The head of the Main Organizational-Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant-General Yevgeny Burdinsky, in an interview with the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, said that the Ministry of Defense intends to continue to maintain the draft system of recruiting the Armed Forces. According to him, today the number of contractors exceeds the number of recruits in the proportion of 1.7 to 1 (58% and 42%).
"In recent years, the number of people under military service under the contract has been significantly increased ... At the same time, taking into account the need to accumulate a military-trained mobilization human resource, as well as on the basis of the financial and economic capabilities of the state, in the near or long term, complete rejection citizens for military service are not appropriate, ”said Burdinsky.
As of December 2018, 384 thousand people were serving under contract in the ranks of the Russian army, and more than 260 thousand people were serving at the call. The plans of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is to increase the number of professional personnel to 475.6 thousand by 2025. At the same time, the number of recruits will be reduced to 220 thousand.
- Russian servicemen work out training tasks
- © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
As the defense ministry has repeatedly noted, the main reason for the transition of the Armed Forces to a contractual basis lies in the fact that more and more sophisticated weapons are being sent to the troops. And the skills acquired by a conscript soldier are insufficient for the effective maintenance and operation of new military equipment.
“The management of modern weapons, which goes to the units, requires a high qualification and knowledge from the serviceman. A recruit for a year of service cannot master this baggage of knowledge. Therefore, the increase in the share of contract soldiers has led to the fact that the level of professionalism and combat skills in the army has increased significantly, ”said Alexey Leonkov, commercial director of the magazine Arsenal of the Fatherland, in an interview with RT.
According to the expert, contract servicemen are provided with combat units of constant readiness, and a mobilization resource is formed from conscripts, which will be used in the event of large-scale aggression against Russia. For this reason, it is necessary to preserve the draft system in Russia, Leonkov believes.
At the stage of reform
Construction of the contract army in Russia began in the 1990s. In May 1996, the President of the Russian Federation signed decree No. 772 on the complete abolition of the conscription system in the country. According to the document, in 2000, the Armed Forces were to fully move to a contractual basis. However, the presidential decree was not executed due to the difficult economic situation and the lack of the necessary number of applicants.
Another attempt to transfer the army to a contract basis was made in the first half of the 2000s. On August 25, 2003, the Russian government approved the Federal Target Program (FTP) “Transition to recruitment by servicemen undergoing military service under a contract of a number of formations and military units for 2004-2007”.
The sergeant staff was mainly transferred to a contract basis. The 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Khankala, Chechnya) became the first compound manned by professionals. This experience allowed to improve the selection system of professional military personnel.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense faced problems in finding suitable personnel. In an interview with the Red Star in November 2005, the Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces, Colonel-General Alexei Maslov, pointed out the acute shortage of candidates for the positions of mechanics-drivers of infantry fighting vehicles, tanks, self-propelled artillery installations, gunners-operators of the BMP, specialists of electronic intelligence.
In a conversation with RT, Vadim Kozyulin, a professor at the Academy of Military Sciences, noted that the transfer to a contractual basis was perceived by the country's leadership as a universal way to reduce the size of the Armed Forces, improve the standard of living of military personnel and improve their professionalism.
“After the collapse of the USSR, Russia got a bulky military machine that needed very radical reforms. In particular, it was necessary to optimize the number of soldiers and officers, to ensure that the best personnel remained in the troops. At the same time, it was extremely important to increase the salaries of servicemen who had retained their positions. As far as I understand, all these questions were intended to solve the transition to a contract, ”Kozyulin explained.
According to the expert, the state failed to implement this plan in the 1990s due to lack of finances and low authority of the Armed Forces in society. In the second half of the 2000s, the situation began to improve mainly due to wage growth and improved conditions of service, Kozyulin said.
- Russian servicemen at the exercises
- © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Also, the leadership of the Russian Federation took into account the complaints of the commanding staff of the army on the weak level of training of lieutenants. As a result, the number of military departments was reduced about four times - to 54. In 2008, the Ministry of Defense set up military-training centers at civilian universities. In 2018, the ministry launched a program for the complete replacement of military departments.
Today, a university graduate who has received a military specialty is either retired or enters into a contract with the Ministry of Defense. In July 2018, Nikolai Pankov, deputy head of the military department of the Russian Federation, reported that 61 thousand students are undergoing military training in the Russian Federation, 44.7 thousand of them are future officers, 16.5 thousand are sergeants and soldiers.
"Saving the call will be relevant"
The increase in the number of contractors allowed the Ministry of Defense to ease the citizens of conscript service. Since 2008, young people are sent to the army for 12 months instead of the previous two years of service. Every six months (spring and autumn conscription) about 130 thousand conscripts are sent to the troops annually.
In December 2015, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that for the first time there were more contract servicemen in the Armed Forces than recruits. At that time, 352 thousand professional personnel were serving. At the same time, the staffing of army units was brought up to 92% (now it is 95-100%).
At present, the contract soldiers comprise the overwhelming majority of the personnel of the units of the army special forces, marines, airborne forces and the navy. Soldiers conscripts, as a rule, are involved for the protection of military facilities and the operation of simple military equipment.
The Ministry of Defense is trying to recruit citizens with higher and specialized secondary education in contractual service. Since 2014, the military department has been offering graduates of high schools to serve two years under a contract instead of a year of military service. Then the soldiers have the opportunity to conclude an agreement for another three years.
Such a policy is bearing fruit. For example, about 40% of Russian paratroopers received higher or incomplete higher education. As expected, the commander of the Airborne Forces, Colonel-General Andrei Serdyukov, in 2020, the share of contract soldiers in the winged infantry will increase by 10% and reach 80%.
The Ministry of Defense uses various tools for engaging in service under the contract. Each year, the military department conducts hundreds of agitation and propaganda campaigns, giving preference to educated citizens.
Also, the Ministry of Defense guarantees servicemen the provision of opportunities for professional self-realization, social privileges, the right to a preferential mortgage (after 5 years of service) and decent wages while maintaining the 40-hour work week.
- Recruits of the Russian army
- © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The main factor that holds back the growth of the number of professional staff is the financial constraints provided by the defense budget. In October 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the process of transferring the army to a contract basis is "slower than planned." However, the head of state stressed that the need of the Armed Forces for conscripts will steadily decrease.
Alexey Leonkov believes that the current ratio in the troops of contract soldiers and conscripts is optimal given the economic opportunities of the Russian Federation and the nature of military threats. In his opinion, the level of professionalism of the Armed Forces is not always determined by the method of recruitment. As an example, the expert called the army of Israel, the backbone of which consists of draftees.
“In our conditions, it is not very correct to fully rely on the contract army. If active hostilities begin, the problem of personnel shortage will immediately arise. Of course, to instantly compensate for losses among professional personnel will not work. However, the current recruitment system will definitely provide the necessary mobilization resource. Saving the call will be relevant for a very long time, ”Leonkov summarized.