On October 1, Russia celebrates the Day of the Ground Forces. This is a professional holiday for servicemen and civilian personnel of the oldest branch of the armed forces of our country. Despite the fact that the history of the Russian army goes back more than one century, the Day of the Ground Forces is a young holiday. This year he just celebrated his tenth anniversary. On May 31, 2006, the President of the Russian Federation and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin signed Decree No. 549 "On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation." In accordance with this document, the Day of the Ground Forces was set for October 1. This date, by the way, was not chosen by chance. 466 years ago, on October 1, 1550, the Grand Duke of Moscow and the Tsar of All Russia Ivan the Terrible issued the Sentence "On the placement in Moscow and surrounding districts of a selected thousand of service people." This decree of the tsar marked the beginning of the formation of regular ground forces in Russia.
The history of modern Russian ground forces goes back to the Soviet period. It was after the end of the Great Patriotic War that the final formation of the Ground Forces took place as a separate branch of the Armed Forces of the USSR. In 1946, Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was appointed the first commander-in-chief of the Land Forces of the USSR. The ground forces of the Soviet Union remained the largest and most massive part of the Armed Forces of the USSR. The basis of their power was made up of motorized rifle and tank forces.
The Land Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the heir to the traditions and glorious combat path of the Soviet Land Forces. The official date of the creation of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation is May 7, 1992. Automatically, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation included units and formations of the Armed Forces of the USSR, directorates, institutions, military educational institutions, which were located before the proclamation of Russia's independence on the territory of the RSFSR. In addition, they included units and formations, institutions under Russian jurisdiction, but stationed in the Transcaucasian Military District, which were part of the Western, Northern, North-Western groups of forces, the Black Sea Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, the Caspian Flotilla, the 14th guards army, military formations located abroad on the territory of Germany, Mongolia, Cuba and some other foreign states. The total number of personnel was more than 2, 8 million people. Almost immediately after the formation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, large-scale personnel reductions began.
Already in 1992, over 1 million people served in the Land Forces, and a year later, in 1993, there were 900 thousand people in the Land Forces. The reductions in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during the 1990s were of a systemic nature. Tens of thousands of highly professional specialists - officers and warrant officers - left the ranks of the army. Many of them were very young people. Officers who had recently graduated from military educational institutions were retired to the reserve. Some of them went to the police, to the new power structures - the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the special services, many - to the security companies that were being created, but the majority simply went to "civilian life", where they realized themselves in a variety of professions.
Practically from the first days of its existence, the Russian Ground Forces had to participate in a number of armed conflicts in the post-Soviet space. The longest and most tragic of them was the restoration of constitutional order in the Chechen Republic. Tens of thousands of officers, warrant officers, sergeants and soldiers of the Russian ground forces passed through two Chechen campaigns. Motorized riflemen, tankmen, artillerymen, signalmen, sappers, representatives of all other types of troops that were part of the Ground Forces took part in hostilities in the North Caucasus. Thousands of servicemen gave their lives there. At the same time, counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus have become an invaluable school of combat experience for a new generation of Russian servicemen, although, of course, there would have been no better reason for acquiring such experience in modern Russian history. Hundreds of servicemen were awarded high state awards for their courage and heroism. Unfortunately, many were awarded posthumously …
When peace was established in Chechnya, and the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus acquired a much smaller scale than before, it seemed that a peaceful period in the life of the Russian army was beginning. But in 2008, the Ground Forces came to the aid of the people of South Ossetia. In this armed conflict, which went down in history as the "August war of 2008", the servicemen again showed high professionalism and skill in solving combat missions.
Changes in the world and domestic Russian political situation dictated the need to modernize the Russian Ground Forces. It was obvious that the Ground Forces, like the entire Armed Forces of Russia as a whole, needed large-scale reform. Of course, the reform of the Russian army took place not without overlaps and met with both approval and harsh criticism from both the professional military and the general public. They especially criticized the actions of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who, prior to his appointment to the post, was a purely civilian who had extensive experience in leadership only in business and in the tax authorities. It is Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and General of the Army Nikolai Makarov, who at that time held the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who are named among the main organizers and leaders of the grand reform of the Russian armed forces, which took place in 2008-2012.
By the time the military reform began, 322,000 servicemen were serving in the Land Forces of the Russian Federation. Over the 15 years that have passed since their creation, the number of this branch of the Russian Armed Forces has decreased by about 600,000 people. The number of ground forces divisions has been cut almost fourfold - from 100 in 1992 to 24 in 2008. However, the reduction of the Armed Forces was not accompanied by any large-scale organizational and structural changes that would radically distinguish them from the Soviet Army. This became the main problem that made it difficult to control the Armed Forces in modern conditions.
So, by 2008, the Russian Ground Forces included three tank, sixteen motorized rifle divisions, five machine gun and artillery divisions, twelve separate motorized rifle and rifle brigades, and two divisional military bases. However, according to experts, of these 24 divisions, only five divisions and the 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan were fully deployed. Of these five divisions, three were stationed in the North Caucasian Military District. Most ground divisions had only one or two deployed regiments. That is, in fact, only a small part of the country's Ground Forces could be classified as combat readiness forces. The rest of the connections were supposed to be completed by mobilization if necessary. At the same time, it was clear to many military specialists that such a structure did not meet the challenges of our time, which dictate the need for a constantly combat-ready force capable of solving assigned tasks in the shortest possible time.
