Tag Archives: Officers

Promotion List

Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin signed out his Constitution Day promotion list on December 12. You can view it here.

The 19 MOD promotees included two three-stars, a two-star, and 16 one-stars.

By comparison, Putin’s National Guard got two three-star, seven two-star, and 15 one-star appointments.

For the MOD, newly-minted General-Colonel Khalil Arslanov heads the General Staff’s Main Communications Directorate.

General-Colonel Arslanov wearing two stars

General-Colonel Arslanov wearing two stars

Also granted his third star, Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov commands the Northern Fleet. He was the sole naval officer promoted on this list.

Nikolay Yevmenov as a vice-admiral

Nikolay Yevmenov as a vice-admiral

Airborne Troops deputy commander Vladimir Kochetkov became a general-lieutenant.

The 16 general-majors include the:

  • Head of the Ground Troops’ Combat Training Directorate;
  • Chief of the VDV’s EW Service;
  • Deputy commander of air and air defense forces in the Central MD;
  • Deputy commander of the Southern MD’s 8th CAA;
  • Chief of Naval Aviation for the BSF;
  • Commander of the 4th Kantemir Tank Division;
  • Chief of Operations, Deputy Chief of Staff for Space Troops, Aerospace Forces;
  • Chief of the Central MD’s EW Service;
  • Commander of the Eastern MD’s 303rd Composite Aviation Division;
  • Chief of air and air defense troops for the Eastern MD staff.

There were four new generals for whom no position could be identified at this time.

Other generals and admirals besides those noted above have been added or updated.

The promotion list file now covers about 450 Russian general and flag officers.

Military Prestige

Russia experienced a drastic decline in the prestige of military service in the 1990s.  Generals, officers, and politicians have debated efforts and initiatives to resurrect it ever since.

The military’s prestige is represented or reflected in many things:  pay,  living conditions, budget resources, political emphasis, applications for VVUZ admission, etc.  But it’s still a slippery notion not easy to quantify.  One even occasionally reads that, in Soviet times, every girl wanted to marry an officer.  Not so today.

On February 23, 2000 [Defenders Day], acting RF President Vladimir Putin saw it this way:

“The prestige of military service has started to be reestablished.  The confidence and personal worth of people in shoulderboards has been reborn.”

“It’s not simple for our army today.  Perhaps harder than for other state structures.  Much depends today on the understanding and patience, on the continued patience of soldiers and officers.  And their wives.  On the feeling of responsibility for the state inherent in the military man from time immemorial.”

“I am absolutely convinced of the fact that we together will without fail restore the prestige of the Armed Forces, the prestige of the Armed Forces as civic-mindedness and patriotism!”

“I very much would like for our boys just as in former times to begin dreaming again of the profession of military pilot, military engineer, tanker, artilleryman, missileman, and for their parents to be sure that their sons made the correct choice.”

In late 2011, we’ve found out how Krasnaya zvezda’s readers see it.  The homepage of the Defense Ministry daily’s website has been asking its visitors about the prestige of the military for some time now. 

Is the Profession of Officer Prestigious in Russia?

And the results . . .

It's Not

Only 8 percent of 1,260 respondents say yes.  Only 12 percent say yes or probably yes.  Fifty-four percent say no, and 77 percent — three of every four — say no or probably no.

Not much progress in rebuilding the military’s prestige over the last 11 years.

Of course, it’s an Internet poll, it’s not random sampling, and it wouldn’t stand scientific scrutiny.  Nevertheless, it’s very revealing because it’s right on the [electronic] front page of the Defense Ministry’s newspaper.

Levada’s reported for some time on sagging esteem for the officer’s profession.  Last month only 6 percent of respondents picked army officer as the most respected profession in society.  Five percent picked criminal авторитет.  Only 2 percent considered army officer the most profitable career.

If it’s this difficult to make officer a prestigious profession, imagine how hard it is to make professional enlisted service in the Russian military a respected job.

Makarov Declares Transition to ‘New Profile’ Basically Complete

According to Rossiyskaya gazeta, General Staff Chief Nikolay Makarov told a foreign military attache audience that Russia’s new military doctrine, with a reinforced emphasis on possible first nuclear use, has gone for President Medvedev’s signature.  Makarov has declared the military’s transition to a ‘new profile’ basically complete.  He says all remaining formations and units are now in a permanent readiness condition.  Although only 9 days remain in 2009, he insists the Defense Ministry will get 45,500 apartments for servicemen this year.  In line with planned cuts, Makarov said officers who have served their full careers and have housing were dismissed this year, but 37,000 were put outside the TO&E to await housing before being dismissed.  He says some 20,000 warrant officers were retained, but the rest were dismissed or transferred to sergeant positions.  General officers were cut from 1200 to 780, and Makarov claims the military is already down to only 150,000 officers.  Makarov called rearmament one of the most complex problems of reform, that will be costly and drawn out to 2020. He looks forward to a new strategic arms agreement with the U.S. that doesn’t harm Russia’s interests like START.