In uniform

Dead end

January 17, 2011 Alexander Golts

The chairman of the State Duma Committee, Viktor Zavarzin, and a group of deputies of United Russia, was introduced in what is sometimes called parliament, a bill, which involves an elongation of the deadline for a spring draft in the army until August 31 (now until July 15). The accompanying note claims: the proposed measure will help, they say, to rebuild the training of military service soldiers in such a way as to reduce the term of stay in training centers to three months.

However, everyone understands what the real goal of the new law is. If these proposals are approved, military registration and enlistment office will be able to pass into the army of university graduates immediately after receiving diplomas, depriving them of a chance to go to graduate school or get a job. Some pessimists believe that the extension of the appeal period will allow us to grab school graduates, preventing them from entering the university. Well, yes, of course, this is an obvious violation of the law. But, according to human rights organizations, dozens of laws were violated during the past autumn call. In the army, all who did not have time to hide: students, migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan, immigrants from the Caucasus, who did not even have Moscow registration. So the violation of the law does not bother anyone. The main thing is that legislators increase the time of the reservation season of recruits.

The proposal to increase the deadline for the first time was made in May last year, when the head of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Administration of the General Staff Vasily Smirnov played in the Federation Council. I must say that then the retired general did not try to let the fog and did not conduct any change in the schedule of studying the science soldiers. Smirnov then recognized the obvious for the first time: due to demographic problems, it is not possible to recruit the necessary 750 thousand recruits annually. As a way, Smirnov proposed a whole set of dragon measures. For example, to increase the maximum draft age from the current 27 to 30 years. 70 percent of universities should lose the right to grant a deferral from the call (which will allow “cutting foreheads” to students of 1 and 2 courses of most institutions of the country). Finally, it is proposed to abandon the practice uncomfortable for the Ministry of Defense, when every potential recruit must personally sign on the agenda handed to him. It is proposed to send them SMS notifications, and in case of failure to appear at the military registration and enlistment office, subject them to criminal prosecution.

Then the head of the General Staff hastened to disavow Smirnov. But now his proposals gain the form of bills. In fact, everything that happens is an obvious evidence of the beginning collapse of the current system of completing the armed forces. The reasons are well known-every year the number of 18-year-old boys decreases. For two years now, there are fewer of their cherished 750 thousand. Experts know very well: in the coming years, the deficiency of conscripts will be 250-300 thousand people annually, and since 2015-even more. The tales of Vasily Smirnov that the problem can be solved by catching a million those who avoided calling in previous years have exactly any relation to reality. If the Russian chiefs had mathematical knowledge in the amount of the requirements of the 5th grade of secondary school, they would know that such calculations were meaningless. Even if a miracle happens, and Vasily Smirnov, with the support of the police, will be able to catch a million 25-26-year-olds (who were safely avoided for 7-8 years), this can delay the full collapse of the draft system for only two to three years. To hold out a couple of years with a feeding trough for Mr. Smirnov is, of course, important. For the country - not too much.

It is important that the country is important that due to a thoughtless rate exclusively for coercion during the formation of the armed forces, the country may lose the army as such. All this nonsense will not replenish the army ranks. Unless the wallets of subordinates to Smirnov employees of military commissariats. Obviously, under any circumstances, it will not be possible to form armed forces of one million (and besides them, military service is provided in a dozen of the so -called power departments - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Ministry of Emergencies, etc.). Initially, an unattainable goal can pervert the meaning of the military reform now carried out. After all, the use of troops will be planned based on a number that cannot be achieved.

Moreover, right now, during the call, it turns out that the army is not needed even by those military soldiers who managed to be cut. Indeed, as a result of the transition to the so -called new appearance of the armed forces, the number of units and formations of the ground forces decreased by 11 times. More than a thousand parts of part -time were simply closed. But it was they who took most of the draftees. The same compounds that are saved do not have enough barracks to place an increased number of conscripts. Human rights activists claim that soldiers are settled in tents in the winter.

There are two approaches before our eyes - an attempt contrary to everything to maintain a fantom of a millionth number and an attempt to build an army on rational foundations. We have to state that so far those who consciously lead the system of forming the armed forces to a dead end are overpowering.