Defense summons 4,186 reservists for retraining until November 2027

The Ministry of National Defense summoned 4,186 reservists on temporary leave—3,964 men and 222 women—for a new period of theoretical-practical retraining aimed at completing the Vanguardia III contingent. The decision is detailed in Ministerial Agreement 396, published in the Sixth Supplement of the Official Registry No. 398 on October 27, 2026. The call will be in effect from December 12, 2026, to November 10, 2027, and is executed in parallel with the continuity of 5,814 reservists from the Vanguardia I and II contingents.

The agreement is signed by the Minister of National Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo Rendón, with an electronic signature validated in FirmaEC, and is based on the authority of Article 154.1 of the Constitution, literals b) and g) of Article 10 of the Organic Law of National Defense, and Articles 57 and 63 of the Law of Mandatory Military Service in the National Armed Forces, which allow for the incorporation into active service of personnel at disposal on temporary leave and the trained reserve through ministerial agreement.

The immediate precedent is Ministerial Agreement 428, disseminated in Ministerial Order No. 180 on November 12, 2025, which summoned military reserve personnel divided into three groups; the designation Vanguardia III originates from that sequence. The text also invokes Article 162 of the Constitution, which empowers the Armed Forces to organize reserve forces, and 165.6, which allows the president to call the entire reserve or part of it to active service.

Summoning and continuity of the contingents

Article 1 of the agreement establishes two simultaneous operations, based on the technical, operational, and economic report from the Mobilization Directorate of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces:

• Summoning of 4,186 reservists (3,964 men and 222 women) for theoretical-practical retraining and completion of Vanguardia III, from December 12, 2026, to November 10, 2027.
• Continuity of 5,814 reservists from Vanguardia I and Vanguardia II in support of military units, from November 10, 2026, to November 10, 2027.
• Execution under the responsibility of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, the Mobilization Directorate, and the Commands of each Force, which must provide for enlistments, discharges, and the regulation of disciplinary aspects.
• Delegation to the Director of Mobilization of the contracting processes of Annex 1 of Article 23 of Ministerial Agreement 427, published in Ministerial General Order No. 180 on November 12, 2025.

The instrument enters into force as of its date, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry and in the Ministerial General Order, and entrusts its compliance to the Joint Command, the Mobilization Directorate, and the Force Commands.

An expenditure of 114.8 million with a favorable ruling from Finance

Report No. CCFFAA-J-7-3-c-DSMM-RESERV-2026-015, dated July 27, 2026, signed by the Director of Mobilization of the Joint Command, quantified the operation at USD 114,836,735.39, with a distribution approved by the Ministry of Economic and Productive Development:

• Year 2026: USD 15,523,497.80.
• Year 2027: USD 99,313,237.59.

The favorable ruling is contained in official letter MDEP-VGF-2026-0635-O, dated October 8, 2026, issued by the acting Vice Minister of Finance, following the request from the Ministry of Defense contained in official letter MDN-SUP-2026-0677-O, dated September 30, 2026. The final figures do not match those of the initial report, which spoke of continuity for 6,776 reservists and the call-up of 3,224: the Mobilization Directorate requested the correction of the number of personnel and the dates through official letter CCFFAA-J7-DPDE-2026-1154-O, dated October 14, 2026, and the Joint Command processed the update with official letter CCFFAA-JCC-JEMI-DPE-2026-17690-O, dated October 15, 2026, along with AMP+ budget reforms in the eSigef system.

Bonus, absences, and employer obligations

Article 2 mandates that the monthly field bonus shall not be less than 64% of the military pay for the rank of first-year soldier for all ranks, regulated by the labor governing body, in line with the reform introduced by Executive Decree No. 403, dated September 19, 2024, to literal c) of Article 76 of the Application Regulations.

The rules for those called up and their employers are as follows:

• Those notified must report to the place and date determined by the Joint Command, including those residing abroad (Article 61 of the Regulations).
• Anyone who fails to report must justify the absence with legalized documents and, failing to do so, will be sanctioned according to Article 89, literal e), of the Law (Article 63 of the Regulations).
• Employers must provide facilities, preserve job positions, and pay salaries (Article 64 of the Regulations and Article 81, literals a), b), and c), of the Law).
• Media outlets are obliged to provide free space upon request from the Mobilization Directorate (Article 106 of the Law).
• The disengagement procedure is governed by Annex G of Directive CCFFAA-J-7-DSMM-3-b-c-2026-005-O.

The scope of the measure is twofold: it mobilizes more than 4,000 people in the middle of the year-end season and commits fiscal resources for nearly 115 million dollars across two budget years, while thousands of families and employers across the country must reorganize to cover absences that, according to the regulations themselves, cannot cost the called-up reservist their employment.

Source: Official Registry, Sixth Supplement No. 398, October 27, 2026, pp. 2-8 (official reference: Ministerial Agreement 396).