Russia’s “Spineless” Army

Paper Sergeants!

A critical test for the reform of the Russian armed forces is whether and to what extent a new generation of professional non-commissioned officers (NCOs) can be formed. Marshal Zhukov once stated, “I and the NCOs run the Army.” Yet, the NCO cadre has effectively ceased to exist in Russia, and the latest efforts to address this crucial issue have been encased in another experiment.

It appeared that the defense ministry was serious about reforming the NCO cadre, and despite early setbacks in 2009 a prestigious 34 month course was opened in Ryazan in December 2009 to train professional NCOs for the Ground Forces, Airborne Forces (Vozdushno Desantnye Voyska –VDV) and a variety of military specialties. Failure to secure enough cadets for the course, or address how to develop the Ryazan model to produce sufficient numbers of NCOs for the armed forces signaled deeper problems. On April 6, 2011, Krasnaya Zvezda reported on a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, to the VDV 45th Guards Spetsnaz Regiment in Kubinka, west of Moscow. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technician asked his commander-in-chief about the career structure for contract NCOs. Medvedev speculated that an NCO might progress to become an officer: Serdyukov was promptly told to examine it (Krasnaya Zvezda, April 6).

Much of the official reporting on the progress of the Ryazan NCO experiment has been positive, emphasizing pay and conditions, with cadets paid 21,000 rubles monthly ($746.57) –provided their grades are “excellent,” while others receive 16,000 rubles ($568.81). Consistent with plans to increase pay and allowances throughout the armed forces in 2012, professional NCOs will be paid up to 34,000 rubles monthly ($1,208.73). Krasnaya Zvezda stresses that two categories of cadet enter the professional NCO course in Ryazan: those who have completed conscript service and no older than 24, and contract personnel aged up to 30. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Colonel-General Alexander Postnikov remains broadly supportive of the course and its aims, though he has called for professional NCOs to be trained in ten month courses (Krasnaya Zvezda, February 26; Interfax, March 15).

Highlighting the crucial nature of the issue, Colonel (retired) Vitaly Shlykov sharply criticized current plans to form a new NCO cadre. In Voyenno Promyshlennyy Kuryer, Shlykov’s indictment of the defense ministry appeared in the second of a three-part series titled: “Beskhrebetnaya Armiya” (Spineless Army). Arguing that for more than fifty years the US systematically worked on developing the world’s finest NCO corps, while Russia meandered in the opposite direction, Shlykov dismissed the Ryazan experiment as a mere.....