Can a contract soldier terminate military service early?

Dismissal of a military personnel at his own request cannot be considered a common occurrence, and his rights are somewhat different from those of a civilian. He cannot terminate his duties unilaterally by simply notifying the command in advance, but must agree on such a possibility and obtain consent to this.

A citizen may be in military service by conscription (conscript service) or contract. For both options, Law No. 53-FZ of March 28, 1998 (as amended in 2021) establishes the rules for dismissal at will (Article 51). It can only be carried out for compelling reasons. The reasons themselves for conscript and contract employees are slightly different.

In reality, it is extremely difficult to terminate military service early at one’s own request, and the reasons for this must be very serious, preventing one from fulfilling military duties.

If there are objective reasons, contract servicemen can resign at their own request, and this applies to both privates and officers. The conditions and procedure for early termination of a contract with the RF Armed Forces for officers below the rank of colonel (captain 1st rank) are regulated by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 16, 1999 No. 1237.

Military personnel can retire to the reserve, with the possibility of being called up for military training in the future, or retire when they reach the age limit, or for health reasons.

Grounds for terminating a contract in the army

According to the law, there are certain reasons that can become the main argument for early termination of contract service:

1. the terms of the contract are not fulfilled (a significant, systematic violation of the contract, which is proven or can be proven. In this case, you need to know exactly how to correctly terminate a contract in the army at your own request, otherwise, instead of dismissal, you can get into trouble with management);
2. the monetary allowance of military personnel does not provide the opportunity to properly provide oneself and one’s family with everything necessary;
3. for family reasons (caring for relatives, inability to live nearby, caring for a child or performing the duties of a guardian, etc.);
4. for health reasons (you must obtain a certificate from a medical commission confirming the impossibility of continuing to serve);
5. religious views of a serviceman, which began to interfere with serving in proper uniform;
6. the serviceman realized that he could not use all his
7. potential, but a higher position will not be available to him for a long time;
8. the death of one of your loved ones, also a military serviceman, became the reason why service was impossible;
9. transition to the highest elected position, vesting the powers of the highest government official;
10. other reasons for the dismissal of a serviceman at his own request.

Valid reasons and grounds for termination of a contract

Law No. 53-FZ establishes 3 categories of dismissal from the Armed Forces:

1. Circumstances beyond the control of the parties: expiration of the contract, the age limit of the serviceman, health conditions that do not allow him to serve.
2. Command initiative: loss of trust, commission of a criminal act and imprisonment, acquisition of another citizenship, gross violation of contract terms by a serviceman, court verdict banning military positions.
3. Initiative of a serviceman (at his own request).

Valid reasons for voluntary dismissal are listed in Art. 51 of Law No. 53-FZ: in paragraphs. 3 and 6 - for contract soldiers and in paragraph 4 - for conscripts.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation analyzed the results of court proceedings on this issue and summarized them in 2014 with its Resolution No. 8. The following circumstances are recognized as valid grounds for the dismissal of a contract serviceman at his own request:

1. A health condition that does not allow you to fully perform contractual duties. The proof is the conclusion of the military medical commission.
2. Change of place of residence of the family (wife, children) for objective reasons. The reason may be the lack of adequate living conditions for the family at the place of service, the birth of a child and the lack of conditions for his upbringing, marriage, etc.
3. The need to care for close relatives. These include wife, children, parents. To recognize such a reason, a medical examination conclusion is required.
4. Transfer to another position or new duty station with a demotion.
5. Significant and periodic violation of the terms of the contract by the command (read about the procedure and consequences of dismissing a serviceman for non-compliance with the terms of the contract here).
6. Inconsistency of the proposed position with the received military education.

When performing military service, the presence of supervised minor children, obtaining the status of a single father, the presence of 2 or more own children or a child with a disability under the age of 3 years is recognized as valid reasons.

A valid reason for dismissal from military service is considered to be election to elected bodies (local or federal), obtaining citizenship of another state, or employment in government bodies.

How to properly resign from the armed forces?

