Newsroom Speech of Defence Minister Kodheli in the Parliament on the bill for military career in the Armed Forces
The current legal framework derived from the Law no. 9171, is outrun. Many of you in this hall have voted this law 11 years ago and I just wanted to remind you that the merit of this law was the radical change in the ranks structure. Now, the hierarchical pyramid is back to normality, and it is based on a very clear system of career advancement. Thus, the current law mission has been the establishment of the career system based on professional criteria and correction of ranks structure. But currently, the issue of the day is not the creation of the system, rather its management. One of the most sensitive problems is the “severity” of the current law, in the sense of the constraint to draw in reserve a very high number of militaries, because of the period limits they allowed to stand in one rank and years of active duty. So, according to current law, militaries are subject to only one rule, advancement in rank, or release from active duty in the Armed Forces.
On the other hand, the number of the militaries, that pursuant to the current law are in reserve/release and are paid with early retirement payment based on the years of service and transitional payment, has significantly increased. On average, the militaries with the rank of captain have passed in reserve at the age of 40 years old, the rank of major at the age of 45, the rank of lieutenant colonel at age 50 and the rank of colonel at age of 53.
The new bill on military career bring these innovations:
Firstly, the increase of service period of the military personnel in the Armed Forces;
The bill significantly increases the service period of the commissioned officers in the Armed Forces. From a system based on the years of service in a rank, it passes at age system. Setting this standard applied by most NATO armies, will ensure significant reduction of costs for the Armed Forces personnel. The increase of service period significantly reduces the annual needs for new recruitment by the Armed Forces, along with the positive financial effects.
According to the applicable law, the military that goes in reserve or release are subject to financial treatment by the state budget and this has lead to a significant growth of the “army in reserve or release”, which is paid from the state budget. Currently, the size of this “army in reserve/release” is round about 17,500 people, which is a heavy burden for the state budget, a burden that tends to increase steadily, if the current law continues to be applicable and produces the above mentioned effects. Only in 2013, each month, 1,150 militaries were treated with transitional payment, which means that each year, on average, 500-600 militaries go in reserve/release and benefit financial treatment.
Secondly, clear separation of military service in two categories, temporary service and career service;
The introduction of the concept of temporary and career service contract in the Armed Forces is another innovation of the bill. The aim of this intervention is to establish a standard widely applied in NATO, which will bring another positive impulse in terms of competition between militaries, in order to be involved in the career service.
Thirdly, the creation of the specialties category ranks in the Armed Forces;
Another negative effect produced by the current law is the constant loss of professional expertise, which has derived from the legal obligation to put in reserve/release military experts, who cannot advance in rank due to the hierarchical linear system, where the personnel number for each rank significantly lowers in proportion to the increase of rank level. This has led to the situation that military with high professional capacities and experts of various fields are put in reserve/release, not because of professional deficits, but due to legal inability to continue active duty in the Armed Forces, despite the great need for them.
The social, psychological and moral effect, produced by the passage in reserve/release of many militaries, is equally significant. This has led to negative effects on the future image of the military profession, negative effects on the families of the military, and for society. Currently, the corps of commissioned officers and NCOs are the only professional corps in Albania, where profession is terminated too early due to legal reasons and opportunities to exercise this profession outside the Armed Forces do not exist. This constitutes, without doubts, an indicator that is significantly below the standards that NATO applies today.
Fourthly, the creation of a new category of special ranks marks another innovation of the bill;
It provides an opportunity to better promote professional values, than so far, to encourage specialists engagement in the Armed Forces. Unlike the current law, the bill provides the opportunity to grant special ranks to doctors or instrumentalists due to the qualification in the relevant field, as well as professional experience, without necessarily demanding general military qualifications. Unlike current law, the new bill also ensures the inclusion in career commissions of the NCOs and specialists in relevant fields to assess the military of special services. This will avoid the current situations, where the promotion of specialists, such as doctors or musicians, is determined by commissions that have no professional competence in the field.
The inclusion of two other ranks for soldiers provides an opportunity for better and longer career for the soldiers, being classified in four levels, responding better to the Armed Forces requirements, which is already a professional force, as well as to western standards in this field.
Fifthly, the inclusion of the cadets in the career system and military rank;
The bill for the first time regulates issues relating to progress in rank and career of the cadets, thus ensuring the establishment of a natural standard for a NATO army, as well as avoiding the problematic situation in this field.
Sixthly, the establishment of mechanisms for punishing professional apathy;
The bill also responds to the extension of active duty with increased standards in terms of demand for higher performance. The intention is to avoid the risk that certain military might consider legal guarantee to stay longer in active duty, as a guarantee “to vegetate”. For this reason, the bill foresees the possibility of severe sanctions against the military that has poor performance, physical fitness and health, according to established standards. Thus, in extreme cases, when certain military for three consecutive years is assessed by the relevant authority as unfit to serve in the Armed Forces due to the lack of performance, the bill provides the possibility of interruption of career advancement and their dismissal in the reserve/release.
The implementation of this bill brings no significant impact to the personnel management. This bill does not prevent progress in rank and career of the military that meet the criteria, in accordance with the organic needs of the Armed Forces. The increase of active duty in the Armed Forces for commissioned officers and NCOs will make maximum use of the intellectual capacities of the personnel, for the creation of which the state spends relatively more, through education and training courses at home and abroad.
In conclusion, I ask all of you, dear colleagues MPs, to vote this bill. I remain open to answer to any questions and requests for clarification from your side.
Thank you.
