Reserve Service and Recall
A man who finished compulsory service before 2003 received a booklet reminding him that he was "reserve", and the phrase "recall of birth years" meant that men in their thirties would return to the camps. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat, in al-Yarmouk, Baghdad, explains how the Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 organised this duty.
The position today
Section 3 of CPA Order No. 2 of 2003 released conscripts from their military service and its obligations and suspended compulsory service indefinitely. The reserve under the 1969 law is a branch of compulsory service, resting on those who completed it or missed it, so it stands or falls with it. No text has since been published reviving reserve recall.
Who is a reservist
Article 1(3) defines reserve service as the duties of every Iraqi who completed compulsory service or missed it, except college students studying at the expense of the security bodies. Article 12 sets the sources of the reserve: reserve officers from retired and resigned officers and reserve officer college graduates; warrant officers and NCOs from conscripts who completed service and discharged volunteers; and soldiers from conscripts who completed service and discharged volunteers.
When reserve duty ends
Article 14 ends reserve service at forty-five for warrant officers and NCOs and at forty for soldiers, while allowing the Council of Ministers in war and emergency to call those whose duty has ended and who are not over fifty. Article 13 sets a table of ages for reserve officers by rank, and also ends their duty if they are found unfit.
Five grounds for recall
Article 15 recalls reservists in five situations: annual training of no more than six weeks; qualifying courses at army schools; filling a shortfall in active forces for up to one year, renewable for two more; general or partial mobilisation to test arrangements; and war or emergency. The decision-maker differs: the Minister of Defence for the first three, the Council of Ministers with a Defence Minister order for mobilisation, and the Council of Ministers with a republican decree for war and emergency.
Who is excepted or deferred
Article 16 excepts from the reserve those covered by article 6, employees and workers whom the Minister of Defence agrees to except where their recall would technically disrupt work, and serving members of the police, security, nationality directorate and border guard. Article 17 applies the exemption and deferment grounds of articles 7 and 8 to the reserve, with a power for the Minister of Defence not to defer students in war and emergency.
Job and salary during recall
Article 18 does not allow a recalled employee or worker to remain at work after the recall order. Article 20 makes his employer pay his salary during training or mobilisation tests for up to six weeks, after which the Ministry of Defence pays the salary of his peers in rank. Article 24 keeps his job for him. See rights of the conscript during service.
Discharge from the reserve
Article 21 discharges the reservist at the end of training or the course, or by decision of the Minister of Defence, or by Council of Ministers decision and republican decree, depending on the ground of recall, or when he develops an illness or disability preventing him from continuing.
Reservists' obligations
Article 22 requires a reservist to tell his recruitment office his address and workplace at the end of each recall and within thirty days of any change. Article 23 subjects him to military laws from the date of his call. Article 50 punishes anyone who does not visit his recruitment office within sixty days of the end of his recall.
Not answering a recall
Article 48 punishes failure to report for reserve service with imprisonment, graded by the ground of recall: lightest for training and courses, heavier for shortfalls and mobilisation, heaviest for war and emergency. The general picture is in absence from service.
Legal basis and sources
- Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 (Official Gazette No. 1728 of 13/5/1969) — Articles 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 48 and 50
- Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 2 of 2003, Dissolution of Entities (Official Gazette No. 3977 of 17/6/2003)
Frequently asked questions
Until what age does a soldier remain in the reserve?
Reserve duty ends at forty for soldiers and forty-five for warrant officers and NCOs, under article 14.
How long does annual reserve training last?
No more than six weeks under article 15.
Are reservists recalled today?
No text reviving recall has been published since CPA Order No. 2 of 2003.
Related topics and articles
- 01Rights of the Conscript during Service: Salary and LeaveWhat the Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 preserves for the conscript: the job, promotion and the higher salary for employees, travel at state expense, treatment, priority in hiring, and soldiers' leave under Law No. 3 of 2010.
- 02Absence from Service: Legal Description and EffectsThe difference between failing to report under the Military Service Law and absence or desertion under the Military Penal Code No. 19 of 2007: periods, penalties, surrender, and the volunteer who leaves his unit.
- 03The Military Service Law: Who Is CoveredWho the Iraqi Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 addresses: males up to forty-five, the invitee and the conscript, the age of liability, civil register ages, naturalised Iraqis, and the effect of the 2003 suspension.
- 04Study Deferment from Military ServiceHow the Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969 regulated student deferment: article 8, failing two years, postgraduate study up to thirty, studying abroad, the service booklet, and the annual review of deferred persons.
- 05Exemption from Military Service under the Statutory GroundsThe difference between exception, exemption and deferment in the Military Service Law No. 65 of 1969: articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and 63, medical unfitness, the youngest son, the supporter, and the exemption document.