Registering for military service in Poland. Is it mandatory?

If you have Polish nationality, they send you a slightly scary letter (citing some 1967 law) some time after you turn 18 saying you have to present yourself for medical examination for the purposes of serving in the Polish armed forces.

There is no obligatory military service in Poland now - but the structures are still there to remind you.

Good to see our taxes being put to such an efficient use.

They are well spent in this case, you simply have no clue about the issue. Please do not comment on things you've got no clue about.

Really? Well perhaps you could explain to us all why it is such a good idea for the taxpayer to remind people about this requirement?

Because otherwise at least half of them wouldn't know about it or wouldn't give a damn.

So? What if they didn't know? There is no longer the obligation to perform peace time military service in Poland. So why waste taxpayer money telling teenagers about it? Can you really not think of anything more useful to spend public money on?

And if you think that teenagers are going to give a damn just because they get a letter about an obligation which no longer exists, you clearly know very little about teenagers.

It very much seems that once again the 'a foreigner dares to say about bad word about Poland! I must defend all things Polish!' reflex is kicking in again and as a result a Pole is making himself look foolish.

Yeah, well - my son knows where his unit is based and he has his service book :) and he has a taste of the bad old days!

How old is he?

Then please kindly check how many did not show up for the medical examination. End of topic really. Now go troll somewhere else. Perhaps busia stuff, we were missing it so much here.

I'd love to. Do feel free to link to such results so we can all check for ourselves.


No, you still haven't explained by it is a good use of taxpayer money to remind people about an obligation which no longer exists. Please do feel free to explain that.

Dear sir, the whole idea behind this topic is that the obligation still exists. Please kindly be informed about that.

There is still obligatory peace-time military service in Poland? Really? You sure about that?

Dear sir, that's not really what the topic was about.

My question to you was "Well perhaps you could explain to us all why it is such a good idea for the taxpayer to remind people about this requirement?" That question still stands. Why spend taxpayer money reminding teenagers about medicals which are to be taken before obligatory peace-time military service when there is no longer the requirement to perform such service? Can you really think of nothing that Poland might want to spend money on before wasting it on that purpose?

From wiki "Poland suspended compulsory military service on 5 December 2008 by the order of the Minister of Defence. Compulsory military service was formally abolished when the Polish parliament amended the conscription law on 9 January 2009; the law came into effect on 11 February 2009".

The CIA has it that "18-28 years of age for male voluntary or compulsory military service; conscription suspended in 2009; reserve obligation to age 50 (2009) " so one possibility is to remind or record the reserve?

Not only before obligatory peace-time military service but also for other purposes, for instance to decide what kind of duties (and if any) they can perform during war time. There's really a lot of info about that. Go google and ask someone to read it for you. Good luck in your research.

Make sense.America did almost the same thing with regard to registering even though service obligations were no longer required. We didn't do the medical assessment though.

Strange how countries which have far more money to spend/waste and who did indeed spend/waste far more than Poland does not defence (the USA and the UK both spring immediately to mind) consider such notification and examinations to be a complete waste of time and money, isn't it?

Still waiting for you to give us a source for the attendance rate at the medicals (which you seemed to suggest supports your stance in some way).

Good luck then as I was saying you should look for it yourself !


Yes it is !!!

go troll somewhere else harry, btw, I personally think that it would be cool to have the mandatory 1.5 or 2 years army service,m they still have it in places like Israel... if that would be still legal, then I would go back to Poland for those two years haha!

Goofy, if you want to spend a year or two working for the good of Poland, there's nothing stopping you from volunteering.

Mehh, I will finish University, then I will decide ;)

About my son (18 btw - someone asked) - they also recorded that he speaks English as a first language.

Merged:

Mandatory Military Service

I would like to know if there still exists requirements for military service, and if they are similar to that which were in place during the Interwar?

No mandatory army service right now. Are you writing another book set in today`s Poland?

Do Polish citizens have to be registered for military service if they are between the ages of 18 - 50 years old ?

I just can't image some of the Polish members here serving their country in the military.
Have they even registered is the question.

@johnny_reb
You get called in to get a military book at the age of 18. It used to be conscription earlier (remnant of PRL) now it is for volunteers. An internet site has been launched to easily and fast inform of interest. Then you get a date to meet up at ones local recruitment center and deliver required information etc

What happens if a ex-pat obtains their citizenship after the age of 18 ?
Are they required to register to be on registry in case they are needed to be called up for military service ?
Are not all male Polish citizens between the ages of 18 to 50 required to be on a national military registry in case of war ?

@johnny_reb
Not as far as I know, I think there is an internet service aveliable for the military about ones criminal record. So it seems they have access to all PESEL holders, but that's only speculation from my side.

So unless you volunteer for służba przygotowawcza, you are not on the list of reserves.