The number of professional military service soldiers is planned to increase from 10.9 to 14.5 thousand troops over the next decade. The number of National Defence Volunteer Force and other active reserve soldiers are expected to rise from 5.4 to 6.3 thousand. Also, increasingly more soldiers of the trained reserve are planned to be called in to refresh skills in various exercises and training events every year – the number is expected to grow annually to reach 3.9 thousand in 2028 from 1.4 thousand in 2019.
The number of Mandatory Initial Military Service draftees in a year is planned to increase from 3.8 to 3.9 thousand. The numbers of cadets and students of the Junior Officer Command Training Course at the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy remain the same – 320 and 610 respectively.
The quantity of personnel needed in the National Defence System has been established with regard to NATO recommendations and resource-based calculations to make sure no more than 50% of the appropriations for defence is used for maintaining personnel.
