Military service constitutes one of the main ways that allows Cuban
citizens of both sexes to fulfill the honorable duty of serving their homeland
with weapons.
The size of the Cuban population and the country's economic
resources, united with the real possibility of having to face military
aggression from the only world superpower, have necessitated that solutions be
sought that put all existing potential at the service of national defense.
Military service is one of the fundamental ways to achieve that important
task.
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| ACTIVE MILITARY SERVICE |
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Welcome to this section, which will inform you about Active
Military Service in the Republic of Cuba. Select
your topic of interest.
| VISION AND MISSION |
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Active Military Service consists of the direct fulfillment of military
obligations by citizens in units or dependencies of the Revolutionary Armed
Forces or the Ministry of the Interior.
All male citizens must fulfill Active Military Service for a period
of two years. The Ministry of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces may determine that this term be commuted arranging
for alternative forms of service to be carried out, as long as the corresponding
military training is guaranteed.
Citizens who are the only wage-earners in their families receive a
social assistance allowance while they are on active military service.
| WHY DOES CUBA NEED IT? |
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The military might of the only potential enemy on the one hand and the
relatively small size of the population and of the Cuban economy on the other
dictate that national defense cannot be something that falls exclusively to one
group of people, but a task of the whole people. This is why one of the principal missions of Active Military
Service is to prepare citizens to fulfill their duties for the country's defense,
once that stage has been completed, from the ranks of the
Reserve Military Service
the Territorial
Troops Militia, the Production and
Defense Brigades or any other
responsibility that is entrusted to them.
Another main mission of Active Military Service is to provide
trained men and women in perfect physical conditions, capable of fulfilling, as
regular troops of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the mission of being the
protective-shield of the country's mobilizing deployment and vanguard of the
great army of the people.
Cuba does not have only professional soldiers because defense is a
task of everybody and each Cuban must achieve the required military preparation;
but, besides, the country does not have the huge financial resources required by
armed forces that recruit their soldiers through economic incentives.
| CONSCRIPTION AND DISCHARGE |
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The experience of the recruitment commissions, in charge of deciding the
destination of each youth called to the ranks, has been very interesting. In
addition to Revolutionary Armed Forces representatives, the Commissions are made
up of representatives of the government and the political and mass organizations
in the locality. Close relatives
are also invited to the interview with the future soldier.
The activities to bid farewell to those setting off to fulfill their
military duty and the welcome ceremonies in honor of the discharged soldiers are
another important way for the community to recognize this important service.
Citizens of both sexes who wish to do so and specifically express
such a desire may voluntarily join Active Military Service when they fulfill the
established requirements. Taking
advantage of that possibility, thousands of young women have joined the Women's
Voluntary Military Service in the last few years.
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