The formation of a professional mobilization reserve is beginning in Russia. The "partisans" who signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense will receive wages and a number of compensations, but at the same time they will be required to attend special classes every month and undergo military training annually. If necessary, the reservists will complete the existing units, as well as form new ones. The creation of a full-fledged professional mobilization reserve will have a positive effect on strengthening the defense capability of the state, military experts say.
The Russian Ministry of Defense told the journalists of the Izvestia newspaper that from 2018 the mobilization reserve system in our country will begin to work in full. The normative acts necessary for this were adopted earlier. Thus, the Ministry of Defense has already conducted an experiment to form an organized mobilization reserve in certain regions of Russia. The experiment lasted almost two years, and its results are assessed as successful. The decree "On the creation of a mobilization human reserve of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" was signed by the President of Russia on July 17, 2015. The first point of this decree just prescribed the creation of a mobilization manpower reserve of the RF Armed Forces for the period of the experiment to introduce a new system of training and accumulation of mobilization manpower resources. The very mechanism of attracting citizens to new structures and the terms of contracts concluded with them are spelled out in the law "On military duty and military service", it says that reserve soldiers and officers who have passed a medical commission can become reservists.
It should be noted that the mobilization reserve exists in the armies of many countries of the world, this is a very common practice. For example, in the United States, the number of reservists practically corresponds to the size of the regular armed forces. Reserve components include reserves from all five branches of the armed forces, as well as the United States Army and Air Force. At the same time, the US National Guard itself, whose servicemen combine combat training with work in the main specialty, is an organized reserve. There is also an unorganized (individual) reserve, which consists of persons with sufficient military training, that is, those who have recently completed military service and do not need additional training.
In general, it can be noted that the formation of a mobilization reserve from people signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense is another step towards the formation of a modern professional army in the country. In the Russian army, the number of contract soldiers already exceeds the number of conscripts. On November 7, 2017, the Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army Valery Gerasimov, said that the number of contract soldiers in the troops over the past 5 years has doubled and amounted to 384 thousand people. According to plans, by the end of 2018, 425 thousand contract soldiers, 220 thousand officers and 50 thousand warrant officers and warrant officers should serve in the Russian army. Thus, the share of professional military personnel will reach 70 percent.
Currently, the military enlistment offices are responsible for the formation of the mobilization reserve. Not all of them have started the relevant work yet. At the same time, in some, for example, in the Rostov region, a recruitment of reservists is already underway. In the military registration and enlistment office of Novoshakhtinsk in the Rostov region, reserve servicemen can already sign a contract for service in the reserve. As the newspaper "Izvestia" notes with reference to the military registration and enlistment office of Novoshakhtinsk, for this, citizens must appear at the military registration and enlistment office, having a military ID and passport with them. After signing the contract, the reserve soldier will be required to undergo special training for 2-3 days every month and annual fees ranging from 20 to 30 days. It will be possible to recruit a person from the mobilization reserve at any time: in the event of a major exercise, the announcement of a special or threatened period, emergency situations, or simply with an acute shortage of military specialists in the units.
Earlier, the experiment on the formation of a new mobilization reserve took place in some regions of Russia. The Northern Fleet also participated in the experiment, which actively cooperated with the military registration and enlistment offices of the Murmansk region. The aim of the experiment, which was launched in the Northern Fleet in August 2015, was to improve the existing system of training and accumulation of mobilization manpower resources. In an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, the head of the organizational and mobilization department (WMD) of the Northern Fleet headquarters, Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Kondratov, said that the first contract for the mobilization reserve on a voluntary basis is signed for 3 years, subsequent contracts for up to 5 years. years. At the same time, there are age restrictions for reservists, they are for each category of citizens who are in the reserve. For example, soldiers, sailors, sergeants, warrant officers and warrant officers can conclude the first contract for being in the mobilization reserve up to 42 years old, junior officers up to 47 years old, senior officers up to 57 years old.
The main difference between the new approach to the formation of a mobilization reserve is that when a mobilization is announced, the reservist must himself arrive at the military unit, bypassing the military registration and enlistment offices, and begin to perform his duties according to the position held according to the staff category. In addition, once a year, the reservist goes to military training sessions for up to 30 days, and every month, for one to three days, various training sessions are held with him according to the plans of military units and formations to which the reservist is assigned in accordance with the contract. At the same time, the total duration of the training was taken into account, which for a year of stay in the mobilization reserve cannot exceed 54 days.
