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$Unique_ID{COW01008}
$Pretitle{352}
$Title{Cuba
Chapter 5D. Conscription and Military Manpower Resources}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{James D. Rudolf}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{military
service
defense
training
officers
forces
general
mtt
members
minfar}
$Date{1986}
$Log{Figure 10.*0100802.scf
}
Country: Cuba
Book: Cuba, A Country Study
Author: James D. Rudolf
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date: 1986
Chapter 5D. Conscription and Military Manpower Resources
Under the provisions of the 1973 Law of General Military Service, all
Cuban males between the ages of 16 and 50 were required to perform a minimum
of three years service in the active-duty military, the military reserve, or
both. Although compulsory military service had first been instituted by the
Castro government in 1963, the 1973 regulation expanded the kinds of military
service to be performed by conscripts. General Military Service options
included being drafted into either the paramilitary Youth Labor Army (Ejercito
Juvenil de Trabajo-EJT) or the regular armed forces units or performing
alternative civilian social service at places and posts designated by the
government. Women were exempt from obligatory service, yet were eligible to
enlist in the armed forces after age 16. Those women with special training
were eligible to be members of the reserve forces until age 40 (see Women in
the Revolutionary Armed Forces, this ch.).
Males were required to register with the local military committee after
reaching their sixteenth birthday and were then issued a certificate showing
that they had registered. Those between the ages of 16 and 28 who had not
completed some form of military service were called prerecruits and were
required to undergo military instruction, which included ideological
preparation, during evenings and weekends. Vocational training was also
provided. Most prerecruits were between the ages of 17 and 20.
Induction calls for General Military Service were held twice annually.
Youth were required to pass a physical examination before being accepted for
basic training. Most basic training was carried out at camps located closest
to the youth's home. Depending on the unit, basic training lasted between 45
and 60 days in the late 1970s. It reportedly included classroom and field
instruction held six days a week from 5:00 A.M. to almost 10:00 P.M. On
Sunday, their only day off, recruits were reportedly restricted to base. After
completion of basic training, recruits took an oath of enlistment and began
their three years of military service. Assignments were made based on aptitude
shown during basic training. By the late 1970s there was believed to be
growing popular dissatisfaction with the requirements of General Military
Service that was partly attributed to the demands placed on the Cuban
population and the armed forces by the commitment of combat troops in Africa.
Those youth completing their General Military Service with units of the
active-duty armed forces were encouraged to enlist in the regular military and
permitted to do so at any time during their three-year term of service. Those
who did enlist signed an agreement for a minimum of five years of service,
which included any previous time served. Pay, uniforms, and privileges were
better for members of the regular armed forces than for those completing
General Military Service. During the early 1980s slightly under 30,000 youth
were accepted each year for service with regular MINFAR troops.
According to the 1973 Law of Social Service, all students attending
schools of higher education for technical, scientific, or cultural studies
were required to provide up to three years of service to the nation in the
field of their expertise and were usually assigned to a government ministry to
carry out their service. Deferrals for General Military Service and social
service were available on a limited basis for students pursuing higher
education. Political pull was reported by some sources as influencing one's
chances of obtaining a deferral. Those receiving deferments were still
required to complete their active service at a later date, usually by the time
they were 28 years old. Upon completion of their education, those who trained
in what were considered "necessary" or "essential" fields, such as engineering
or medicine, were allowed to perform alternative social service, as stipulated
by the social service law, while pursuing their careers. Those students who
did choose to enter the armed forces after completing their education usually
became commissioned officers working in technical fields.
The Youth Labor Army
Members of the 100,000-strong EJT, which was granted its official
paramilitary status after the 1973 reorganization of the armed forces, were
formally inducted into either the MINFAR or the Ministry of Interior, the
governmental body responsible for internal security (see The Ministry of
Interior, this ch.). The MINFAR reserved the right to assign EJT inductees to
work for other government agencies. Those completing General Military Service
who were assigned to the EJT usually had no education beyond the sixth grade
or were considered social misfits. The primary missions of the EJT included
contributing to the country's economic development, providing for the
political indoctrination and education of its personnel, and assisting with
territorial defense. After 1977 a system of military ranks separate from that
of the regular armed forces was established for the EJT.
The Reserves
MINFAR reserve troops-of whom at least 125,000 could be rapidly
mobilized-were divided between first and second reserves. The two reserves
were distinguished by the political reliability of their members and their
level of readiness. Those belonging to the first reserve had completed their
General Military Service. They were divided among those who reportedly could
be mobilized within four hours' notice and those who could be mobilized in two
to four days; younger reserve members were usually mobilized before those
closer to the upper age limit for military service. Those reservists also
played a crucial combat role in supporting the regular MINFAR troops in
Africa. The second reserve consisted mainly of politically unreliable
individuals and even criminals. They also had received less training than
first reserve members.
All members of the reserves spent a minimum of 45 days each year on
active duty with the regular MINFAR troop units to which they were assigned.
The MINFAR also had the right to demand more time of the reservists, if
required. Those fulfilling their 45 days of service while serving with
full-time regular troops received pay equal to their regular civilian
salaries. Those fulfilling their reserve service requirement during the
evenings and on weekends did not receive remuneration. Reservists were
guaranteed reemployment upon completion of their full-time service
requirement.
Most youth became members of the reserve forces after completing their
military service requirement. The proportion of reserve troops serving
alongside regular forces varied, based on three distinct levels of manning,
from units with almost no reserve personnel to those manned almost entirely by
reserve forces (see The Revolutionary Army, this ch.). Reserve ranks were
distinguished from regular military ranks only by the addition of the word
"reserve." In 1979 the highest-ranking reserve officer was believed to be a
colonel.
Women in the Revolutionary Armed Forces
Women's Voluntary Military Service was established as a result of efforts
by the mass organization representing women, the Federation of Cuban Women
(Federacion de Mujeres Cubanas-FMC), in mid-1983. Women who volunteered for
service were generally between ages 18 and 21 and were active in the FMC or
the UJC, or both organizations in some instances. Applications for enlistment
in Women's Voluntary Military Service were coordinated by