A volunteer military system or all volunteer military system (AVMS) is a military service system that maintains the military only with applicants without compulsory conscription. A country may offer attractive pay and benefits through
military recruitment to attract potential recruits. Many countries with volunteer militaries reserve the right to renew conscription in the event of an emergency.
The
Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army.
In recent decades, the trend among numerous countries has been to move from conscription to all-volunteer military forces. One significant example is in
France, which has historically been
the first to introduce modern conscription and whose model was followed by many other countries in Europe and elsewhere around the world.
Volunteer military
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See also
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Conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
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Mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
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Military service
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Military volunteer
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United States Volunteers
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Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Volunteer Military
Types of military forces