An officer of modern Russia - who is he? Does he proudly wear his uniform or is he ashamed of it? The answer for many is obvious. Especially for the officers themselves and for their families.
The sacred duty of every citizen is to defend the Motherland. Officers in the service of Russia fulfill this duty to the fullest. But for some reason there is no talk about the state's duty to these people. And it should be. Someone, of course, may object. To say that there are certain benefits for officers, for example, free medical care, once a year - free travel for the officer's family members to the place of vacation and back, even state certificates for housing. But the officers and their families are well aware of the reluctance with which the state takes these steps in relation to people who give years of their lives, and often their health, to protect it. In reality, one can only see a deterioration in the social security of both servicemen and their families. And only various media outlets unreasonably publish statements by officials about increasing the pay for officers. In fact, at best, this turns out to be a penny salary increase, often a one-time one. Here it is appropriate to recall the sensational “400th order” of the Minister of the Russian Federation of September 2, 2008, which was notorious at the time. Why it was created is still a mystery for many servicemen. Instead of evenly distributing payments among officers, the state then simply “appointed the best,” and everyone else was simply out of work.
When the situation is so difficult in general, the issue of young officer families is especially acute. A large-scale reduction of the officer corps is coming, and what it will entail, only God knows … But it is already clear that the reform of the army will entail multiple transfers from garrison to garrison for a huge number of officers and their families. This means that their children will need to be placed in new schools, kindergartens and colleges. Many senior citizens have faced this problem more than once. As it usually happens: the officer is transferred to another city, and he goes to a kindergarten located not far from the military unit. And what do they answer him? It is advised to sign up in line, or, even better, to bring up children at home. And this, in turn, leads to another problem. Indeed, in this case, the officer's wife is forced to give up work and stay at home with the children. That, with a very small rate of captains, lieutenants, and even more so, contract soldiers, very noticeably hits the family budget. It is not without reason that Viktor Zavarzin, Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, insisted on amending the Law "On the Status of Servicemen." The law now allegedly guarantees for the children of officers the right of priority admission to general education and preschool institutions. It should also be noted that the Ministry of Defense undertakes to compensate the officers for the kindergarten fees.
All this, of course, is good, but facts are stubborn things. And the facts show that about 31 percent of the families of officers are below the poverty line. Due to the constant lack of money, about 41 percent of junior officers are not married, and 19 percent of senior officers are afraid of having children. And this is not surprising. Prices for baby clothes, toys, food are a huge part of any family's budget. For example, the Cybex stroller alone costs about three hundred euros. Not every family can afford this luxury. What then can be said about the families of officers with their meager pay?
At the same time, the state creates laws, makes amendments to existing ones and, with the help of the media, talks about how it takes care of servicemen. Where is this concern in practice? But young officers' families, like no one else, need such care. Huge sums of money are allocated annually and monthly from the budget. Especially now, when a decision has been made to reorganize the army. Where this money goes, ordinary officers for the most part do not even know.
Funny and sad at the same time. Because the most important problem for the state is the annual change of the style of buttons on a soldier's uniform. Then it is presented as a reorganization of the army. And human problems, in particular, the problems of young officers' families, often simply remain behind the scenes of state policy. Such is the bitter truth …
