CHISINAU. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The Moldovan military is to be reformed into a compact, mobile and highly professional force, Defense Minister Victor Gaiciuc said at the military oath ceremony for first-year students of the Moldovan Military Institute on Monday.
"The creation of a small, mobile and well-trained army in Moldova depends on your professional skills," Gaiciuc told 130 cadets.
The Moldovan Armed Forces will have 5,500 servicemen and 1,375 civilian employees by 2014 under a military strategy drafted at the Defense Ministry, Gaiciuc told the press.
He said the ministry would implement the strategy step by step, "because even a minor optimization of the structure tells on people."
The Moldovan Armed Forces have been reduced several times over the past three years to current 6,800 servicemen and 2,300 civilian employees.
Gaichuk called the lack of living quarters for the personnel among the burning issues of the national Armed Forces. As of now, 20 percent of volunteers need apartments to live, half of them undergoing service at the Chisinau garrison.
The Military Institute of the Moldovan Armed Forces hosted the oath giving ceremony last weekend. Institute's chancellor Vasily Kiryak said that three applicants contested for one vacation this year.
Cadets of the institute can receive five qualifications. They graduate with the rank of lieutenant and the specialty of engineer. The institute was opened September 1, 2002, to train specialists for the national army, border guards department and the carabineers. It is the only military higher educational establishment in the country.