Georgia Military Personnel

As in other Soviet republics, opposition to the draft became an early focus of opposition activities. Of all the Soviet republics, Georgia had the lowest rate of recruitment in the fall of 1990, approximately 10 percent of eligible citizens. One of the first acts passed by Gamsakhurdia's parliament ended the Soviet military draft on Georgian territory.

In late 1990, Soviet conscription was replaced with the induction of eligible Georgian males into new "special divisions," under the control of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, for the maintenance of order within the republic. The new body, which became Kitovani's National Guard, was one of the first official non-Soviet military units in what was still the Soviet Union. Attempts to build a new Georgian national army in 1993 and 1994 were hindered by a very high percentage of draft evasion.

Almost from its inception in late 1990, the National Guard became directly involved in Georgian politics. The political rivalry between Ioseliani and Kitovani, the leaders of the Mkhedrioni (horsemen) and the National Guard, respectively, became one of the key conflicts in the Georgian government hierarchy, and many political parties continued to retain private armies in the guise of armed bodyguards or security teams.

Discipline problems in the ranks of both the National Guard and the Mkhedrioni and their ineffectiveness as fighting forces led the Georgian government to plan for a professional army. In April 1992, the State Council adopted a resolution to form a unified armed force of up to 20,000 soldiers. At the time the government annoynced its plans for a professional army, however, neither existing military group had sufficient internal discipline to carry out major restructuring. Efforts to disband the National Guard and Mkhedrioni were delayed by the political ambitions of Kitovani and Ioseliani.

There was a considerable difference between conditions in small versus big military units. Barracks of small military units are better equipped and there is enough space for the soldiers. In smaller units, the food is healthier, and more is available, too. Hygiene and clothing provision, however, tend to be problematic for both types of military units. In smaller military units the relationship within and between ranks is better. In these smaller units, comradeship is easier to establish, therefore deeper conflicts were rare, and this makes it easier for conscripts. On the whole, servicemen in small military units tended to be more satisfied with their service than soldiers in bigger military contingents. Some thought that harsh conditions were an indispensable part of military life. Overcoming hardship was often associated with strength and bravery.

Military service in Georgia was compulsory for male citizens from 18 to 27 years who do not have deferment or exemption from service. The army in Georgia is largely for those who don't have other options. Those who can get into university and can afford it, don't participate. Thousands of young men, after they receive their undergraduate degrees, rather than getting some experience working, continue their education simply to avoid military service.

About 25 percent of all eligible conscripts typically served in the Defence Ministry while the remaining 75 percent served in the Interior Ministry or Corrections Ministry. By 2016 draftees accounted for just 10 percent of the total 37,000 manpower of the armed forces. They performed only logistical and support functions; they are not trained in, and did not engage in, combat. In 2015, Georgia had 6,436 conscripts, 1,599 of them - 24.8% - worked in the Ministry of Defense.

The military service is divided into compulsory, contracted (professional), regular military service and the reserve. The compulsory military service may also be performed in the form of contracted service or contracted (professional) military service. The term of contracted service to serve compulsory military service at the Special State Protection Service of Georgia and the Intelligence Service of Georgia, the term of compulsory military service and of contracted (professional) military service at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia is defined by Article 32(1)(a) of this Law.

Servicemembers shall pass qualification exams to be transferred from contracted (professional) military service to regular military service. The procedure and conditions for passing qualification exams is determined by a normative act of the Minister of Defence of Georgia and the head of the relevant authorised agency.

Conscripts who intend to perform military duty in the form of contracted (professional) military service shall be enlisted in contracted (professional) military service after a corresponding selection and after meeting relevant requirements. If a servicemember, who is performing military duty in the form of contracted (professional) military service, terminates the contract on his/her own initiative, arbitrarily or with fault, he/she shall be subject to compulsory military service for the term established by this Law for compulsory military service, unless otherwise provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

Citizens of drafting age are obliged to appear at the service of the local self-government body respective to their current place of residence and/or place of registration. Medical examination of the citizens to be drafted is implemented by the Military-Medical expert Commission at the points of gathering-distribution. After the examination draftees are diverted to their respective military departments. The law prescribes that, the citizen from 18 to 27, having the right of exemption from or postponement of conscription, are subject to drafting into the compulsory military service.

By the Georgian legislation failure to appear at the Drafting Commission is punished by the Code of Administrative Offences, fine – 1000 GEL. In case of ignoring the summon letter on calling up into the compulsory military service (failure to appear on a designated place at a designated date) the conscript shall be charged criminal responsibility.

As per to the law on “Compulsory military and military service” and Ordinance of the President of Georgia, July 25, 2013, compulsory fall conscription started in Georgia on July 25, 2013. The First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia Mr. Tengiz Shergelashvili got acquainted with the process of Fall compulsory military conscription. As stipulated by the Ordinance of the President, the number of the civilians to be conscripted into the compulsory military service is 7551: 4730 were conscripted into the armed forces of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia; 1480 conscripts into the paramilitary units under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia; 1341 conscripts into the External Security Division of the state sub-agency of External Security and Escort Division of the Penitentiary Department of the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia.

