The active reserve system brings together people from different walks of life, with different expertise and experience
You’re a small nation high up in the mountains.
You aspire to build an orderly and successful society.
You value your independence highly.
Yet you have limited resources. What can you do?
A very long time ago, Switzerland chose to organize its society using what we call the active reserve system. This system is the cornerstone of our society to this very day.
Active reserve means that citizens perform tasks for no or very little pay for the sake of the nation and society, besides their everyday jobs.
Let’s explore the different areas of public life where the active reserve system is used.
Where Is The Active Reserve System Used?
Security
Originally, the active reserve system was created for military purposes. Instead of keeping a standing army, an active reserve was kept and mobilized if and when needed. This is still the case to this very day, and Switzerland is one of the few European countries that hasn’t abolished conscription — although it has become easier to get out of conscription in recent years as opposed to earlier epochs.
Most officers are active reserve officers. Even as an active reserve officer, it is possible to rise to the ranks of a brigadier general, a major general, or even a lieutenant general (our highest rank in peacetime).
Besides the army, most fire brigades in the country are also organized using the active reserve principle. Only the largest cities have professional fire brigades. The rest is called if and when needed. And in contrast to military service, the fire brigades are open not just to Swiss nationals, but also to foreigners living in the country.
Politics
In Switzerland, we cherish direct democracy. Direct democracy means that ordinary citizens take charge of politics, irrespective of an aristocracy or a detached upper class. This fosters acceptance and representation of different walks of life in communal and national politics.
As a consequence, most political mandates are exercised under the active reserve system — although the number of professional politicians on a national level has increased over the past decades.
Schools and Associations
The boundary between active reserve and volunteering is grey. Many people who are active in school councils and associations claim they work under the active reserve system — in other countries, you would most probably call them volunteers.
Irrespective of what you call those activities, it’s a fact that there wouldn’t be a single sports club, a single music society, or a single care charity in the country.
Benefits of the Active Reserve System
I am a fierce supporter of the active reserve system. So far, I have given more than 1’000 days of my life to military service as an active reserve officer. At the same time, I have benefited from my service activities both in my professional life as well as personally.
Let us look at the benefits of this unique system.
Society
In a society, everything is connected. There is no single entity or person that can solve a problem alone. The active reserve system brings together people from different walks of life, with different expertise and experience. It’s always astonishing what solutions a group of seemingly unconnected people can come up with — just by taking advantage of their different perspectives.
Diverse groups of people are well positioned to make decisions by themselves: Since the incorporation of our republic in 1291, we deeply detest central power and ruling classes. So by empowering groups to take decentralized decisions, we are making use of the potential of our society, thereby also speeding up decisions. Usually, the professional experience active reserve staff bring to the table helps them find pragmatic solutions you wouldn’t find if you’d missed out on their diverse backgrounds.
Business
People don’t just bring their professional experience to the table in active reserve service, they also benefit from their active reserve efforts on a professional side.
Active reserve service is ideal for sharing problem-solving experiences in a new setting. As an entrepreneur engaging in active reserve duty, I am often asked how we handle certain problems in Yonder, the B2B SaaS company I founded. And yes, now and then I am asked to give a demo of our product, leading straight to new leads and customers. And yes, I have hired many people I knew from the military.
Personal
I have always been an active networker. The active reserve system was by far the best platform to build and expand my network, both nationally and internationally. I had the chance to represent Switzerland in an international military exercise in Sweden or train MBA students in crisis management.
I have met many great people I would never have met without that very special system that sits at the foundation of my home country.
When I was conscripted, who would have imagined that I would meet my co-founder with whom I would start a company 15 years later, or the godfather of my eldest child that would be born 10 years later?
