Objective. To study the manifestations of the epidemic process, the clinical features of the course, as well as the economic burden of community-acquired pneumonia in conscripted military personnel and to justify the need for vaccination against pneumococcal infection in adolescents who are fit for military service.Materials and methods. The data from the official statistical reporting documentation in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus were used as the material for studying the epidemiological parameters. To study the manifestations of the epidemic process, methods of epidemiological diagnosis were used — retrospective epidemiological analysis, descriptive and evaluative methods and statistical method. To establish the military epidemiological significance of community-acquired pneumonia, an integral indicator of morbidity and labor loss was calculated — an indicator of the average frequency of a serviceman’s disability. To study the clinical features of community-acquired pneumonia, data on 960 patients who were treated in the therapeutic departments of the State Institution “432 Order of the Red Star Main Military Clinical Medical Center of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus” were used. The etiology of VP was assessed based on the results of bacteriological studies of sputum samples (n = 947). To assess the economic burden of community-acquired pneumonia, direct medical costs for hospitalization, diagnosis, and pharmacotherapy were calculated. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using computer programs IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0, Statistica 6.0 (Stat. Soft Inc., USA).Results. The epidemic process of community-acquired pneumonia was dominated by conscripts (73.7—92.2 %), the average annual incidence rate was 44.5 ± 1.29 per 1000 and 5.5 times higher than the incidence of military personnel undergoing military service under contract. The cyclical nature of the epidemic process (4 years), seasonality due to the arrival of new recruits during the autumn and spring conscription, as well as factors of the closed updated military team, have been established. The proportion of severe community-acquired pneumonia was 2,6 % (95 % CI (1.8—3.8)), while the remaining cases were considered mild. The average bed-day for military personnel with community-acquired pneumonia of severe course was 23.2 ± 13.08 days, non-severe course 13.0 ± 4.0 days. The rate of ineffective use of military personnel was 2.6 ‰. The direct medical costs of managing one serviceman with a severe form of community-acquired pneumonia averaged 7390 BYN, non-severe — 2050 BYN.Conclusion. The military epidemiological significance of community-acquired pneumonia for conscripts is determined by the high intensity of the epidemic process (44.5 ‰), cyclicity (4 years), a pronounced seasonal increase in morbidity over 7 months, a high rate of ineffective use of military personnel (2.6 ‰), significant direct medical costs for the management of patients with severe forms. In order to prevent and reduce the incidence of community-acquired pneumonia, and preserve the health and combat capability of conscripts, vaccination against pneumococcal infection is necessary for young men aged 16—18 who have received a conscript’s certificate and are fit for military service, as part of the National Calendar of Preventive vaccinations for epidemic indications.