The Syrian regime’s Ministry of Defense announced two new volunteer contracts in the army.

On Wednesday, September 11, the Ministry of Defense posted on its Facebook account the conditions and types of the volunteer contracts (one five-year contract and another ten-year contract).

Applicants for both contracts must be 32 years old and may renew the contract once, based on the volunteer’s desire and the approval of the General Command.

Volunteers are exempt from mandatory service if they complete five years and from reserve service if they complete ten years.

Those who have evaded mandatory military service are allowed to apply for these contracts. Also, those currently performing mandatory military service or reserve service may volunteer if they are under 32 years old.

Volunteers receive a monthly salary according to their rank, plus 100% bonuses from the basic salary as field compensation, housing allowance, and military burden compensation. The combat mission allowance is 100,000 Syrian pounds, and the transportation allowance is 150,000 (1 USD equals 14,800 Syrian pounds).

The volunteer’s salary, with bonuses, ranges from 1.8 to 2 million Syrian pounds, and they receive a start service bonus and an annual bonus.

The start service bonus is four monthly salaries, paid to the volunteer after one year of the five-year volunteer contract, and eight monthly salaries, paid after one year of the ten-year volunteer contract.

The annual bonus is two monthly salaries, paid at the end of each year of the five-year volunteer contract, and four monthly salaries, paid at the end of each year of the ten-year volunteer contract.

Compensation for losses and element withdrawal

The regime’s Ministry of Defense previously announced volunteer contracts, but this time attached these contracts with several incentives for those interested in volunteering. This announcement is similar to the previous one issued on November 21, 2023.

The regime continually tries to bolster its military institution with volunteers to compensate for the human losses suffered by its army over 13 years, whether due to death or defection.

Mandatory military service remains a cornerstone defined by law, and the regime has often found ways to extend the period of mandatory service through methods such as military retention and reserve service. Demobilization has become nearly impossible since the beginning of the Syrian revolution.

In a previous interview with Enab Baladi, Mohsen al-Mustafa, a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, said the Syrian regime needs human resources as part of its routine, like any institution that wants to prove its existence in light of the scarcity of human resources in Syria. This necessity is not necessarily related to any military operations.

Al-Mustafa suggested that the regime aims to withdraw elements currently in militias and integrate them into the official military institution through these contracts.