Translated material
Minister of Defense
Sergei Ivanov fought off hazing
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov yesterday was forced to become a guest of the State Duma’s government hour. The parliamentarians wanted to hear from the head of the military department what he was going to do to eradicate hazing in the troops. The scandal surrounding hazing in the Russian army erupted a little over a month ago, when details of the abuse of private Andrei Sychev from the support unit of the Chelyabinsk Tank School leaked to the press. The Minister of Defense did not go into defense yesterday. Remembering that its best form is offensive, he immediately began to attack both politicians and the media. “The current wave of anti-army sentiment has literally swept over the entire Russian society,” the minister complained. In his opinion, some politicians are trying to make a name for themselves by artificially inflating the scandal. “Moreover, there have already been open calls for acts of disobedience and a boycott of the spring conscription campaign,” the Deputy Prime Minister was indignant and called on the constitutional and legal authorities to sort this out.Further, the minister chose the tactics favored by Russian bureaucrats - all problems, they say, are rooted in the state of society itself. According to Mr. Ivanov, “hazing in our country starts in kindergarten, that’s the kind of society we have.” And the armed forces today, the minister believes, are one of the most law-abiding institutions in this society. If on average in the country the number of crimes for every 10 thousand people is 246, then in the military environment it is “only” 167.
Nevertheless, according to the minister, all possible measures are being taken in the army to restore order. A new instruction “on organizing the recording of information about crimes and incidents” has recently been developed and has already been put into effect. In other words, a unified methodology for recording manifestations of the same hazing has been developed, and measures of influence on those bosses who try to hide an emergency in the unit have been significantly tightened. Now the officer who honestly reported the incident will not be punished. Moreover, the deputy commander can now report on the incident directly, over the head of his superior. This somewhat undermines the principle of unity of command, but it will definitely have an effect. In each such case, the guilty officials will be held accountable, up to and including dismissal without due benefits. Minister Ivanov also said that training programs at military universities will change - future officers will begin to more substantively instill the skills of individual educational work with subordinates, mainly with contract soldiers.
Naturally, the Minister of Defense did not ignore the bill “On Disciplinary Arrest,” the text of which has been in the State Duma since May last year. “How many years can you wait? - Sergei Ivanov advanced on the deputies. “This law could significantly increase the ability of commanders and superiors of all levels to maintain statutory order.” Judging by the reaction of the majority of people's representatives, the law on the return of the guardhouse will be adopted in the near future. But this time Sergei Ivanov went even further in his demands. He, in particular, expressed hope for the support of deputies when the issue of creating disciplinary courts in military units and some other individual military formations is decided. The reaction to this proposal was not so violent. But there are deputies who propose to revive courts of honor and officer meetings in the army.
The Deputy Prime Minister apparently prepared well for the meeting with the deputies. His speech was replete with specific, sometimes unexpected even for military deputies, proposals. Sergei Ivanov, for example, advocated the disbandment of disciplinary battalions, which had become a real anachronism. The famous disbats are a kind of internal penitentiary system in the armed forces, which is not the case in the armies of other states. The elimination of disbats will free up more than a thousand officers, who, the minister believes, could well be retrained as army educators. Military priests - chaplains - should also educate fighters. The Russian Orthodox Church has already reached an agreement with the Ministry of Defense, and the corresponding law has been prepared.
Sergei Ivanov also said that the Ministry of Defense is studying the issue of creating a military police, and within the framework of the military department. Those deputies who support the Minister of Defense on this issue are still inclined to ensure that the military police should be independent of the military department. In addition, the Minister of Defense himself admitted that the military police are not a panacea for hazing. He also admitted that the Ministry of Defense is not yet ready to make concrete proposals on mechanisms for the formation of the military police.
Sergei Ivanov's proposal to transfer all sergeants and foremen to a contract was met with understanding. Today, 109 thousand people serve in the army and navy as sergeants and foremen, of which only 23 thousand are under contract. In 2008, there will be 26 thousand more professional sergeants. To transfer almost 60 thousand remaining sergeants and foremen to contracts, 31 billion rubles will be required. By the way, for several years now the analytical documents of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (SVOP) have contained a proposal to strengthen the institution of professional sergeants. This scheme has worked well in the American army.
Returning educational officers to companies and battalions is also a measure that has long been discussed by military experts. It looks like she is taking on real features. Already next year, the first 450 officers of this specialty will come from military universities to the troops. To make the profession of a low-level educational officer more attractive, deputy commanders of companies and battalions will be given additional incentives. A company commander, for example, can rise to the rank of major. Provided that he stays in this position for at least two years.
In general, Sergei Ivanov looks to the future with optimism. He believes that the Russian army is not in a state of crisis, as some media write about it. “Objective indicators” indicate just the opposite, the Deputy Prime Minister is sure. And if all the proposals made are put into practice, then things will go brilliantly. If only the conscription contingent were better. And then of the conscripts last fall, only 20% were allowed to serve with weapons. 10% of recruits have poor health, the same number are underweight, 2% are suicidal. It would be logical to draw a simple conclusion that such people, in principle, should not be drafted into the army, if this method of recruiting it is maintained at all. Sergei Ivanov made a completely different conclusion: the Russian Defense Sports and Technical Organization (ROSTO - the successor to DOSAAF), which trains personnel for the armed forces, should be financed in a separate line.
And the minister concluded his speech in a very extravagant manner. First, turning to invisible opponents and, apparently, revealing their insidious intentions, he quoted Leon Trotsky: “No peace, no war, disband the army.” Then he put an effective point: “You can’t wait!” Although no one in Russia has yet come up with the idea of disbanding the army.