Proposal to Reduce the Minimum Duration of the 'Honorary Service' Program from 3 to 2 Years

The draft law on amendments and supplements to the Republic of Armenia's Law on 'Military Service and the Status of Servicemen' has been presented to the National Assembly for discussion.

Gabriel Balayan, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Armenia, stated that several articles of the draft specify the terms for entering into contract military service.

According to him, the previously effective age for joining contract military service is restored from 36 to 40 years.

“During the committee discussion, an amendment was made proposing to set the age limit to 45 years for rare specialties. It is also proposed that the option for a citizen to be exempted from mandatory military service can be rejected by the authorized state body of the government in specified cases set by the government. This draft also proposes that the current minimum term for the 'Honorary Service' program, which is 3 years, be reduced to 2 years,” Balayan presented.

The draft also proposes to grant deferments until graduation for all citizens studying at vocational educational institutions who are subject to military service.

It is proposed that, in the case of brothers being conscripted simultaneously and wishing to serve in the same unit, only one brother will participate in the lottery. A conscript with a brother in service may be assigned to his brother's place of duty if he meets the conditions for assignment to that unit.

According to Article 10 of the draft, for citizens assigned to positions during wartime, the contract for fulfilling the duties outlined is set at 1 year, instead of the current 3 months, specifically for active reservists. Moreover, the opportunity to participate in accessible and long-term mortgage lending programs is also extended to senior non-commissioned officers.

The draft clarifies the procedure for granting the status of a participant in combat operations.

“According to Article 14 of the draft, existing regulations regarding housing provision for servicemen are removed since housing provision includes not only the allocation of free housing ownership but also free state financial assistance and the provision of plots of land,” Balayan noted.