Switzerland Military 2008

Military branches:
Swiss Armed Forces: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer Luftwaffe); Switzerland has no navy, but maintains a fleet of military patrol boats to patrol Swiss borders (2006)

Military service age and obligation:
19 years of age for male compulsory military service; 17 years of age for voluntary military service; the Swiss Constitution states that "every Swiss male is obliged to do military service"; every Swiss male has to serve for at least 260 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training over the next 10 years; women are accepted on a voluntary basis but are not conscripted (2005)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 19-49: 1,707,694
females age 19-49: 1,662,099 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 19-49: 1,375,889
females age 19-49: 1,342,945 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 46,319
females age 19-49: 43,829 (2005 est.)