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Military Elite Lost The Battle To The Ruble

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  • Military Elite Lost The Battle To The Ruble

    MILITARY ELITE LOST THE BATTLE TO THE RUBLE
    by Vladimir Mukhin

    DEFENSE and SECURITY
    December 8, 2008 Monday
    Russia

    IN THE NORTH CAUCASIAN MILITARY DISTRICT OFFICERS WILL BE REDUCED BY
    66.67%; Vladimir Putin reported that only the officers and warrant
    officers whose service term expired in 2009 and officers drafted
    for two years after graduation from military departments of civil
    higher educational institutions (if their contract term expired)
    would be dismissed from the army. Vacancies will be reduced too. No
    other reductions are planned. This statement differs from what the
    military commanders are doing.

    Vladimir Putin reported that only the officers and warrant officers
    whose service term expired in 2009 and officers drafted for two
    years after graduation from military departments of civil higher
    educational institutions (if their contract term expired) would be
    dismissed from the army. Vacancies will be reduced too. No other
    reductions are planned. This statement differs from what the military
    commanders are doing.

    Large-scale reductions of officers will take in the most combat ready
    and capable military district of the Russian army. Whereas in the
    Armed Forces in general the quantity of officers will be reduced by
    50% by 2012, in the North Caucasian Military District the quantity
    of officers will be reduced by 66.67%. Deputy Commander of the North
    Caucasian Military District, Lieutenant General Alexei Verbitsky,
    announced this recently. Such plans cannot be explained from the
    standpoint of common sense. It was commonly known that during the
    difficult days of fighting against Georgian aggressors in South Ossetia
    in August, it was officers of the North Caucasian Military District
    who provided the tasks set for the troops. Now it turns out that the
    backbone of the army, its elite deployed in the most explosive region
    is not needed by anyone.

    In any case, General Verbitsky does not say which military posts
    will be reduced although like other military commanders he states
    that in the course of reforms the quantity of combat ready units and
    overall strength of the North Caucasian Military District will not
    change. This means that, first, the strength of the military units
    will be increased on account of a part of reduced of professional
    servicemen and, second, reduced posts of officers and warrant officers
    will be occupied by sergeants.

    An officer of the Defense Ministry wishing to remain anonymous reports
    that a mass reduction of officers in the North Caucasian Military
    District where the quantity of professional servicemen who die is the
    biggest is explained, although this may sound blasphemous, is explained
    by purely financial problems. For killed officers the state has to pay
    significant insurance and social benefits and needs to grant housing
    and benefits to families of the deceased. The situation with soldiers
    and sergeants in similar cases will be simpler. Hence, incumbent
    top-ranking officials of the Defense Ministry decided to reduce the
    quantity of officers' posts in the North Caucasian Military District.

    Some commanders say that ignoring the role of officers in the
    south of the country during conduction of reforms in the army may
    lead to big problems. Lieutenant General Yury Netkachev said, "The
    current conscript and contract soldiers including sergeants do not
    comply with the required level. They are insufficiently educated,
    do not have due motivation for service, are often ill-disciplined
    etc. They will hardly substitute officers. In conditions of the North
    Caucasian Military District this is harmful in general. However, the
    formation of soldiers' ranks there continues according to regional
    and mono-ethnic principle. The majority of soldiers and sergeants in
    units of the North Caucasian Military District are people from the
    North Caucasus where the level of economic development is low. If
    this trend continues degradation of the army is inevitable."

    A significant reduction of the quantity of officers is only one
    of the novelties to be tested in the North Caucasian Military
    District. Another initiative is increasing the quantity of
    general-purpose military formations not only on the territory of Russia
    but also in other Caucasian states. Verbitsky reports that in the North
    Caucasian Military District, "we will form 11 combined-arms brigades of
    permanent readiness." According to him, the 58th army (headquartered
    in Vladikavkaz) will be reorganized into an operational command and
    two mechanized infantry brigades of permanent readiness will be formed
    on the basis of the 20th mechanized infantry division (headquartered
    in Volgograd). The general says that three Russian bases: in South
    Ossetia (Tskhinval and Dzhava), in Abkhazia (Gudauta) and Armenia
    (Yerevan) will be included into the North Caucasian Military District.

    He also says that brigades and units of permanent readiness will be
    formed according to three principles: under contract, according to
    draft and according to mixed system where there are 80% contract
    servicemen and 20% conscript soldiers. Meanwhile, according to
    reports from the local level, so far the North Caucasian Military
    District manages to form only the units manned with conscripts without
    problems. Situation with recruitment of contract servicemen is not
    very favorable. In the 42nd mechanized infantry division there are
    problems with contract soldiers from Dagestan. In some units they
    form majority, which according to commanders has a negative impact
    on their combat capability. There are also problems at the military
    bases being formed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Recruiting residents
    of North Caucasus there, military registration and enlistment offices
    promised salaries of 50,000 rubles per month to them. Now it turns out
    that contract servicemen there will earn slightly more than 15,000
    rubles per month. Many of the recruited professionals terminated
    their contracts or deserted.
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