#9
Russian Expert Mulls Political, Social Reasons for
'Never-Ending' Army Desertion
Rossiyskaya Gazeta
19 June 2002
[translation for personal use only]
'Commentary' by Boris Makarenko, deputy director of the Center for Political
Technologies: "Fleeing Disorderly Life. Army
Desertion Has Deep-Seated Social Roots"
I am sure that so-called hazing cannot be said to be the main reason for the never-ending desertion from the Army. It is of course possible to work out how many of those who have fled from barracks are old hands and how many are new recruits and it is obvious that soldiers may have problems, and not just in the first six months of service.
The overall level of what can be called "order," "order" in quotemarks, is extremely important. Both in the Army and the country as a whole. The deserting servicemen have no feeling that Russia has a system of establishing real order whereby they will invariably be caught and punished.
There is also a more general problem, which I would call the problem of quality of life. If a person has some idea of his post-Army career, where he will go back to, what his life will be like, he will not desert. Even if things are hard for him, he will grit his teeth and see things through to the end of his military service. Soldiers are deserting because they see no chance of a normal human existence for themselves either in or after the Army. This is probably the same syndrome that made the crowd after the recent soccer match smash windows and set fire to automobiles in downtown Moscow -- it makes no difference, things will get no worse, things are already so bad that they will do nothing to me.
There are also problems in the Army itself. The officers are no longer what they were -- they do not infect enlisted men with the correct motivation for life, for sustained effort, for worthy service. And the Army itself -- I do not want to use this word but I have to do so -- to a certain extent is demoralized and sees no point in its everyday existence. Needless to say, this does not apply to the entire Army but that is precisely how matters stand for a fairly large number of military garrisons.
I think that in the long term there is one remedy for this ailment, namely a switch to a contract system. So that a person consciously joins the army, for worthy remuneration -- both in terms of money and status. That is the first component of military reform, which should defuse the situation. Needless to say, comprehensive military reform must be carried out. The Army must become more compact in order to perform the specific tasks that the country needs and not just keep a person in uniform for two years. This pointless existence and the demoralized nation engendered by it, which I have mentioned, are caused by the fact that the Army does not know what it should do in peacetime.
What role can the political elite play in combating the infection that has afflicted the Army? If you remember the debate on the issue of alternative military service and the political campaign in favor of a switch to a contract-based Army, you may notice the lethargy being demonstrated by certain elements of this elite. Every case of desertion constitutes an argument against those who are trying quietly to let military reform drop. When the president says that we will move on to a contract-based Army, but we will do this gradually in time, notionally speaking, the liberals primarily hear the words "we will move on" while the conservatives hear the words "gradually" and "in time" and use this as an excuse, in effect, to change nothing. This situation is already becoming intolerable.
Back to the Top
Next Article
June 21, 2002:
#6319
- Back to the Top -