Incomplete forces affect their combat readiness
The results of the autumn draft campaign are only being summed up, and from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation come alarming reports that some regions have not fulfilled the draft plan. And now it is already clear that for the first time in recent years, the Armed Forces are experiencing a shortage of soldiers and sergeants in conscription. At the same time, the stratum of contract soldiers continues to decline. Speaking recently at a closed meeting of the State Duma, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov admitted that "the needs of the state’s military organization in the young replenishment are not fully provided." This means that in the army and on navy there is a shortage of personnel. Its quantitative parameters are classified as secret. But even a rough estimate shows that it is at least 20%.
According to official data, now there are fewer than 500 thousand soldiers and sergeants in conscription, 181 thousand officers and about 120 thousand contract servicemen, while the number of army personnel equals one million servicemen. Of course, the lack of troops affects their combat readiness. But the measures taken to solve the problem, we will say frankly, are difficult to call adequate.
The editors from a number of garrisons receive information on a significant reduction in the contract soldiers' layer in military units and subunits. For example, as reported by NG, the Chairman of the Veterans Council of 76 of the Pskov Airborne Division (VDD), Major General Yuri Sosedov, the stratum of contract soldiers in this illustrious unit dropped from 2010 to 20% in 12. The reason for the outflow is the low allowance of professionals. It is about 11 thousand rubles, while the average salary in the Pskov region is about 18 thousand rubles. According to the general, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense in order to save the military budget deliberately reduces the stratum of professionals in the army. The interlocutor of "NG" said that recently the command of the special forces brigade, which is stationed near Pskov, received an order from the military department not to renew the professional soldiers contracts. Instead, they will come from training units (after a three-month accelerated training course) soldiers and sergeants in conscription. “What the special forces brigades do is not to say. They are still performing not training, but combat missions in the hot spots of the North Caucasus. You cannot even bring up a good special forces fighter for a year, especially in three months. I don’t want to caw, but this means that in a combat situation the probability of casualties will increase, ”argues the veteran of the Airborne Forces.
Major-General Yuri Netkachev told NG about the facts of the contraction of the contractor stratum in some combat-ready units and formations of the Southern Military District, who served in various command positions in the Caucasus for a long time. He is also concerned about the possibility of casualties on the part of personnel if they perform combat missions in the North Caucasus. And the other day the online newspaper “Italics Ivanovo” published an article “Waste Puppies of the Russian Army”. It sets out a letter to President Dmitry Medvedev by military personnel contracted by a military unit stationed in the city of Kineshma. The appeal to the Supreme Commander said: “The command of the unit, beginning in the autumn of 2010, began to persuade us to quit“ on our own, ”otherwise they will be dismissed due to non-compliance with the conditions of contact with further impossibility of re-employment in the military.” The letter notes that "at present, the threats of the command have begun to be implemented in practice and those who disagree with the voluntary dismissal have begun to replenish the ranks of the urban unemployed and the homeless." Representatives of the Kineshma administration told NG that the only military unit there is a team of radiation, chemical and biological defense of the Western Military District. As well as special forces, it must at any time be ready to eliminate man-made and natural disasters, including those caused by the use of biological and chemical weapons by terrorists. weapons. That is why the team in 2003 – 2007 years as a matter of priority staffed with professionals. Now, for some reason, the professionals were unnecessary.
“From the fact that the army of contract soldiers decreases in the army, the tragedy should not be done,” said Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense. - The military budget is not rubber. Even with those small salaries, professionals still don’t have enough money for them. There are other priorities. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense decided to recruit only specific critical shortage positions necessary for the operation of sophisticated equipment and determining the combat capability of military units with contract soldiers. ”
Major General Yuri Sosedov, who once commanded the 76 of the Airborne Forces, had a different opinion. He believes that the current leadership of the Ministry of Defense treats soldiers and professional officers in the army "as if it were cattle." The military reform, the general believes, is at an impasse. Young people do not want to join the army either by conscription or by contract, because there is no clear program of patriotic education of young people in the country. “There are not only material, but also moral incentives for military service. Such an army is doomed to defeat before the battle begins, ”the veteran believes. He, like the contract soldiers from Kineshma, on behalf of the veterans of the Airborne Forces sent a corresponding appeal to the Supreme Commander. Responses to such requests yet.
Information