In 1995 conscription was for eighteen months, with alternative service available. In 1994 reserve forces numbered approximately 289,500 members with military service in the previous five years.

In the early 1990s, an issue in the training of troops was the teaching and use of the Belarusian language. There was resistance in the Ministry of Defense and in the armed forces themselves to the idea of using the Belarusian language; officials claimed that the Belarusian armed forces were being "politicized." But little progress had been made in 1994 toward the use of Belarusian in the military, as called for by the draft law entitled About the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, which stipulated the use of both the Belarusian and Russian languages, with a gradual transition to Belarusian.

Data as of June 1995

NOTE: The information regarding Belarus on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Belarus Manpower, Education, and Training information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Belarus Manpower, Education, and Training should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.