In short, the essence of the military reform that took place in 2008-2012 was the modernization of the Russian armed forces and their transformation into forces of constant combat readiness, capable of carrying out orders anywhere in the world at any time. As subsequent events in Crimea or Syria showed, in many respects the country's leadership really managed to achieve its goals. As a result of the reform, large-scale reductions in the central military administration were carried out, the number of officers was reduced, the institution of ensigns was liquidated and a partial transition to a contract basis was made. However, not all of these decisions were subsequently recognized as adequate to the needs of the Russian armed forces. In particular, the liquidation of the institution of warrant officers was subjected to widespread criticism. In fact, Russian ensigns served not only in warehouses, canteens and checkpoints. Most of them were nevertheless high-class specialists, with extensive service, and often combat experience. Company and battery foremen, platoon commanders, technicians - how can you say that they all needed redundancy or transfer to the sergeant category? In addition, the creation of the institution of professional sergeants faced numerous organizational difficulties.
The military reform begun by Anatoly Serdyukov was to be corrected by his successor as the country's defense minister, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu. In particular, back in 2013 he announced the return of the institute of warrant officers and warrant officers in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On July 1, 2013, a new staffing table was introduced, which added positions for warrant officers and warrant officers. These are only command and technical positions, for example - the commander of a service platoon or commander of a combat vehicle, a company technician or head of a radio station, etc.
As you know, during the years of Anatoly Serdyukov's leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Russian army was transferred to a brigade basis. In the Ground Forces, the army, corps and divisional links were eliminated. The authors of the reform explained this decision by the need to increase the mobility and efficiency of troops. In 2009, 23 divisions of the ground forces were disbanded. There was only one machine-gun and artillery division in the Kuril Islands, as well as the 201st military base. Instead of divisions, 40 deployed brigades and brigade military bases were created. By the end of 2009, 85 brigades had been created. It was possible to achieve 95% - 100% of their staffing, which turned all these brigades into combat readiness. The reserve component of the ground forces remained military bases where military equipment was stored. On their basis, it was possible to deploy additional connections if the need arose.
However, already in 2013, the revival of divisions in the ground forces began to be actively discussed. Soon the whole country became convinced that these were not just rumors. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu revived the famous Taman and Kantemirovsk divisions. In July 2016, Shoigu announced the formation of four new divisions in the ground forces. Thus, the Russian army returns to the usual divisional structure, at the same time, without abandoning the brigade structure. The need to create new divisions is dictated by the very political situation. After the coup in Kiev and the outbreak of the armed conflict in Donbass, a new restless neighbor has appeared on the border with Russia, from whom everyone can be expected. As the sorties of Ukrainian saboteurs in Crimea have shown, armed provocations can be expected from a neighbor. In order to cover the strategic directions, new divisions are being formed. One of them will be located on the territory of the Rostov region, where military camps and training complexes are already being built for it.
A great achievement in the direction of strengthening the combat capability of the Ground Forces was the supply of new military equipment. In recent years, the armament of the Russian army has been seriously updated. The air defense systems of S-300-V4 air defense systems, Verba MANPADS, Tor-M2, Buk-M2 and Buk-M3 air defense systems have entered service; Coalition-SV inter-service artillery complex, Tornado-S new generation rocket launcher, Tornado-G multiple launch rocket system, Chrysanthemum-S self-propelled ATGM system, Iskander OTRK, which is already in service with several Russian ground brigades troops.
Thus, in almost a quarter of a century of its existence, the Russian ground forces have traveled a difficult path, full of both victories and bitterness. They currently remain the backbone of the Russian military. According to open sources, by 2016, about 395,000 people served in the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. Thus, the number of troops in comparison with 2008 has increased significantly. The Ground Forces include 11 armies deployed in the territories of four military districts - Western, Southern, Eastern and Central. The Ground Forces include motorized rifle troops, tank troops, missile troops and artillery, air defense troops, and special troops. They consist of combined arms armies, motorized rifle and tank divisions, machine-gun and artillery divisions, tank, motorized rifle, airborne assault brigades, cover brigades, military bases, units and formations of missile and artillery forces, air defense, and special forces.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation is currently Colonel-General Oleg Salyukov (pictured). An experienced military leader, Oleg Leonidovich Salyukov, took up this high position on May 2, 2014. Before being appointed commander-in-chief Salyukov from 2010 to 2014. served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and in 2008-2010. commanded the troops of the Far Eastern Military District. In 2006, when he was still the chief of staff of the Far Eastern Military District, Oleg Salyukov was awarded the military rank of Colonel General. In 2014, 2015 and 2016 Colonel-General Salyukov commanded the Victory Day military parades on Red Square in Moscow.
On the holiday of the Russian Land Forces, servicemen, veterans of the troops, and civilian civilian personnel can only wish valiant service and good spirits, health, success in all endeavors, and most importantly, do without losses.
