Following the end of the Cold War, mandatory military service in Europe seemed an anachronism. Since the mid-1990s, many European countries have ended the draft or plan to phase it out within the next several years. But the list does not include notoriously neutral Switzerland.

This month, Switzerland has its national call-up, when the country’s young men are summoned for their obligatory stint in the army.

Swiss men spend a lot of time in the military, despite their country’s neutral status. An initial five-month spell is followed by regular stints every year until the recruits are 30 -- and even longer for officers.

"It's a huge change."

This November, the authorities called up 7,000 teenagers. Most young men in Switzerland have known since they were small that the day would come for their first weapons training. But still, for 21st century boys, used to their own rooms and plenty of free time, the army is a shock.

"The first week was hard," one recruit said. "I got shouted at and I didn’t know what I had to do. But it’s a bit better now."

And the army certainly marks a shift in reality.

"At home, you have your Mom or your girlfriend cooking for you," another conscript said. "Here, we are 700 people altogether, eating together, sleeping together -- it’s a huge change."

Part of Swiss culture

The commanding officer in Horgen, Blaise Pelletier, is a keen supporter of Switzerland’s obligatory military service. He believes it makes the armed forces truly democratic.

"Rich, poor, student, worker -- they’re altogether, everybody equal for once," Pelletier said. "It’s a very special system, and its part of our culture."

The downside of this special system is that those who don’t want to take part face a prison sentence. Obligatory means obligatory. Sometimes, recruits can only take on a fatalistic attitude.

"I really don’t like guns, they cause too much harm," one of them said. "But I have to, so I’ll just shoot, put my gun down, and go home."

Service in the Swiss army is very hard to avoid unless you are physically or mentally unfit.

This means that neutral Switzerland, with a population of seven million and which hasn’t done battle since 1815, has an army of 250,000 men. Of course, they are part-time, but all are armed, trained, and ready to be called up within 72 hours.

The school of life

But some people, such as Paul Gunter, a member of the Swiss parliament, think it’s time for a change.

"If we must have an army, we would like to have one who can do their job, professional, peacekeeping missions, for example," Gunter said. "You can’t do that with our soldiers. It would be too dangerous for everyone."

When Switzerland’s defense minister suggested earlier this year, however, that obligatory service might not be eternal -- the first member of a Swiss government ever to do so -- he was greeted by a storm of protest.

The army is just too big a part of Swiss life. Many people can’t imagine Switzerland without it. Even if the recruits can’t imagine ever being part of an armed conflict.

"No, the Swiss army is not training us for that," one said. "This is the school of life here."

And, if it comes to the crunch, Switzerland doesn't have a chance anyway.

"If a big country like France or Germany attacked us, there’s not much we could do," one recruit said. "We’re too small."

All in the same boat

But for commanding officer Pelletier, the army is there to show Switzerland's enemies -- wherever, whoever they may be nowadays -- that this small neutral country isn’t to be taken lightly.

"We are training for something we hope will never arrive," he said. "That’s the whole point of this army. We want to show we are prepared, that we will fight for our freedom, and no one’s going to take our small country because we really like it."

So, Switzerland's new recruits can look forward to another four months of training for something that won’t happen. Their only comfort is the fact that everyone’s got to do it.