Should They Be Enlisted at Eighteen Years of Age?

An expected-net-national-benefit-maximizing enlistment-age is analytically derived for small countries engaged in external conflicts by considering the effects of the enlistment age on army size, probability of war, military performance, forgone civilian output, remunerations in the case of injury or death, and costs of readjusting to civilian life. The numerical simulations reveal the effects of the model parameters on the expected-net-national-benefit-maximizing enlistment-age. Despite the substantial changes in parameter values, the computed values of the enlistment age are distributed within an advanced phase of life.