Active duty, in contrast to
reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a
military force. In the
United Kingdom and the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...
, the equivalent term is active service.
India
The
Indian Armed Forces are considered to be one of the
largest active service forces in the world, with almost 1.42 million Active Standing Army. An additional 2.20 million reserve forces can be activated in a few weeks depending on the situation under the order of the
President of India who is the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces of
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. This does not include the additional 1 million troops of the
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
who too are an active force whose full-time responsibility is to guard the sovereignty of the nation from internal and external threats.
Israel
In the
Israel Defense Forces, there are two types of active duty: regular service ( he, שרות סדיר}, Sherut Sadir), and active
reserve duty ( he, שרות מילואים פעיל, Sherut Milu'im Pa'il, abbr. ''Shamap''). Regular service refers to either mandatory service ( he, שרות חובה, Sherut Hova), according to the laws of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, or
standing army service ( he, שרות קבע, Sherut Keva), which consists of paid