Article

2009-01-10 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Strategypage: The Incredible Shrinking Russian Armed Forces

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Posted by tu3031 2009-01-10 15:07|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 They're going to have to seriously change their horrid habit of badly mistreating enlisted soldiers if they want to come close to the kind of professional force the US has.

And then there's the insistence on holding all decisions at high levels, reducing even mid grade officers to puppets in operational situations.

Posted by lotp 2009-01-10 15:55|| 2009-01-10 15:55|| Front Page Top

#2 They don't really do the NCO thing do they?

Posted by bigjim-ky 2009-01-10 16:13|| 2009-01-10 16:13|| Front Page Top

#3 We have all kinds of really uplifting opportunities today. If the Russians want to have a professional military like the US they have to change so many things about their culture. But once again the Russians have failed to reach escape velocity in their effort to escape their autocratic recidivism. And we've got a better chance of building a civil culture in Russia than Afghanistan or Pakistan. Some places are very hard to change especially when when the people don't want to change or don't really understand to what they could change or what the demands of really making the change are. And now Russia is cursed with oil. The situation in the armed forces is only a miniature of the whole nation. And a symptom.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2009-01-10 16:16|| 2009-01-10 16:16|| Front Page Top

#4 Agreed. Pay them better and stop the culture of mistreatment, particularly that directed at those in the lower ranks. Treat them as professionals and they will serve like professionals.

Posted by crosspatch 2009-01-10 16:33|| 2009-01-10 16:33|| Front Page Top

#5 Every six months, about a million men (aged 18-27) are eligible for conscription.

Not too sure about this. Implies about 4M individuals (including women) coming of military age each year. Way too many for a country of 140 million with a small, and declining birth rate. In fact the CIA factbook show about 821,000 men coming of military age annually.

The booming economy may have caused fewer volunteers, but the post bubble economy won't be able to afford a stronger military.

Fact is, they will have fewer soldiers and sailors just because of the declining population.

Posted by DoDo 2009-01-10 16:40|| 2009-01-10 16:40|| Front Page Top

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