The aim of switching to a wholly professional army by 2017 was announced in August 2014 by then-Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, who said that the 2014 fall draft would be reduced accordingly by 2,000 men. In April 2014 the Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee considered with the III reading the draft on Military Obligation and Military Service, reducing the conscription term to 12 months instead of 18.

Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli believes the conscription in Georgia should not be compulsory. The Defence Minister of Georgia, Tinatin Khidasheli, said 03 August 2015 that military service in Georgia should not be compulsory; however, she is not for complete reformation of the system. She believed that in the current situation, the country should have a chance of increasing military forces.

“In general, I am against compulsory conscription and I believe that an army based around contracts is much more efficient, but I am against the abolition of compulsory military service as there must an opportunity of using such a lever and it should be written in legislation in order to avoid any misunderstanding,” she stated.

According to Khidasheli, Georgia's Army is ready for the changes, because contracted military staff vastly outnumber the conscripts, who currently make up only 7-8% of the Georgian Army. She also noted that on 31 July 2015 the government approved a new plan of autumn recruitment, according to which the number of autumn conscripts will be decreased from 10,000 to 2,500. “We are on the right path and by 2016 there will not be any compulsory soldiers,” said the Defence Minister.

On air on Imedi TV on 11 May 2016, the Minister of Defence of Georgia, Tina Khidasheli, stated: “I made a simple decision, abolishing the practice of disciplinary barracks in the Georgian Army. All of the previous ministers, including the ones previously appointed by the Georgian Dream coalition, failed to make this decision before me.”

Disciplinary barracks comprised a detention facility for soldiers arrested during their duty and have existed in Georgia since Soviet times. This form of detention, for various violations provided for by the Administrative Code of Georgia, was used against professional soldiers and conscripts on duty for a maximum of 30 days. The placement of a soldier in the disciplinary barracks was first recorded in the legislature of the independent Georgian state in 1994 in the form of the Disciplinary Code of the Armed Forces issued by the President of Georgia. In 2006, on the orders of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the Disciplinary Code of the Armed Forces was reregulated. The most recent changes to the legislature were made in 2014, under Minister Mindia Janelidze, after which the functioning of the detention facilities in the defense system was regulated once again.

The situations in the disciplinary barracks have upon numerous occasions been criticised by the Public Defender of Georgia. According to the 2006 and 2007 Reports of the Public Defender of Georgia, among other things, conditions unsuitable for living were also observed in the military detention facilities. The internal inspection of the Ministry found that the disciplinary barracks were not an effective means of detention and, therefore, needed to be abolished. In addition to abolishing these facilities, harsh financial sanctions were to be put in place for disciplinary violations previously punishable by administrative incarceration.

Georgian Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli incurred criticism from representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition for announcing without prior warning at a press conference on 27 June 2016 that conscription of young men to serve in the armed forces was suspended as of 2017. The suspension of conscription would apply, Khidasheli explained, to the induction of young men into the armed forces, but not to those who serve their 15 months' compulsory service in the State Protection Service, the State Security Service, the penitentiary system, or other agencies.

Khidasheli said serving within Georgia’s Armed Forces (GAF) was an honor and it needed to be based on a voluntarily basis. "The GAF doesn’t need servants who were forced to join it against their own will,” Khidasheli said. Her decision will remain in place so long as she was Defence Minister, however if any of Georgia’s future Defence Ministers decided to restore compulsory military service, it would be up to them, she said.

“We’ve put a lot of effort to resolve this issue through legislation and to completely abolish compulsory military service. We have failed to achieve this; however, we’ve found another option. In my capacity of the defense minister, I can take this decision unilaterally and right now, in front of you I am signing a decree, which states that the Ministry of Defence of Georgia will no longer recruit conscripts”, Khidasheli, told journalists at a news conference on 27 June 2016.

While the process of phasing out conscription in favor of a professional volunteer army had been under way for several years, both Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili responded with statements deploring the fact that Khidasheli jumped the gun in announcing a measure that, according to Kvirikashvili, should have been discussed beforehand by both the cabinet and the National Security Council.

Prime Minsiter Kvirikashvili criticized the decision of the Ministry of Defense, commenting that such decision must not be made on press-conferences and briefings. "The decisions of the kinds must not be adopted on pressbriefings. Such decisions require inter-agency cooperation for the logistics to be negotiated. We have to stop talking about this misunderstanding, and I suggest Tina to move the discussiong to the working mode" - he said. According to the Prime Minister, linking of the recruitment process with NATO standards was a bit of misinterpretation on the part of Tina Khidasheli.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili expressed that such a decision should not be made by one individual. He explained that: “This does not mean abolition of the compulsory military service. The decision merely means that the MoD will not utilize the quotas it has… I want to agree with the Prime Minister: Whether the decision is right or wrong, whether I agree with it or not, it must not be taken by one individual, it has to be discussed collectively at a government session and at the National Security Council."