| Countries (A to Z) |
Description |
| Antigua and Barbuda |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Australia |
17 years of age for voluntary military service (with parental consent); no conscription; women allowed to serve in Army combat units in non-combat support roles |
| Bahamas, The |
18 years of age (est.); no conscription |
| Bahrain |
17 years of age for voluntary military service; 15 years of age for NCOs, technicians, and cadets; no conscription |
| Bangladesh |
16 years of age for voluntary military service; 17 years of age for officers (both with parental consent); conscription legally possible in emergency, but has never been implemented |
| Barbados |
18 years of age for voluntary military service (younger requires parental consent); no conscription |
| Belgium |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription suspended |
| Belize |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient; conscription has never been implemented; volunteers typically outnumber available positions by 3:1 |
| Bhutan |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Bolivia |
18 years of age for 12-month compulsory military service; when annual number of volunteers falls short of goal, compulsory recruitment is effected, including conscription of boys as young as 14; 15-19 years of age for voluntary premilitary service, provides exemption from further military service |
| Bulgaria |
18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 9 months; as of May 2006, 67% of the Bulgarian Army comprised of professional soldiers; conscription ended as of 1 January 2008; Air and Air Defense Forces and Naval Forces became fully professional at the end of 2006 |
| Canada |
17 years of age for male and female voluntary military service (with parental consent); 16 years of age for reserve and military college applicants; Canadian citizenship or permanent residence status required; maximum 34 years of age; service obligation 3-9 years |
| Chile |
18-45 years of age for voluntary male and female military service, although the right to compulsory recruitment is retained; service obligation - 12 months for Army, 22 months for Navy and Air Force |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the |
18-45 years of age for military service |
| Czech Republic |
18-28 years of age for voluntary and 19-28 for compulsory military service |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service |
| Djibouti |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; 16-25 years of age for voluntary military training; no conscription |
| East Timor |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Ecuador |
20 years of age for selective conscript military service; 12-month service obligation |
| Egypt |
18-30 years of age for male conscript military service; service obligation 12-36 months, followed by a 9-year reserve obligation |
| El Salvador |
18 years of age for selective compulsory military service; 16 years of age for voluntary service; service obligation - 8 months, but 11 months for officers and NCOs |
| Equatorial Guinea |
18 years of age (est.) for compulsory military service |
| Ethiopia |
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; theoretically, no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct call-ups when necessary and compliance is compulsory |
| Finland |
18 years of age for male voluntary and compulsory national military and nonmilitary service; service obligation 6-12 months |
| Gambia, The |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Ghana |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Greece |
19-45 years of age for compulsory military service; during wartime the law allows for recruitment beginning January of the year of inductee's 18th birthday, thus including 17 year olds; 17 years of age for volunteers; conscript service obligation - 1 year for all services; women are eligible for voluntary military service |
| Guyana |
18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| India |
16 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; women officers allowed in noncombat roles only |
| Indonesia |
18 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; 2-year conscript service obligation, with reserve obligation to age 45 (officers); Indonesian citizens only |
| Iran |
19 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; 17 years of age for Law Enforcement Forces; 15 years of age for Basij Forces (Popular Mobilization Army); conscript military service obligation - 18 months; women exempt from military service |
| Iraq |
18-49 years of age for voluntary military service |
| Ireland |
17-25 years of age for male or female voluntary military service (17-27 years of age for the Naval Service); enlistees 16 years of age can be recruited for apprentice specialist positions; maximum obligation 12 years; 17-35 years of age for the Reserve Defense Forces; EU citizenship or 5-year residence in Ireland required |
| Israel |
18 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) and voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation - 36 months for enlisted men, 21 months for enlisted women, 48 months for officers; reserve obligation to age 41-51 (men), 24 (women) |
| Korea, South |
20-30 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required; conscript service obligation - 24-28 months, depending on the military branch involved (to be reduced to 18 months beginning 2016); 18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; women, in service since 1950, admitted to 7 service branches, including infantry, but excluded from artillery, armor, anti-air, and chaplaincy corps; some 4,000 women serve as commissioned and noncommissioned officers, approx. 2.3% of all officers |
| Lesotho |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Liberia |
16 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Luxembourg |
17-25 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; soldiers under 18 are not deployed into combat or with peacekeeping missions; no conscription; Luxembourg citizen or EU citizen with 3-year residence in Luxembourg |
| Madagascar |
18-25 years of age for male-only compulsory military service; 18-month conscript service obligation (either military or equivalent civil service); 20-30 years of age for National Gendarmerie recruits (35 years of age for those with military experience) |
| Maldives |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Mali |
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years |
| Malta |
17 years 6 months of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Montenegro |
compulsory national military service abolished August 2006 |
| Namibia |
18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Nepal |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; 15 years of age for military training; no conscription |
| New Zealand |
17 years of age for voluntary military service; soldiers cannot be deployed until the age of 18; no conscription |
| Nicaragua |
17 years of age for voluntary military service; tour of duty 18-36 months |
| Niger |
17-21 years of age for voluntary military service; 2-year service term; women may serve in health care |
| Oman |
18-30 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Papua New Guinea |
16 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Peru |
18-30 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; no conscription |
| Qatar |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Russia |
18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; service obligation - 1 year; reserve obligation to age 50; as of July 2008, a draft military strategy called for the draft to continue up to the year 2030 |
| Rwanda |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis |
18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Seychelles |
18 years of age for voluntary military service (younger with parental consent); no conscription |
| Sierra Leone |
17 years 6 months of age for voluntary military service (younger with parental consent); no conscription |
| Singapore |
18-21 years of age for male compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; 2-year conscript service obligation, with a reserve obligation to age 40 (enlisted) or age 50 (officers) |
| Swaziland |
18-30 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription |
| Switzerland |
19 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; the Swiss Constitution states that "every Swiss male is obliged to do military service"; every Swiss male has to serve at least 260 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years |
| Taiwan |
19-35 years of age for male compulsory military service; service obligation 14 months (reducing to 1 year in 2009) year; women may enlist; women in Air Force service are restricted to noncombat roles; reserve obligation to age 30 (Army); the Ministry of Defense has announced plans to implement an incremental voluntary enlistment system beginning 2010, with 10% fewer conscripts each year thereafter, although nonvolunteers will still be required to perform alternative service or go through 3-4 months of military training |
| Tonga |
18 years of age (est.); no conscription |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
18 years of age for voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription |
| Uganda |
18-26 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military duty; 18-30 years of age for professionals; 9-year service obligation; the government has stated that recruitment below 18 years of age could occur with proper consent and that "no person under the apparent age of 13 years shall be enrolled in the armed forces"; Ugandan citizenship and secondary education required |
| United Arab Emirates |
18 years of age (est.) for voluntary military service; 18 years of age for officers and women; no conscription |
| United Kingdom |
16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 16 years of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of the Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens |
| United States |
18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines) |
| Venezuela |
18-30 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; 30-month conscript service obligation - all citizens 18-50 years old are obligated to register for military service |
| Zambia |
18 years of age for voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription |
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