The reason for writing this material was a video on YouTube, which is not only shocking, but shocking. The video has been posted for a long time and has been discussed on some military forums. However, in the context of today, this video is very indicative. The essence of the video is simple. A certain aunt in a white coat is scolding a platoon of cadets. Cadets apparently from the first year. In short, very short breaks between continuous obscenities, the aunt can hear human speech. Then it turns out that the aunt is not an aunt at all, but the head of the dining room of the Serpukhov Military Institute of the Strategic Missile Forces. Everyone calls her "Aunt Tanya". And she's just instructing the dining room outfit. But how skillfully she does it! Moreover, the graduates of this institute stand up for her. But reflections on what he saw are gloomy. It is clear that we are all adults and know swear words, but not to the same extent hammer these dirty words into young boys. All that remains is to sympathize with the parents of these guys. They just came off the mother's skirt. They would have to invest high in their brains, but they are given the finest mat. It becomes a shame for this aunt.
Officers
Enrollment in military schools has been stopped. They say it is temporary. I wonder who will fill the future vacant positions of junior officers, when the current juniors get the rank and they need to move on? Or is there a ceiling for today's juniors? On one of the sites, the correspondence of the former head of the course of one of the military schools. Let's call him Denis. He is 27 years old. And he has already been the head of the course. “Honored military men” cannot believe that Denis simply wanted to faithfully fulfill the duties of the NK. This young man, who has managed to occupy an important position of the NDT, reasons surprisingly in an adult way. He says with pain that he had little leverage over the cadets, and did not do it at all with the arrival of the current Ministry of Defense. Denis's words: “Now is a different time, a different morality, different methods of upbringing and, most importantly, other cadets. They come from society, and society has changed globally. These are the children of the 90s”. Denis “engagingly” told about his studies at the academy on refresher courses for NDT. The banal widespread non-compliance with the statutory provisions is shocking. Nobody salutes anyone. What for? Appearance? This is a separate story. Why about Denis in the past tense? Because this young officer, who sincerely wanted to achieve something useful in the Russian army, this army in the person of the head of the school was simply not needed. Denis talked a lot about the system of collecting money for various needs: cadets pass exams for money (teachers need an addition to DD), parents donate money to replenish the household inventory, and so on. It is a pity that this young officer, worthy of the best in the Russian army, is now a successful manager of an alcoholic company and at the age of 27 he has very good financial prospects. But 2 criminal cases were brought against the head of the school. But he did not keep a good officer who wanted to serve the Motherland.
Or the famous story at the Lipetsk Aviation Center. Also a young officer Igor Sulim. To some of the readers, perhaps his act seems not entirely ethical. But what is the ethics of senior officers who used their position, we can talk about. It is very similar to the creation of financial flows from corrupt traffic cops. And it will be a pity if Igor and his friends, young officers who have not yet burned out and want to serve in the Russian army (they still want to), completely discourage this desire.
Or another example. South of Russia. Air defense unit. The unit is engaged in airspace control from the south. The department has a very high responsibility. The subdivision is incomplete. Not all screens are occupied. People don't get enough sleep. The unit commander himself does not get out of the squads. He would have already resigned, but the housing issue has not been resolved.
But you never know such examples in units and subdivisions. But the most remarkable thing is that there are officers who really would like to continue serving in the Russian army. There are a lot of such officers. The state has invested a lot in their professional training. Nevertheless, it is the officers who actively want to serve, who are not silent about the shortcomings due to their dedicated attitude to the case, who fall under the reduction of OSHM or quit themselves. Very sorry!
Sergeants
Obviously, according to the Ministry of Defense, the hole in the cadres that will appear in connection with the termination of recruitment to military schools can be plugged by sergeants. And it’s true. There was a pompous advertisement for recruiting a number of military schools, repurposed to train sergeants in a 34-month program. What they just do not write. That only does not promise. You can get confused as to whom and how much money allowance was promised. We agreed that it would seem that the sergeants would receive more of the young lieutenant. Complete confusion. The need for the army and navy, which was indicated earlier, is almost 107 thousand people. However, in February of this year, the figure was changed to 65 thousand people by 2015. It seems that 200 new sergeants (this is the first graduation in 2012) are a significant contribution to solving the personnel problem. And again, sergeants will be trained in training from among conscripts. Then the moment of dismissal will come, and, without becoming a professional sergeant, hanging on himself clown aiguillettes, this failed professional leaves for civilian life.
In the distant eighties, our army was called an army without sergeants. Naturally, in the understanding of the Western armies. In fact, it is. How can you do without professional sergeants in the Strategic Missile Forces or the Navy? I remember the sergeants who went to the DB in fourth numbers in the Kartala division of the Strategic Missile Forces (this division has not been there for a long time). They were real professionals who, as a rule, graduated from technical schools. How can you do without a professional on the ships of the Navy? According to the figurative expression of the officers, for 2 years of service in the Navy, a sailor can only remember the path to the latrine and the galley. Is this where the foundations of bullying are buried? Was this not the development of the officers working with the personnel? After the last officer left the barracks, who remained in charge there? Since the sergeants could be insolvent, someone must have occupied this niche. Here is the conclusion.
It is an obvious fact that no final model has been developed for the modernization of the army. The leadership of the Ministry of Defense does not know what to strive for, and is trying to resolve the issue with chaotic movements. There is no dispute - modernization is needed in modern political and technological conditions. Just trying to replicate the NATO model?
But it's like jumping to the side to an unknown distance with unknown consequences. The commercialization of the army? And where is the accounting of the mentality of our recruiting contingent, the generation of the nineties? Again rhetorical questions that seem to have no answers.
Privates
The question of questions for today is conscription. I remember the old film "Soldier Ivan Brovkin". The scene in which Brovkin is offended that for bad behavior he might be denied conscription into the army is perceived as grotesque in today's conditions. The transformation of the call process itself, its philosophy led to colossal stratification in society. A few rhetorical questions. What is the percentage of children in the Russian army whose parents have housing in London? What is the percentage of children in the Russian army whose parents are going to move to live abroad? What is the percentage of urban residents in the Russian army? What is the percentage of rural residents in the Russian army?
By answering these questions, one can determine the quality of the modern Russian army. What kind of selection for high-tech units can we talk about? Who to choose from? The recruitment into the army turned into a banal execution of the plan for the heads. The number of people recruited coincided with the need, and it is good. And who is recruited, what is the quality of the contingent - this is not for us. So it turns out that even at the end of the service, the soldier understands little about military affairs.
Unfortunately, all these problems are very global. Society is sick, and so is the army. And I would like to hope that even during our lifetime we will see a new effective army.
