Spain's military reserve: 4,000 troops, but 40,000 are needed
Spain's volunteer reserve has only 4,000 members, far short of the 40,000 a real mobilization would require. An analysis of its nature and limits.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spain's military reserve: 4,000 troops, but 40,000 are needed
Spain boasts modern armed forces, but its volunteer reserve is a toy: 4,000 members compared with the 40,000 it would need to match the proportion of the US National Guard, which makes up a third of the regular army. This is no anecdote; it is proof that the RESVOL (Spain's volunteer reserve corps) is a body of specialists, not a reserve.
A reserve without troops
The RESVOL works like the old complement officers: engineers and medical officers and NCOs, with no enlisted positions or general corps. A real reserve has to replicate the structure of the regular army, with a base of privates and one or two months of basic training. Without that, there is no mobilization capacity.
The age-29 barrier
The age limit makes the absurdity complete: at 29 you are already too old for the reserve, while the US accepts recruits up to 40. The rule, designed for a younger Spain twenty years ago, excludes precisely the profile that would provide volume: unemployed and unskilled workers with a military vocation, often in better shape than many regular soldiers, whose average age is around 40. Some argue that enlisted troops are the foundation of any army; others see them as cheap labor for the officer corps. But without that mass, the reserve cannot do what it claims to do. When the moment comes, there will be 4,000 engineers with impressive résumés. And the rest? Nobody seems to have asked.
Spain boasts modern armed forces, but its volunteer reserve is a toy: 4,000 members compared with the 40,000 it would need to match the proportion of the US National Guard, which makes up a third of the regular army. This is no anecdote; it is proof that the RESVOL (Spain's volunteer reserve corps) is a body of specialists, not a reserve.
A reserve without troops
The RESVOL works like the old complement officers: engineers and medical officers and NCOs, with no enlisted positions or general corps. A real reserve has to replicate the structure of the regular army, with a base of privates and one or two months of basic training. Without that, there is no mobilization capacity.
The age-29 barrier
The age limit makes the absurdity complete: at 29 you are already too old for the reserve, while the US accepts recruits up to 40. The rule, designed for a younger Spain twenty years ago, excludes precisely the profile that would provide volume: unemployed and unskilled workers with a military vocation, often in better shape than many regular soldiers, whose average age is around 40. Some argue that enlisted troops are the foundation of any army; others see them as cheap labor for the officer corps. But without that mass, the reserve cannot do what it claims to do. When the moment comes, there will be 4,000 engineers with impressive résumés. And the rest? Nobody seems to have asked.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (53 replies).
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