The hatred of the officer corps towards Defense Minister Serdyukov is growing, and it is understandable why: over two years of reforms, more than 100 thousand officers were dismissed from the army, and not all of them received the promised benefits. Another 40 thousand officers have lost their posts and are removed from the staff: they receive only a meager salary in rank and are waiting for the promised apartments, which, of course, will not go to everyone either. The recruitment of cadets in military schools was stopped in 2010, it was announced that there will be no recruitment in 2011, and it is possible that in 2012 as well. The official version is an overabundance of lieutenants. For reference: this year, a third of graduates of military schools did not receive officer ranks - only sergeant shoulder straps. Finally, the third source of hatred for the current defense minister is the top generals, who are increasingly cut off from financial flows. Reduction of military districts from 6 to 4, the creation of Joint Strategic Commands, when - for the first time in our history - the forces of the fleet, aviation and ground forces are united under a single leadership, as it should be in a modern army, and, accordingly, a sharp decrease in the role of the main commanders - all this deprives the generals of not only posts - tools of control over resources. Here are the generals, taking advantage of the incident, which happen hundreds in the troops, with the help of organizations of retirees of the Airborne Forces, and give a signal to Putin and Medvedev: "Take down Serdyukov, or we will arrange my God." “My God,” they, of course, will not suit any: those who are not dismissed from the army are longingly awaiting January 1, 2012, when, as announced, salaries will be raised many times: the lieutenant will receive 50 thousand rubles and further, respectively. Therefore, college graduates agree to sergeant shoulder straps - they have a prospect.
So why did the abscess break through in the Airborne Forces? In addition to the fact that Serdyukov is not distinguished by excessive diplomacy, as they say, a reason was found. Some of the cunning political strategists close to the high opponents of the Minister of Defense decided that if a scandal arose around the church, then it would be possible to stir up the public on it - from a series of "ours are beaten" - and to involve the Russian Orthodox Church in the conflict as an institution with influence to the first persons.
Besides, the paratroopers are the commander-in-chief's reserve, that is, through the General Staff, they are directly subordinate to the president. Five battalions consisting of contract soldiers are also formed from the Airborne Forces - our version of the rapid reaction forces. The Janissaries beat the Sultan with their foreheads to displace the unwanted vizier.
Most likely, this whole campaign will turn into a mess: both Putin and Medvedev understand that the whole reform of the army rests on one person. And it is akin to Gaidar's reforms in the early 90s - both in the urgency of this reform, and in importance, and in the degree of its painfulness: people are in pain, they are losing positions, salaries, status, many have a not very bright future ahead. And humanly these people feel sorry for them. But there is no other way out: the war with Georgia has once again shown that our army, in the form in which it is, cannot fight: crushing a small country with a mass - but no problem, but to defeat a more serious enemy - the chances are zero. For twenty years in our country there was an army of a state that no longer exists - the USSR. And all these years it was decaying due to unsolvable internal problems: an excessive number of officers who did not do anything for years, the need to maintain incomplete formations that could not be used in hostilities without the announcement of mass mobilization. The state spent huge sums of money that disappeared without a trace. The situation has been pushed to the point where there are simply no other measures, except surgical ones (and, alas, without special anesthesia). There is no doubt: Serdyukov, just like Gaidar, will be cursed, not now, but sooner or later, when he does his "dirty work," they will be fired and blamed on him for all imaginary and real mistakes. Others, of course, will receive awards. But in the end, the country will get a different army. Who will win as a result? Homeland.
