For too long, the Russian military has been in a sense of nostalgia with the concept of a big military being an effective miliary. In recent months, President Medvedev has finally taken the necessary steps to streamline the Russian military in a direction that will change the way Russia does war. It’s about time.
In the past, Russia focused on rapid mobilization through the use of conscription and mass mobilization in times of large, conventional wars. With the emergence of nuclear weapons, though, there is no need for large tactical units because no nuclear power will attack another. Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) nearly guarantees that a neer-peer threat won’t ever emerge for nations like Russia and therefore, supporting this bloated military is useless. In place of it, Medvedev is hoping to create a smaller, but much more efficient military.
The first thing to go is the removal of twenty five percent of the military. The section that will get hit the most are the officers. This is rightfully so. It is worrisome when roughly 355,000 of the total 1.2 million soldier army is officers. This is a ridiculously high number and absolutely needs to be cut. According to RBTH, warrant officers (a large bulk of the 355,000) will be released and in their place will come professional sergeants.
These professional sergeants will take the place of training away from second year conscripts. In history’s past, these second year conscripts were responsible for first year conscripts and it resulted in horrendous hazing. It resulted in poor morale and, more importantly, poor training. With these sergeants now responsible for training, the average soldier that will come out of Russia will be much more capable on the battle field.
All of this is important because it demonstrates that Russia is slowly accepting the fact that NATO and China are not actually threats to their sovereignty. Russia continued to hold their large military because it was an effective deterant NATO and China from invading. However, by reducing their military and focusing on small, localized wars, Russia is accepting that threats aren’t from near-peers, but potentially, from threats that the United States is currently dealing with. In place of a military that can do war with America, they are creating one that can do war with insurgents.
Russia needs to do more, though, to honestly step into the second decade of the 21st century with a strong and capable armed forces. Getting rid of their corruption is an absolute must. Instead of buying Russian made weapons because they are Russan made, the Russian military needs to get the best weapons they can. According to an article by the NPR, they’re beginning to. For the first time in Russia’s history, the defense department went abroad for the acquiring of their weapons.
All of this leads up to the ultimate goal of Russia being able to see past history’s ideological standpoints and see the United States and the West as an ally and not a threat. Beginning to focus more on the effectiveness of the soldiers and their weapons is an obvious step in the right direction. It’s also a step in the right direction towards the eradication of near-peer wars. By admitting that nuclear threats will be kept at bay because of nuclear weapons is an incredibly wise and mature acknowledgment and is one that will guide Russia towards continuous successes in the future.
In the end, though, until the Cold War veterans begin to die out and the new, modern Russians begin to rise up, there will always be that ideological tie. That’s why, this modernization of the army is only a step towards the ultimate goal. It’ll take more than just that to guarantee Russia’s place as a superpower for years to come.
Image found on flickr courtsy Peter Gutierrez.
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