What reserve can we commit to?
Verified 22 May 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Several reserve systems allow volunteers to invest themselves in the service of the general interest: military reserve, police reserve, citizen reserve, health reserve, etc. The age and profile conditions vary according to the chosen commitment. Some reserves only employ volunteers, others pay volunteers. We tell you what you need to know.
Type of reserve | Age | Profile of volunteers | Duration of contract | Duration of intervention periods | Compensation | Organization |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
From 17 years | Physically fit volunteers | 1 to 5 years, renewable | 60 days maximum per year. If necessary, the duration may be increased to 210 days per year. | Balance by grade | Armies and national gendarmerie | |
18 to 67 years (72 years for specialists) | Physically fit volunteers, retired police officers and former security assistants | 1 to 5 years | 90 days maximum per year for volunteers and 150 days maximum for retired police officers and former security assistants | Compensation by grade and duty station | ||
Under 67 | Physically fit pensioners of the prison administration | 1 year minimum, renewable | 150 days maximum per year | Gross daily remuneration of €105 | Prison Administration | |
From 17 years | Volunteers accredited by the military authority on the basis of their competence, experience or interest in matters of national defense | 3 years, renewable | One-off interventions | None (travel expenses compensated) | Armies and national gendarmerie | |
From 18 years | No specific profile | Without limitation of duration | One-off interventions (at the request of a teacher) | Volunteering (rights to the citizen engagement account, subject to conditions) | Schools, schools | |
Citizen reserve for territorial cohesion | From 18 years | No specific profile | Without limitation | One-off interventions | Volunteering | Town Hall |
Unconditional | No specific profile | 1 to 5 years, renewable | 15 working days maximum per year up to 24 hours per week | Volunteering | Town Hall | |
National Police Citizen's Reserve | From 18 years | Volunteers completing an administrative survey | 1 year renewable | 24 hours maximum per week for recurring missions or more for one-off missions | Volunteering | National Police |
From 16 years | No specific profile | 1 year renewable | Occasional missions (occasional or recurrent) | Volunteering | Public services, communities or non-profit associations | |
Unconditional | Healthcare professionals in active employment, unemployed or retired for less than 5 years, students in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy or pursuing studies of midwives or medical assistants at the end of studies | 3 years, renewable | 45 cumulative days maximum per calendar year (90 days exceptionally) | Remuneration of salaried reservists or public servants to be maintained Allowance for Liberal reservists, unemployed, retired or students | Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Facility | |
From 16 years of age (according to SDIS: titleContent) | Medically and physically fit volunteers (special conditions) | 5 years, renewable | Same missions as professional firefighters (guards at the rescue center + on-call duty) | Allowance by rank | SDIS: titleContent | |
Public reserves of fire and rescue services | From 16 years | Volunteers who have not been criminally convicted | 1 to 5 years, renewable | Occasional missions (occasional or recurrent) | Volunteering | SDIS: titleContent |
Youth Judicial Protection Reserve (PJJ) | 18 to 75 years | French volunteers or retired civil servants, who have not been the subject of a criminal conviction | 1 year, renewable | 150 days maximum per year | Daily allowance according to missions | YJP Directorate or YJP Interregional Directorate or YJP National School |
Citizen Reserve of Reintegration | Selection according to the criteria of the prison's multidisciplinary commission | Persons detained | Volunteer activities | Volunteering (rights to the citizen engagement account, subject to conditions) | Prison establishment, SPIP: titleContent |
In case of major crisis, volunteers from the following reservations may be called to the national security reserve :
- Military Operational Reserve
- National Police Operational Reserve
- Sanitary reserve
- Prison Civil Reserve
- Emergency reserve.
The summons is for 30 days. This period may be renewed if the situation so requires.
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
By phone
0800 22 0800 (free service and call)
By courier
- Army - Armed Forces Information and Recruitment Center (Cirfa)
- Air Force - Armed Forces Information and Recruitment Center (Cirfa)
APER
Toulon
dpmm-pm3-aper-toulon.accueil.fct@def.gouv.fr
Brest
dpmm-pm3-aper-brest.contact.fct@def.gouv.fr
- Departmental Fire and Emergency Service (SDIS)
To learn more about the citizen reserve for territorial cohesion
National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT)- Interregional Directorate of Prison Services (DISP)
- Directorate for the Judicial Protection of Young People (DPJJ)
- Town Hall
Articles 17 to 21
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