>>63978611
Probably but Assad shifting forces into the reserves (who weren't in the field when the offensive happened) and trying to move to a contract enlistment system was real. They were in phase one of this chart. Articles from last year:

>More broadly, the Syrian Ministry of Defense has pursued a large reform initiative for the past several years, seeking to transition the SAA from a conscript military to a volunteer army. Muhsen al-Mustafa, a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, has tracked this process closely. According to him, the Ministry of Defense has been moving many active duty soldiers into the reserve service, essentially a half step towards full demobilization, and then discharging many long-time reservists and allowing many veteran officers to voluntarily demobilize. According to his data, the regime discharged nearly 25,000 reserve service soldiers between 2023 and May 2024 while as many as 3,000 officers were allowed to end their service as well. This process has resulted in an army that still has a large reserve but a smaller pool of active duty soldiers that it can rely on in an emergency like this - and many of its most veteran officers have left.
https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/the-slow-collapse-of-the-syrian-army

>The regime’s lack of trust into its own army stems not only from the military's lack of professionalism but also social and sectarian reasons. Consequently, the regime has found it necessary to shift towards building a “professional army” composed of enlisted (volunteer) personnel, starting with a gradual reduction in the duration of reserve service as the first step toward redefining compulsory military service. However, this transition will take several more years to fully realize, ultimately helping to sustain the solid core upon which the regime has relied in its war against people.
https://www.muhsenalmustafa.com/syria-reserve-military-service