Age for compulsory military service to fall
Ha Noi — The registration age for obligatory military service would be reduced by two years - from 18 to 25 instead of 18 to 27 - as part of proposed changes to Viet Nam’s Military Law, the National Assembly was told on Monday.
The change was forecast in a 10-year-review of the law delivered by National Defence and Security Committee Chairman Nguyen Phuc Thanh.
The changes would focus on parts of the legislation that were no longer appropriate to Viet Nam’s socio-economic conditions, he said.
These included the age for military service, terms of service, postponement and exemption.
Thanh said the existing law, promulgated in 1994, had contributed greatly to national defence and providing the legal framework necessary to military service.
The new law would require non-commissioned officers and privates to serve 18 months rather than two years while for sailors service would reduce from 36 to 24 months.
The report asks the assembly to amend Article 56 of the Military Law to ensure funds for demobilised soldiers wanting to undertake vocational training.
But it says the Government should organise primary political training and State management courses for demobilised minority military personnel because they will be key people in their home localities.
Viet Nam News, May 18, 2005
