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Personnel Recruitment Center

Personnel Recruitment Center has in its structure 12 extended mobilization Recruitment Center in 12 districts of Albania (Kukes, Shkodra, Lezha, Debar, Durres, Tirana, Elbasan, Fier, Berat, Korce, Vlore, Gjirokaster).

The consolidation of the general system for management of human resources and care of personnel remains a priority duty for each organization of the Armed Forces. This system is essential for the attraction, preparation and continuous qualification of personnel in accordance with NATO standards. The application of plans for the long-term education and training of officers and NCOs provides progressive professional development for the personnel of the Armed Forces. A primary role is the development of career NCOs and manning the TOEs with professional soldiers.

Recruiting of personnel for the Armed Forces and mobilization of the reserve forces is performed throughout the Republic of Albania territory by the organizations assigned for this task. This system will ensure partial mobilization in case of tension or crisis and full mobilization in wartime. Establishment of that system will be based on mid and long term plans to achieve an appropriate readiness level. Local Government structures are also involved in management of this system.

Prior to 1991, traditionally most armed forces conscripts served for two years. Conscripts in the air and air defense and naval forces as well as noncommissioned officers and technical specialists in certain units served three years. In 1991, however, the freely elected, communist-controlled coalition government reduced the basic two-year term of service to eighteen months. This shorter term of service for conscripts and the small size of the People's Army would force Albania to rely on large-scale mobilization to mount a credible defense of the country. Given the small population and economy of Albania, full mobilization would seriously disrupt the civilian production and logistics necessary to sustain military operations.

The military reserve training needed to support mobilization plans also imposed a burden on the country's economic activity. The population was relatively young, with fully 60 percent under the age of thirty. There were just under 500,000 males between the ages of fifteen and fifty. Of this total number, approximately 75 percent, or nearly 375,000, were physically suited to carry out military duties. More than half of them had had prior military service and participated in reserve military activities on an annual basis. Women were also trained in the reserves and available for mobilization, although in unknown numbers.

In the late 1980s, even communist-controlled Albanian sources referred to serious problems with the attitudes of young people who were conscripted into the People's Army. They described social malaise, a growth in religious belief, increasing crime, and unwillingness to accept assignments to remote areas of the country. Moreover, the system of social discipline that enforced obligatory military service under communist rule had completely disappeared by January 1992. Poor food, changing living and working conditions, and low pay led to increasing dereliction of duty, absence without leave, and desertion. More than 500 soldiers were among the thousands of Albanians who fled to Italy and Greece in 1991. The reduction in conscript service to eighteen months in 1991 exacerbated the serious and growing problem of unemployment among the male draft-age population. In early 1992, the problems of manning the People's Army continued to mount.