ITAR-TASS reports today that the reform of the operational-strategic level of command and control has entered its final phase. According to the Genshtab’s plan, on 1 December 2010 military districts (MDs) will shrink from 6 to 4. A Genshtab source told ITAR-TASS that 4 MDs and operational-strategic commands (OSK or ОСК) will be formed–Western, Southern, Central, and Eastern, with their commanders having operational control over all (or most) of the troops (forces) of the armed forces and other militarized structures located on their territory.
The Genshtab representative says the Western MD/OSK, based in Piter, will include the Moscow and Leningrad MDs, with Baltic and Northern Fleets, VVS, VDV, and other militarized structures operationally subordinate to it. The Southern MD/OSK in Rostov-na-Donu will have the North Caucasus MD, with the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla operationally subordinate. The Central MD/OSK in Yekaterinburg will have the Volga-Ural MD and the western part of the Siberian MD. The Eastern MD/OSK in Khabarovsk will have the eastern part of the Siberian MD and the Far East MD, with the Pacific Fleet operationally subordinate to it.
The question of subordinating units and formations of the RVSN, naval strategic nuclear forces, LRA, and the Space Troops hasn’t been decided. According to the source:
“This issue is now under long-term study, Genshtab Chief Army General Nikolay Makarov is personally occupied with it.”
The Genshtab source said the new MD/OSKs will be tested out during the Vostok-2010 operational-strategic exercise at the end of June.
ITAR-TASS said this major command change will not involve officer cuts, but there will be a redistribution of the officer corps to new service locations.
So there’s more smoke from a fire somewhere, presumably. If this pans out, it will be the culmination of a command and control change long talked about, and even tried out piecemeal at times. After many waves of reform since late 2008, one has to wonder whether this is the time for more disruption. Maybe it is since things are already disrupted. Which generals will be the winners or losers?
It will be hard to judge the value of this effort just from the name changes or the movement of a major combined formation from one order-of-battle column to another. A lot will depend on what the exact terms of ‘operational subordination’ are when it comes to the fleets and other major militarized formations outside the Defense Ministry’s administrative control. The four MD/OSK commanders will certainly have more responsibility, and they must be hoping and working to get the real authority they need to go along with it.
Russian Defense Policy 