serve the country. I think Swiss Army could be even more than that : a way to encourage social mobility (« ascenseur social », as we name it in French). It’s kind of working in the USA (OK, the probability to come back from military duty is ways lower!) and we should inspire from it. Everybody going to the Army has the same grade, no matter what his social standing is, and that can open perspectives! The future of Swiss Army lies in a mix between a professional force and a militia army. I’ve been thinking a lot on how to modernize Swiss Army during my different stays at Swiss Army (well, I needed to keep my mind busy!). I think that there a compromise to be found between the 2 extrems (for or against Army). Here is what I would propose, as a humble Swiss citizen who cares about his country :

• Every young man has to serve his country for 28-32 weeks (either at Swiss Army or civilian duty). Engaging young women into such a duty could also be an option, but it’s another story;
• After this service, young men would have the choice to leave definitely Swiss Army (without any tax or anything else to do) or engage themselves as a professional soldier;
• For those engaging themselves, they would sign a job agreement for 6 months, 12, 24 or 36 months… or even longer. And that can be renewed;
• As everything in life, there’s a need for a reward to motivate (the best) people. It could be grant for the ones who want to pursue their education (at University, high school, etc.) or the ones who want to start a business. For instance, if you accept (and are accepted) to become an officer and you engage for 2 years, you’d receive a higher grant (than the ones engaging for 6 months);

With such a system, I’m convinced that we could have a Swiss Army with something like 10-15’000 well-trained, efficient professional soldiers.  In addition to this permanent force, we would have on average 20’000 new soldiers (each year, there are currently around 40’000 new soldiers, doing their traditional military service). Compared to the fact there is currently on average 5’-7’000 soldiers permanently, there would be enough people to fill the missions (whatever they are! It would be a topic for another post). I think such a solution would also be more economical, for the simple reason that a young man costs less in term of APG/EOG (who are paid the minimal, something like CHF 1’500.-/month – in comparison to someone aged 30 who can easily earn CHF 5’000.-/month, for whom the APG cost reaches CHF 4’000.-)). It would be interesting to evaluate this idea and make some simulations… I’d welcome any feedback on this topic and, promised, startupolic will go back to more startups-related content soon again 😉 ! Don’t hesitate to share this post and… if politicians are reading this post… please ACT !]]>