The military reform of the army that started several years ago under El"tsin has slipped and disappeared in the last four years. The opposite trend gains weight in Russian society: extending the army and increasing influence of militaries in making important political decisions. This monograph examines military service as a legal phenomenon in terms of national defense, state security, problems of legal regulation, legal theory of the military, and analyses of the role and place of the military services in the mechanisms of state and government service system. The book also contains results of a survey about military service in Russia. Bibliography (pp. 546-556).