Military service in the navy and air force will be gradually phased out over the next two years so that conscripts will only serve in the army, the government revealed yesterday.

Such a move had been mooted by the previous New Democracy administration but Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday that the government was definitely moving ahead with the latest in a series of cutbacks in military service.

The basic military service in the army is now 12 months, which is down from 18 months earlier this decade.

During the phasing-out period, only conscripts with skills that are suitable for the air force or navy will be sent to serve there, Venizelos said. He added that conscripts who carry out their military service after they have finished their tertiary studies will be allocated to branches of the armed forces where their knowledge can be put to good use.