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.