondary academic studies prior to induction. See also: Israel Defence Forces.
- There is a very limited amount of conscientious objection to conscription into the IDF. More common is refusal by reserve soldiers to serve in the West Bank and Gaza. Some of these conscientious objectors may be assigned to serve elsewhere, or are sentenced to brief prison terms lasting a few months to a year and may subsequently receive dishonourable discharges. See also: Refusal to serve in the Israeli military.
- After a year their period of regular army service, men are liable for up to 30 days (much less on average) per year of reserve duty ("miluim") until they are in their early forties. Women in certain positions of responsibility are liable for reserve duty to a limited extent, until they are twenty-four years old, married, or pregnant.




Could you ever imagine a mandatory national service program happening in The USA?

 

Are you talking about mandatory military service, or some other kind of civilian service?

Hard to compare service in, say, the Norwegian military and the US military. Serve in the US, end up anywhere around the world. Serve in Norway, no one's really looking for you in Iraq.

Israel is a whole different story.

 

Here I would say military service would be one way you could fulfill the service requirement, but not the only way.

 

No, socialist.

 

We already have this. It's called the unpaid internship, lasting indefinitely starting the summer after one's college graduation

 

Wait a minute. Paraguay has a navy? Really?

 

History shows that conscription and empires do not go hand in hand. If we had a draft, we couldn't have things like the Afghan War going on for a decade. So no draft. In the 19th century, France kept its conscripts at home, and only volunteers served in its colonies. Hence, the Foreign Legion.

 

Either that, or a scenerio where a foreign country attacks the U.S. on its own soil (i.e., China). Then I could see an emergency draft along with a huge influx of volunteers.

But otherwise, yeah, there would have been major issues if there was a draft for Iraq, and probably only slightly lessened for Afghanistan in 2001.

 

We should bring back the Civilian Conservation Corps, roll AmeriCorps/Peace Corps into it, make it a mandatory two-year stint for every American between 18 and 25, then give participants a certificate good for two years of tuition at the university of their choice as they exit the program.

 

No, Az, it's much more useful to have a huge pool of unemployed or underemployed young adults, especially young men. Nothing bad ever happens to societies that have large groups of young guys hanging around with nothing to do.

 

Save us, Incentivizing Indoctrinators!