The procedure for voluntary dismissal includes the following steps:

1. Preparation of the evidence base. The serviceman must prepare documents confirming the compelling reasons for dismissal. Depending on the nature of the grounds, the following documents will be required:
   • medical reports;

   reports of inspection of living conditions;

2. certificates from place of residence, government agencies, guardianship authorities and social services. services;
3. petitions from government agencies, social and public organizations;
4. decision on issuing foreign citizenship, etc.

In case of violations by the command, copies of reports about them submitted at different times will be required.

5. Submitting a report on dismissal. It is drawn up in free form and submitted to the commander of the military unit.
   It indicates the personal data of the serviceman, contract details and clearly states the reasons for dismissal. All necessary documents are attached to the report and listed in it. Separately, the need to solve housing problems should be reflected (possible claims for mandatory security under the contract, vacancy of office space, etc.).
6. Review of the report. After receiving the report, the commander conducts a personal conversation with the serviceman and finds out the possibility of continuing service if conditions change.
   Offers various solutions to the problem. If a serviceman insists on dismissal, then an attestation commission meets. She analyzes the report and submitted documents, reviews the applicant’s personal file, interviews him, and, if necessary, other military personnel. The decision of the commission is documented in a protocol. It makes recommendations but does not make a final decision. The applicant has the right to appeal the commission's recommendations. Only the commander can dismiss a serviceman by his own order.

The dismissal process is completed by the issuance of the commander’s order, the official termination of the contract, the payment of due compensation and the removal of the serviceman from the unit’s list.

What is the payment procedure if a military man leaves the army?

All questions regarding payments to military personnel, incl. upon their dismissal, are regulated by Law No. 306-FZ of November 7, 2011. The specific amount of compensation is determined in accordance with Order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 2700. Upon dismissal, a full payment must be made to a serviceman for days worked, vacation due, etc. In addition, a person resigning at his own request may qualify for the following additional payments:

1. One-time benefit . Its size depends on military experience and can range from 2 to 7 monthly salaries.
2. Premium payments. They can reach 25% of the salary.
3. Material aid. It is carried out in accordance with the established schedule in the amount of a monthly salary. If it has already been paid, then it cannot be withheld back, despite the partial expiration of the billing year.
4. Compensation for unused material allowance. They can amount to up to 40% of the required salary for a period of service of less than 15 years and up to 3% of the salary for each year in excess of the specified length of service.

Special privileges are granted in case of injury or loss of health during military service, which was the reason for dismissal. In case of injury while performing military duties, payments are provided to a contract soldier of up to 2,000,000 rubles, and to a conscript - up to 1,000,000 rubles.

The amount of benefits upon dismissal due to loss of health depends on military experience:

• for service less than 10 years – 5 monthly salaries;
• 10-15 years – up to 10 salaries;
• 15-20 years – up to 15 salaries;
• 20 or more years – 20 salaries.

The final amount of all payments due upon dismissal depends on the rank, position and military service of the serviceman. The request for their accrual must be stated in the dismissal report or in a separate report for a specific type of payment.

It is important to remember that these financial compensations are issued only upon agreed upon voluntary dismissal. They are not provided for when a contract is terminated on the initiative of the command, if the dismissal is caused by any negative actions on the part of the serviceman.

In other words, if the commission or commander does not recognize the reasons as valid, and the serviceman simply stops performing his duties, then he can be dismissed by decision of the command without additional payments.

The reason for the dismissal of a serviceman may be dismissal due to general medical conditions. You can read about this on our website.

What payments are due?

When a serviceman is dismissed on his own initiative, certain payments are provided, which are assigned depending on the department and the reasons for termination of the contract.

After termination of the contract, the officer can count on the following payments:

• a one-time benefit, the amount of which is affected by the length of service . If a citizen has worked for more than 20 years - in the amount of seven monthly salaries, less than 20 years - two salaries. If there are state awards, additional payments are provided;
• bonus . When performing official duties without violation, a bonus in the amount of 25% of the salary is due;
• material aid . The payment is equal to one salary.

The amount of payments is influenced by the following indicators:

• place of military service;
• title and position held;
• the department to which the contract soldier belongs.

If the contract was terminated due to length of service, then the serviceman is entitled to a military pension.