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Armed and Neutral
Switzerland
Maintaining a tradition of neutrality that goes back five centuries, this small country even managed to remain aloof from World War II, while it was entirely surrounded by Axis powers. However, Switzerland also maintains a tradition of military readiness and discipline; if you’re a Swiss, male, and an adult, you’re conscripted into the army or air force.
At age 19, every able-bodies Swiss man must join the military. Training generally lasts between 4 to 6 months, though Swiss Special Forces train for 18; afterward, most are released to reserve duty. Men must remain in the Swiss military until at least age 30, and higher ranks are required to serve longer-leading some soldiers and airmen to deliberately avoid promotion.
Switzerland does permit conscientious objectors to serve in a civilian support corps instead, but they must serve in civilian support corps instead, but they must serve longer than their counterparts in the armed forces. Those unfit to serve due to physical disability must instead pay a significantly higher income tax each year. Service is not mandatory for women, but women may choose to join, and they fill all the same roles as men.
Switzerland’s standing army is vanishingly small; instead it relies mostly on a militia reserve: reservist serve three or four weeks annually, and are otherwise free to pursue their own lives. Every Swiss militiaman (that is to say, nearly every Swiss male between teenager and middle-aged) keeps in his home a Swiss Arms SG 550 (an assault rifle comparable to the M16 series used by the US) and a box of 5.6mm ammunition. In the event of an emergency, the soldier loads a magazine with the ammunition and moves to his unit’s designated rally-point. Unsealing the ammunition is otherwise strictly forbidden (the country does suffer a high suicide rate, apparently due partly to easy access to firearms).
Over the past 20 years, Switzerland has repeatedly cut the size of its standing military; it’s possible that in the near future, the active military may disband almost entirely. The country has now been at peace for nearly 200 years; but Switzerland nestles at the junction of several European cultures, languages, and religions, and modern warfare is notorious for ignoring national borders. In the event of a conflagration in a neighboring region, the Swiss may find it difficult to continue their streak of non-involvement.
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 Posted by: Izan-Oen Sun Feb 23, 2014 @ 02:04am
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