The new system of organized mobilization reserve will make it possible to train and then maintain highly qualified personnel in combat readiness, ensuring the rapid transfer of personnel to different theaters of military operations, where there will be a need to deploy new formations, but the local mobilization resource is not enough. According to military expert Viktor Murakhovsky, the new system for attracting personnel will increase the defense capability of the Far East. Parts of this region have equipment, but there is a shortage of personnel.
Money question
According to Izvestia, soldiers and officers entering the mobilization reserve will receive a one-time payment upon signing a contract: for a three-year period - in the amount of a salary, for 5 years or more - 1.5 times more. The salary of a professional reservist will consist of his official salary, regional coefficient and payments for the title. For example, a platoon commander with the rank of senior lieutenant in the central part of the Russian Federation will receive 27.5 thousand rubles. The squad leader with the rank of sergeant in the Kemerovo region (there is a regional allowance: "northern" - 30 percent) - 25, 3 thousand rubles. True, this sum of money will be paid in full only during military training. In the rest of the period, that is, 11 months a year, contract reservists will be paid only 12 percent of their salary. In this case, a senior lieutenant from the central part of Russia will receive 3, 3 thousand rubles a month, a sergeant in the Kemerovo region - 3, 036 thousand rubles.
This payment procedure is provided for by the decree of the government of the Russian Federation "On establishing the amount of monthly salary for citizens of the Russian Federation who are in the mobilization manpower reserve, except for the period of military training" dated December 23, 2015. During the passage of fees, the state guarantees the reservist the preservation of the average salary or scholarship. In addition, it will cover all the costs of renting housing, travel fees and return home, travel expenses.
There are separate allowances for seniority. For example, 3 years after being included in the mobilization reserve, reservists will be able to receive an additional 10 percent of their salary. Over the years, this payment will grow, the maximum allowance - 50 percent will be available after 20 years of continuous stay in the mobilization reserve.
How it will work
An important difference, which was already mentioned above, will be that the reservist will be assigned to a specific military unit or to the CEMR - the Mobilization Deployment Support Center, where he will undergo training. This is one of the main advantages of the talent pool. It is impossible to create truly combat-ready and trained units, when the fighters are well acquainted with each other (at least at the level of squads and crews) and have real experience of interaction in the framework of training and military training, it is impossible due to the usual storerooms that appear in the army at best once in many years of being in stock.
Military expert Vladislav Shurygin, commenting on the formation of the mobilization reserve to Izvestia journalists, noted that there are such concepts as current and temporary shortage (TNK and VNK). For example, a serviceman has been transferred to a new duty station, and no one has yet been appointed to his place. This is a temporary shortage. And if a serviceman falls ill and will no longer be able to carry out his direct duties, this is the current shortage. Thus, TNK and VNK can significantly affect the combat capability of military units. For example, a battalion may lack not only a few mechanized drivers and machine gunners, but also a company commander. Their absence will significantly affect the ability of this battalion to solve combat missions. There are also positions that are introduced only in case of war, for example, assistant machine gunner. In peacetime, such positions are not needed, but in combat conditions they are necessary. Reservists-contractors who have signed a contract and are assigned to a specific military unit will be able to replace TNK and VNK, their other task will be to make up for losses in wartime.
Separately, experts highlight the fate of the storage and repair bases for military equipment (BHiRVT), which will be disbanded. Until recently, the Ground Forces alone had more than 40 such bases (14 motorized rifle bases). At the present time in Russia there is already a reorganization of motorized rifle BCiRVT. About a third of them are closed. Mostly, they used to only store equipment, while the staffing of such bases did not allow maintaining the stored equipment in proper technical condition. Now, in the TSOMRs created on their basis, they will store military equipment and train reservists. If necessary, such centers will be transformed into full-fledged formations and military units.
It is known that a new modern infrastructure will be built for TsOMRs. So, back in 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the design of a new BCiRVT located on Sakhalin. This project can be called an illustration of what the Mobilization Deployment Support Center will look like. The military town planned for construction near the village of Dachnoye will be equipped with barracks to accommodate 521 soldiers and sergeants, headquarters and training buildings, a parking area of 700 thousand square meters, a heated storage for 1, 2 thousand cars, as well as warehouses for missile and artillery weapons and property. Also, special areas for storage and repair of equipment will be built. This infrastructure will allow, in the event of a training camp, to receive an entire battalion of reservists without any problems, to conduct the necessary exercises with them and work on routine maintenance of military equipment.
