Military service "from home" in Switzerland

In an effort to reduce the risk of an outbreak of the new Corona virus (Covid-19) in the barracks, the Swiss army decided to change the form of military recruitment this year for thousands of new recruits to become "military service from home."

"This is the best solution that has imposed itself in the time of the pandemic," said Swiss army spokesman Daniel Rest, in response to a question.

This year, about 15,000 young Swiss men and women are required to undertake military service.

But the current health crisis has raised fears in the army about the inability to take care of the injured in the event of an outbreak of the new Corona virus among the new recruits.

From here, the attendance of recruits in attendance to the military school will take place in stages to ensure that every recruit with a laboratory test of COVID-19 receives the best attention and that appropriate isolation and quarantine measures will be applied with him, according to the Federal Ministry of Defense in a statement.

A first batch will actually enter the barracks from Monday, including "health recruits," whose recruitment is of an emergency character, to support the teams recruited mainly by the civilian staff in Swiss hospitals.

'Military service from a distance'

But five thousand of the 15,000 new recruits this year will not enter the barracks on Monday, but will begin a three-week training from their home.

They will perform what looks like a "remote military service," as the Swiss newspaper "Le Tan" called it.

"These new recruits all received this week a model-based educational program that they must follow at home, in a theoretical framework in front of the screen," said Rist.

Before actually wearing the military uniform, they should learn many questions, including how to use a service weapon, and learn about information on biological and chemical weapons, as well as military bases and health protection.

"We leave them the choice of when to follow lessons. We start from the principle that a person who pursues his studies seriously needs six hours of distance learning per day," says Rist.

This extraordinary military service also includes four hours of athletic training per week through a special application.

These three weeks will be counted as "days of active service," and thus the conscripts who follow them will receive financial income within the amounts allocated to each recruiter during the period of military recruitment.

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