Military Service Is Shunned in Spain : Europe: Under Francisco Franco, any mention of conscientious objection might have landed a young man in jail. Now the dodge is so common that some Spaniards feel it could destroy the army.

Just 20 years ago, when Francisco Franco ruled and the military was all-powerful, it was unthinkable for a young Spaniard to dodge compulsory military service. Now, thousands do it every year.

Of the 200,000 youths in the eligible pool, 45,000 have declared themselves conscientious objectors so far in 1994, an increase of 75% over last year, the Defense Ministry reported.

Draftees make up 50% of Spain’s 217,000 military personnel, and nearly three-quarters of the 145,000 in the army.

Until Franco died in 1975, the mere mention of conscientious objection might have landed a young man in jail. Now, avoiding military service is so common that some Spaniards feel it could destroy the army.

Continued growth of the practice “will certainly lead to a collapse in the forces,” said Francisco Castanon of the Soldiers Defense Office, a private agency that looks after the legal rights of draftees. He said many barracks are virtually empty and some officers have no troops to command.

Although they cite ideological reasons, most young Spaniards appear to have more personal motives for avoiding the required nine months of military service.

“More and more young people are simply starting to realize what a waste the ‘mili’ is and the problems it causes in your professional and family life,” said Jose Moya Sanchez, 23, of the Movement of Conscientious Objectors.

Many employers will not hire men subject to the draft, and objectors often must wait years to discharge their 13 months of alternative public service because there are too many for the number of positions.

About 5,000 so-called “insubordinates” have rejected both the military and alternative service; as a result, they are legally viewed as deserters. A few have been tried and convicted, but their imprisonment has aroused public opposition.

Anti-draft movements are strong in several other European countries, particularly Germany, but none has experienced such a rapid growth in refusal to serve.

It has forced Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez to face a question his government has been accused of dodging since it came to power in 1982: What type of military is appropriate for democratic Spain?

Much of the reluctance to tamper with the military dates from 1981, a year before the Socialists, when elements of the paramilitary Civil Guard and army seized Parliament in an attempted coup.

“The government has always been afraid of meddling with the army--first, because of the dictatorship and the 1981 coup, but also because it’s nervous about having a truly professional and efficient army,” said Amadeo Martinez Ingles, a retired colonel.

Martinez Ingles was forced to retire in 1989 after publishing “Defenseless Spain,” in which he advocates scrapping the draft for a small, better-trained professional force.

In the book, which helped create the objectors’ movement, Martinez Ingles contends the army is so poorly equipped and overloaded with non-professionals that it could not repel even a minimal attack.

Along with many other Spaniards, however, Martinez Ingles believes the government might encounter strong resistance to a smaller army from high-ranking officers who fear losing power, influence, even their jobs.

Lately, the government seems to have taken a page or two from the colonel’s book. It has reduced compulsory service from 13 months to nine and improved the living conditions of draftees to the point of giving them weekends off.

The latest government attempt to reform the military is a reorganization plan devised by army officers and the Defense Ministry.

It would retain a force of half draftees and half professionals, but reduce the army from 145,000 men to 90,000 over six years. The plan would change the army’s orientation to national defense from its historic role of keeping the populace under control.

Analysts welcome the idea of ending the traditional concentration of military installations around major cities and the reduction in personnel, but believe even more reform is necessary. Many say the goal should be an efficient force that serves Europe as well as Spain.

According to Moya Sanchez of the objectors’ movement, most young Spaniards look upon compulsory service as senseless training for confronting an imaginary enemy.

“People are not objecting to the military service because it’s hard, but because it’s meaningless,” he said. “You don’t even learn how to shoot a gun properly.”