Military Service in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(in Spanish, Servicio Militar Nacional, or SMN) currently involves all males reaching the age of eighteen years. Selection is made by a lottery system using the following color scheme: those who draw a black ball must serve as "availability reservists", that is, they are not required to perform any activities whatsoever and will receive their discharge card at the end of the year. Those who draw a white ball must serve “framed” which means, they must start service immediately from 8am-1pm for one entire year until they receive the discharge card. Conscripts who live in Mexico will go to their closest mayor’s office or municipal board to complete the service. Those who live abroad perform the service abroad at a consulate, skip the ball lottery, and complete the service as “availability reservists”. The ones who get a white ball serve in a Batallón del Servicio Militar Nacional (National Military Service Battalion) composed entirely of one-year SMN conscripts. In certain cities, such as

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

and

Ciudad Madero Ciudad Madero is a coastal city, located in southeast Tamaulipas in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the seventh most populous city in the state, with a census-estimated 2015 population of 209,175 within an area of 18.0 square miles (46.6 km2) the c ...

, the lottery system also includes a blue ball; whoever draws it must serve in the Naval Infantry MS Battalions. In 2003,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Vicente Fox Quesada Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the ...

reformed the law to allow for voluntary military service to be performed by females of military age. Volunteers (females) always serve as “framed” and get a certificate of achievement in place of a discharge card. “Framed” conscripts are trained in basic combat with fire weapons, in one

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

either of the Army or Naval Infantry.

History

Their formation was brought about after

German submarine U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

attacks against Mexican oil tankers that were providing fuel and material to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. These attacks eventually caused the Mexican government to declare war on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and the other

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

. Mexico sent an expeditionary force, the

Escuadrón 201 The 201st Fighter Squadron ( es, Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201) is a fighter squadron of the Mexican Air Force, part of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force that aided the Allied war effort during World War II. The squadron was known by the nic ...

, to fight in the Battle of Luzon. In 2014, President Enrique Pena Nieto introduced short three-month service terms for servicemen. “Framed” military service has been criticized because many feel that the activities done are not truly to support the military. As conscription units are owned by cities and municipalities, these cities have used conscripts as free laborers. Activities include exercise, gardening, picking up falling trees, agility drills, weapons instruction, classes about military doctrine, patriotism, civil defense and military laws, saluting the flag, cleaning up parks and street, painting and in some cases martial arts and self-defense training. Some units do not learn marksmanship and/or hand-to-hand combat. In these units where combat is not taught, they are asked to practice small fighting during break/lunch.

History

See also