Artur, Dominique <br/><br/>
Appropriate military service 

 -  2012.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 35 
<br/><br/> France’s SMA (Service Militaire Adapté, or Adapted Military Service) was established in 1961, and it is now a training body with an educational and professional nature, providing 4,000 young people a year from France’s overseas territories who have encountered social failure with an appropriate, comprehensive, consistent, and quick route to enter employment. The educational program on offer is based on the clean break implied by leaving a boarding school and enlisting oneself for a military status. In addition to providing a driving license and training in first aid, the course has three components: human and citizen training, educational aspects, and occupational training. While the military nature is a priority in contributing to the success of the program, its ultimate purpose is not at all to train people as professional soldiers able to serve in a regiment; that would misrepresent the task and lead to failure. SMA is clearly positioned between basic training and continuing training, supporting integration into adult life as active and responsible citizens, with a maximum chance of success for both those who succeeded and those who were initially discouraged. In 2014, it will take in 6,000 volunteers.