Russia Abandons Effort at Creating a Professional Volunteer Army

[Mihais]

They already have that small force.They wear blue berets and some of them have a wolf as a badge

[Maeda Toshiie]

Thanks. Valuable article that lends insight to the superb job accomplished by the European and U.S. militaries to make such a transition possible. We're not perfect. Russia appears a long, long way from such. It'll be interesting to see how such a modernization effort really effects the PLA someday.

Combat, of course, remains the best barometer.

I don't think any form of comparison with regards to the professionalization process can be made here. The Russian armed forces have yet to solve basic problems such as corruption.

They should have spent the money on paying their officers AND men a decent salary and seriously stamp out corruption, instead of all that shiny new toys or flying around in the Atlantic.

[S2]

Maeda Toshiie Reply

"They should have spent the money on paying their officers AND men a decent salary and seriously stamp out corruption, instead of all that shiny new toys or flying around in the Atlantic."

No argument here except to suggest they've a lot to work on from a variety of angles. Army used to have a saying,

"Mission first, people always".

We've our own challenges confronting us with our returning troops from A-stan and Iraq. Especially those severely wounded. That cost will prove both high and longterm if done correctly.

[cyppok]

I don't think "iron fist" will work. You just need a couple of people whom are smart in the ways of human nature and are willing to try some ideas.
The overall corruption is a problem that has to be approached a bit differently. If the incidence of corrupt activity becomes legitimate and a field of economic contention that is rule applied it can be reversed somewhat.

The problem is accountability to some degree, the top people have to be fired more often and held accountable for whatever happens below them. Corruption has to become uneconomic, relative to its magnitude, ergo the higher the magnitude the more uneconomic it has to be.

[ZSARU]

While corruption, as a tradition, institutionalized within the Russian Army, will likely keep them from becoming "professional" and volunteer any time soon, the strength of the Russian military as a whole lies with their ability or willingness to sacrifice and "spend" numbers of lives to accomplish the tactical or strategic objective. Look at WWII and even Georgia most recently. They had little hezitation to sacrifice 100 men to take out a 2 man MG42 crew. They managed to solidify and find motivation once the objective was identified. They should not be underestimated once war is at hand. My grandmother told me of a German soldier taking cover in her vegetable garden in Romania. He continued to shoot Russians on horseback, killing a dozen, then used the last shot to "resign"...The Russians kept comming!

[kato]

to sacrifice and "spend" numbers of lives to accomplish the tactical or strategic objective. Look at WWII and even Georgia most recently.

Georgia kinda was the opposite of what you're alluding to though. Maximum result with the minimum effort - less than 1% of the Russian military involved in the whole action, less than 1% casualties while inflicting higher casualties on an enemy that fielded twice as many men.

[Maeda Toshiie]

Georgia kinda was the opposite of what you're alluding to though. Maximum result with the minimum effort - less than 1% of the Russian military involved in the whole action, less than 1% casualties while inflicting higher casualties on an enemy that fielded twice as many men.

?

The reports that I have read indicate that the conventional forces deployed by the Russians (excluding local militia) outnumber the Georgians by a significant degree. Excluding the better trained airborne forces, the tank and motor rifle units also performed poorly in tactically terms against the Georgians.

Logistically, it seems that the Russian forces deployed were all that could be supported.

See the thread I started on a monograph written about the war.