Austrians vote to keep compulsory military service

[Gerald]

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q764/gasturbin/_65397920_65397915_zpsdfd97364.jpg
Some 22,000 Austrian men are currently conscripted into the military each year

Austrians have voted overwhelmingly in favour of retaining compulsory military service.

With all votes in the referendum counted, except postal ballots, 59.8% voted to keep the draft with 40.2% against, the interior ministry said.

The issue has divided politicians in the coalition government.

Supporters of change said a professional army would be more effective - critics said it would put Austria's cherished neutrality at risk.

Austrian men must serve six months in the army or nine months in civilian service when they reach 18.

Increasingly few European countries demand compulsory military service. France abandoned conscription in 1996, and Germany in 2011.

Calls for an end to conscription are growing in Austria's neighbour, Switzerland, which is also neutral.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21110431


A good choice in order to maintain as high level as possible.


Note: 20 January 2013 Last updated at 18:48 GMT

[Betonov]

Conscription has one positive side that's not military.

Gives the todays youth some discipline, practical knowledge, survival knowhow and fitness.
But I'll be quiet on this one. Slovenia eliminated conscription a few years before I was 18 and even if it hadn't, I'd be exempt due to my asthma.

[Gerald]

Sweden took away conscription few years ago, which has weakened some parts of defense, when I was doing military service in the Navy, it was my training 15 months, compared with today 4-5 months on average, it says a lot.

[Karle94]

And Norway soldiers on with mandatory service. Can`t imagine it`ll be going anytime soon.

[VipertheSniper]

You know the good thing is, nothing, that most probably couldn't have been reversed, changes. The bad thing is nothing will change.

Our military is quite frankly a joke, politicians of every party are oh so concerned for the many conscripts that have no other job in their 6 (!) month long service but to maintain the equipment. But that this is probably the cheapest way to run our military which is chronically underfunded by those same politicians, that, they conveniently forget.

Our defense minister didn't even have a clear concept how this volunteer army should work. The only thing he was sure of was that it would cost the same as our current system of conscripts, where he got that idea I don't know. With the numbers he threw around about manpower, it would've been more expensive for sure. Furthermore even with the financial incentives proposed to get volunteers I doubt they would've gotten much. With all the age old equipment that spends more time in the workshop than in the field, who would want to join?

Because fuel prices are high and the budget for the military is tight, I think the only thing that could be trained for, would be trench warfare or what else you don't need much fuel for. IIRC, but I would have to check back with my friend, the combined milage of all vehicles in a year in one battalion shouldn't exceed 10000 km.

It's a joke now, and it would've been a joke as a volunteer army too.

The whole history how it came to this referendum is an absurd joke too.
The mayor of Vienna feared for his absolute majority in the upcoming elections, so he declared, after consultation with the chancellor, not the defense minister, that he wants to abolish the conscript system in favor of a volunteer army. The defense minister who belongs to the social democrats, just as the mayor of Vienna and the chancellor, said just months before that the conscript system was "set in stone", but was he informed beforehand? No. Subsequently he performed an 180-degree turn in policy and began to plan a future volunteer army. His plans weren't even half baked.

The conservatives who always had a soft spot for a volunteer army and who are currently in coalition with the social democrats, decided to not play ball and adjusted their party line accordingly. Now they were the ones who stood for a conscript army.

Since both parties in the government couldn't decide what to do, they asked the populace as a last way out of this cul-de-sac.

I didn't vote btw. and quite frankly noboby should have, because all this was, was a politcal powerplay.

[nikimcbee]

Do they still have u-boats?
http://www.ww1medals.net/SM_U-4_(Austria-Hungary)_postcard%20public%20domain.jpg

[nikimcbee]

Sweden took away conscription few years ago, which has weakened some parts of defense, when I was doing military service in the Navy, it was my training 15 months, compared with today 4-5 months on average, it says a lot.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Rowboat_with_oars.jpg/220px-Rowboat_with_oars.jpg

Vendor's naval sevice photo.

[Gerald]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Rowboat_with_oars.jpg/220px-Rowboat_with_oars.jpg

Vendor's naval sevice photo. LOL :)

These two, I served on,

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q764/gasturbin/2839285847_19f546e792_b_zpse3c4def9.jpg



http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/q764/gasturbin/P1000860xx_zps34d4455a.jpg

[VipertheSniper]

Do they still have u-boats?
http://www.ww1medals.net/SM_U-4_(Austria-Hungary)_postcard%20public%20domain.jpg

No, although I can remember reading about a hoax in the 60's that proposed a U-Boat on rails on the bottom of the Danube to the defense minister at that time...

Our "Navy" was put to rest with her last boat, I think one or two years ago.