The news about the seemingly revival of the institution of political politicians / military commissars, or whatever, stirred up military and military circles. And there is why.
Actually, the fact that our military has recognized the complete collapse of both the system of military psychologists and workers with personnel is not bad. What is the point in inventing another bicycle, if they have been riding the streets for how many years?
Well, we built, we built, and finally … No, we didn’t build it, did we recreate it? The Main Military-Political Directorate of the RF Armed Forces! On July 30, the corresponding decree of President Vladimir Putin was published on the official portal of legal information.
Judging by the personality of the general appointed to the newly created position, the management is not ordinary. Deputy Minister in charge. Andrey Kartapolov is not just a general. He is of a very high quality, not an armchair general.
We accept the appointment with approval. In his previous position (head of the ZVO), Kartapolov showed himself to be a competent military man, so he is quite capable of trying to pull out a newborn project.
His track record includes not only command of formations at the level of the army and districts, but also service in headquarters of various levels, including the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. And no one has forgotten the command of the group in Syria.
So what happened? Defense Minister Shoigu decided to revive Glavpur? "Political commissars, political commissars, but still commissars" are returning to the subdivisions? Are there party representatives in the army again? Which party? Many questions have arisen. The Defense Ministry and the newly-made head of the GlavVPU himself do not give answers.
The first, and probably the most important question - is it worth expecting an "invasion" of political officers into the army in the near future?
The answer, in our opinion, is obvious. No! Why? Yes, simply because they, these same political officials, are not available. It's just not physically. And nowhere to take.
In the USSR, there was a well-functioning system of training political workers. A whole network of military-political schools trained political officers for various branches and types of troops. That is, not just political workers came to the troops, but people with some knowledge in specific military areas.
At the same time, political workers were a rather isolated caste in the army. Even an increase in military rank and promotion depended more on the decision of a higher political body than on the commander of a subunit or unit.
The new head of the department, General Kartapolov, himself brought some clarity to this issue. On September 1, 2018, the head of the Political Administration met with the cadets of the Military University of the Ministry of Defense.
The meeting began with congratulating the cadets on behalf of the Minister of Defense on the beginning of the academic year. And then General Kartapolov spoke about the administration and the upcoming tasks for its formation.
According to the general, the formation of the management structure should be completed by March 1, 2019. And this work includes three stages.
First step. Until October 1, 2018, the Main Directorate for Work with Personnel will be liquidated. Employees of this department, after passing the appropriate re-certification, will become part of the Main Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
7 directorates and one (military heraldic) service will be formed. A direction will be created on the basis of the disbanded personnel management department. The direction of military discipline and crime prevention.
The Military University, the Department of Culture and the Office for Work with Citizens' Appeals will also become part of the Main Military Directorate.
Second phase. Until December 1, 2018, a structure of political bodies is being created at all levels of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, up to regiments.
We emphasize this nuance. “Down to the regiments” is from top to bottom. That is, the regimental political workers will be (for now) the lowest level. Let's see further.
Stage three. Until March 1, 2019, a system of training personnel for political bodies is being organized on the basis of the Military University and military educational institutions of the branches and combat arms. One small detail should be noted here.
The training, according to Kartapolov, will be conducted according to the new federal state educational standards, developed taking into account the proposed model of a military-political worker.
Can anyone explain what model a modern military-political worker should be? This model is probably super secret. Well, not "UAZ-Patriot", after all …
The general was much better at explaining the purpose of creating the Main Directorate.
True, here, too, a quite reasonable question arises about the political component of the work. Rather, we can talk about a new ideological component of our state. Statehood, spirituality, patriotism!
True, to talk about the ideological component, it is the state ideology that must be accepted at the state level. Then everything will fall into place.
And that, perhaps, a complete set suitable for our country. A little plagiarism, however, smacks of. Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality. But it seems that the Minister of Education of the Russian Empire, Sergei Semenovich Uvarov, will not be offended. With the French "Liberty, equality, fraternity" we somehow did not work. Repeatedly.
The main goal of the future "political officers" was also announced.
To be honest, I tried to find in the general's speech a mention of the political component in the work of his department. I had to bow my head before the knowledge and skills of the new leader of the political (!) Administration.
The general did not break the law! Indeed, the Law "On the status of military personnel" (Article 10, paragraph 7) explicitly states that servicemen are prohibited from participating in the work of political parties:
In general, it seems that the Ministry of Defense first created something, and then got lost in the names and attempts to figure out what, in fact, was created.
And it turns out that, despite the letter "P" meaning "political" in the name, there is no political component in the GVPU. At least for now. And there is no ideological one, since there is no official ideology. There is only educational.
Not bad, it is possible that this strange ceremonial PR project "Yunarmiya" will also fall under the jurisdiction of the GVPU. Perhaps Kartapolov will be able to give this ridiculous, but outwardly beautiful creation some kind of impetus for real deeds.
If you copy the Soviet system, then copy it completely, in an amicable way. From "voluntary societies" to help everyone and everything, to really "political commanders-educators."
Then the abyss that exists today will not arise. The chasm between education and upbringing. Educators will be educators in schools, lyceums, universities, in the army, and not animators-inspirers of the public, as it is today.
Perhaps that is why such a general was appointed to lead the "newborn". Of the chronic winners. Andrei Valerievich Kartapolov is somehow not trained to lose. It means that it is very possible that there will be some sense.
In any case, we sincerely wish Andrey Valerievich success in his new field. Although, we admit, we cannot even half-imagine everything that he will have to face.
