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Actually, looking back in history, hasn't the Russian military always sucked really badly? In WWI they got totally wrecked, and in WWII the only reason they came out victorious was due to all of the equipment America sent them as well as their willingness to just happily send their troops into kamikaze like attacks?
I said it in the 90s and afterward and still say it today, the Russians could not fight their way out of a wet paper bag. A million reasons why.....moral, vodka, division within ranks, yes-men in charge, spying on each other, etc.etc. I think Russia is doomed unless they get rid of vlad.
I read they don't have a NCO corps as well but I don't understand how as they have sergeants like we do. They also have warrant officers.
I didn't know their conscripts only needed to serve one year. I wonder why they don't have them serve longer than that, or offer decent bonuses for those who are willing to say on, if that isn't currently the case.
How should training be for infantrymen, tankers, artillery soldiers, etc?
They have NCOs like we had during WWII when some conscripts were identified for leadership training. Not many of the long service professional NCOs who have real world experience to add to the military schooling system.
There being two basic ways to draft, take everybody for that short period to build a large reserve force. Or selectively draft with a longer service commitment and deal with the social disruptions of why my son and not the big shot's son.
As for tank crewmen since that is my experience, the role for that limited trained crewman was taken by the automatic loader of Russian tanks. The tank commander thus has even a greater burden as he doesn't have a newbie with a relatively experienced gunner and driver to take up some of the load of getting the next generation ready to move up for both vehicle maintenance as well as fighting with the tank.
Russia has a HUGE amount of (useless) land, but they are actually a tiny, nearly third world country. They spend disproportionately on defense, and that makes them appear to be a global power (not the least of which is that they are also a nuclear power).
But, in reality, they are not a particularly modern nation, and they certainly don't have a modern military with proper equipment and training.
How putrid (literally, but that is not what i mean) is it when an army leaves behind their dead as if they were just used up military accouterments?
Ukraine's military was just like the Russian military when they assisted us in Iraq, they were corrupt, and they were more interested in personal gain and profit, such as selling military rations of gasoline and other items on the black market, than they were in providing security on patrols thru Iraq. They were, by all accounts, no help at all.
But things changed when they started sending NCO's and junior level officers to NATO sponsored training events. They started learning actual military tactics and discipline, and they started rounding into shape a nucleus that could actually function and lead men in combat.
Interestingly, the Russians were also invited to these training sessions. They were not only for NATO forces, and the Russians only accepted the offer once. They refused to live with the other soldiers and lived in their own, isolated complex. They rarely participated in joint arms training and were dismissive of the entire process. The CG of the event, who went out of his way to invite the Russians, quickly realized they were still stuck in a Warsaw Pact mentality that was based on outdated command and control.
He wrote a long essay on this experience and his time in command, which included close relationships with senior level Russian officers. He attended their live fire exercises as a guest and was amazed at how poorly the Russian military performed. On top of their lack of training and corruption, their officer corps is also not about to admit how poorly things are going to Ukraine, lest they be relieved and end up in a gulag. I doubt Putin really has a clue.
If Putin loses the war, he won't survive his job as leader of Russia, or he won't survive his life?
Both. If he is not the supreme leader, he won't be retiring to a dacha to live out his time peacefully, whoever assumes control of the country cannot have that threat to their power lurking around. That's why dictatorships are all or nothing.
I read they don't have a NCO corps as well but I don't understand how as they have sergeants like we do. They also have warrant officers.
It's how they use their NCOs . From what I've read (and from what I learned back when I wore camo myself, although that were the Soviet days), NCOs tend to be enlisted men with specific technical knowledge - they'll man the SAM launchers or oversee field repair facilities, that sort of thing. They're not a part of the chain of command in field units.
Infantry units will slap a pair of chevrons on brighter individuals in the ranks - essentially lance corporals. And that's the worst job in any army - as Kipling put it, "half o' nothing and still a private yet" - it can work for garrison duty, but there's a difference between "Ivan, sweep the floor" and "Ivan, storm that machine gun position".
There is no equivalent of the seasoned (that is, 5-10 years) career NCO in the command chain. Which means you have to learn from books, and not from a cadre of people who know what works and what doesn't.
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I didn't know their conscripts only needed to serve one year. I wonder why they don't have them serve longer than that, or offer decent bonuses for those who are willing to say on, if that isn't currently the case.
It's hated. Hazing runs rampant, pay is pathetic, and anyone who can gets out of it. Plus they're often (ab)used as a public workforce for whatever local authorities need done.
As for tank crewmen since that is my experience, the role for that limited trained crewman was taken by the automatic loader of Russian tanks. The tank commander thus has even a greater burden as he doesn't have a newbie with a relatively experienced gunner and driver to take up some of the load of getting the next generation ready to move up for both vehicle maintenance as well as fighting with the tank.
Never thought about that, but that's a valid point. Rookies are a PITA, but you have to provide people with experience in some way where they can't mess up too badly.
Has anyone mentioned the rampant corruption yet? Because as I see it, that's the one thing that destroys every large enterprise in record time. Not talking about the grease-the-skids-to-get-things-done type of event - a case of beer for the quartermaster's men to keep the armory open for another half hour, sort of thing - but the large-scale, millions-and-millions of rubles being siphoned. That kills an army.
I read they don't have a NCO corps as well but I don't understand how as they have sergeants like we do. They also have warrant officers.
I didn't know their conscripts only needed to serve one year. I wonder why they don't have them serve longer than that, or offer decent bonuses for those who are willing to say on, if that isn't currently the case.
How should training be for infantrymen, tankers, artillery soldiers, etc?
I've read in several places that there has been some disappointment in the Russian ranks that the promised bonuses have not been paid.
Has anyone mentioned the rampant corruption yet? Because as I see it, that's the one thing that destroys every large enterprise in record time. Not talking about the grease-the-skids-to-get-things-done type of event - a case of beer for the quartermaster's men to keep the armory open for another half hour, sort of thing - but the large-scale, millions-and-millions of rubles being siphoned. That kills an army.
Bill Browder talked of this in his recent interview with Preet Bahara.
According to him, parts are sold but documents say they were installed as part of regular maintenance. Gas is siphoned off to the black market, ...
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