National Service

Tanzania raises and maintains a volunteer reserve in the form of the Peoples Militia and the National Service. These reserve forces are integral components of TPDF because they provide support across crisis and capability warning times, in addition to complimentary or supplementary skills as individuals, small groups, and units to sustain the defense and security of Tanzania.

The National Service was established in 1964 by the National Service Act to bring together the youths of Tanzania for the following purpose:

• Work together in order to build the sense of nationalism.
• Develop cultural and sociological awareness.
• Provide skills, build economic independency, and reduce unemployment.
• Train and develop the youth for national service and assist the government during natural disasters and calamities.
• Build and develop the national economy.
• Provide military training for national defense.

At first national service was meant for individuals leaving primary schools. They were taught skills that would be useful to them on returning home. Such individuals could volunteer for two years, at the end of which some remained in the establishment, joined the army, and were employed in the public and private sectors, while the majority went back to their places of domicile with the skills taught while in the NS.

In 1966, the National Service Act was amended to include graduates from high schools and higher learning institutions on a compulsory basis while remaining voluntary for people leaving primary and secondary schools. The National Service aimed to make graduates from high schools and higher education institutions repay the nation for providing them with education. It was designed to take educated young men and women from various walks of life and unite them to build a sense of national unity. Another amendment in 1975 put the National Service, which had been operating under the Ministry of Defense, directly under the control of the TPDF.

The National Service draws its youth from all of the regions of the United Republic of Tanzania without discrimination based on gender, religion, or ethnicity. Its aim is to reflect the entire composition of the society of Tanzania. Zanzibar has its own version of National Service known as Jeshi la Kujenga Uchumi designed to meet the requirements of the islands.

The National Service breaks down into three distinct groups. The TPDF officers and men serve as administrators, trainers, and instructors. Civilian experts assist in the training of technical skills and economic activities. Then there is the voluntary force which consists of the youth who join the National Service to obtain military training and skills. After the completion of this training, some individuals are absorbed into the workforce while the majority return to their villages and use the skills imparted to them to make a living. These, people in turn, join the Peoples Militia force in their respective areas.

The National Service also pursues a wide range of commercial, industrial and other production activities, which are calculated to facilitate the proper and efficient fulfillment of its mercantile roles and functions. The aim is to conduct these enterprises and activities in a sustainable and profitable way in order to make a significant contribution to the national income.

Training of the National Service youth is the responsibility of the TPDF. Apart from military and vocational training, National Service youth are taught civic education, an important element in cultivating nationalism. At its peak in the mid-1970s the National Service produced about 10,000 recruits annually. From its inception, this large number of paramilitary trained people constituted a considerable reserve army.