Posted on 11/26/2013 6:58:24 AM PST by Colonel Kangaroo
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said that for various reasons Russia will not switch to a fully professional armed forces in the foreseeable future, but soon conscripts will no longer be used in combat missions.
Speaking in a televised interview on the Rossiya-2 television, Shoigu noted that Russia’s vast territory was the main reason for keeping the military draft.
“To have a purely professional army, our territory is too big. We have to have the opportunity for mobilization” the minister said.
The official explained that the top military command had already taken the decision to create a permanent mobilization reserve of four armies (the term means the people who underwent through conscription service and can be drafted in case of urgent mobilization). He said that in 2020 the military forces will completely stop the practice of sending conscripts to combat missions replacing them with contract soldiers.
Shoigu stressed that his ministry calculated very thoroughly how many servicemen they need to employ and now knew the figure “up to a single soldier.”
The Defense Minister also named terrorism and NATO expansion towards Russian borders as two main threats to the nation’s security.
“In our view the continuation of NATO enlargement is absolutely unfounded. We keep talking and keep smiling to each other, but it still continues,” Shoigu said, adding that the cooperation between NATO and Russia in the missile defense sphere has also proved to be unsuccessful so far.
The modern Russian Federation initially manned its military forces through a compulsory two-year draft, remaining as a legacy of Soviet times. However, the more complicated modern weaponry and tactics, as well as the changes in the political and social system in the country, called for a gradual upgrade towards the professional military.
In 2006, Russia shortened the time of conscription service from two years to just one. At the same time the number of official exceptions from the draft was reduced and the hiring of contract soldiers was boosted.
In 2012, the number of professional soldiers in the Russian military forces was about 170,000 and in May President Vladimir Putin told the senior commanders that this number should be further increased, reaching 425,000 in the next few years.
The total number of active military personnel in Russia is about 1 million.
I do not support a draft, and I do so as a veteran. I would like to see greater numbers of military personnel, though, but not via a draft.
Isn’t the military draft another Progressive idea?
A draft is a poor idea, so is emulating Russia.
There is no reason for nation building in 3rd world dumps.
So is the idea of endless alliances and overseas commitments. But in the long-run you can't have one without the other.
Yep...might as well go ahead and add forced government servitude to the gop party plank since they aren’t even paying lip service to the “small, less intrusive government” bulls*** anymore.
In his testimony before the commission, Mr. [William] Westmoreland said he did not want to command an army of mercenaries. Mr. [Milton] Friedman interrupted, "General, would you rather command an army of slaves?" Mr. Westmoreland replied, "I don't like to hear our patriotic draftees referred to as slaves." Mr. Friedman then retorted, "I don't like to hear our patriotic volunteers referred to as mercenaries. If they are mercenaries, then I, sir, am a mercenary professor, and you, sir, are a mercenary general; we are served by mercenary physicians, we use a mercenary lawyer, and we get our meat from a mercenary butcher."
As a vet, too, I agree. We had armed forces nearly twice their current size without a draft during the Reagan and early GHWB years. We can so grow them again. I served in both the draft and all-volunteer military. The professionalism of the all-volunteer forces is miles above those of the draft era. Draft only in an extreme emergency (see: WWII).
Anyone who claims to be an American should abhor involuntary servitude.
For a whole pile of reasons I used to think the draft was a good idea, but that’s when America was great and the average person not only knew of but was willing to defend the Constitution.
Todays “boo hoo wah wah gimme gimme now now” crowd that are mostly obama voters would make the Army a shambles. It would be impossible to discipline them and with their leftist attitudes there would be no guilt in firing on those believing in a Constitutional Republic and/or Christianity.
Imagine some of the most worthless of this bunch being in the Army, smoking dope at will (just like in the 70’s). Then some of them attaining NCO grades. It would be to the point where the only thing you could depend on is undependability.
But those of us who believe that and take it to its logical conclusion are labeled isolationists.
In the aftermath of 9-11 there was a surge of patriotic volunteers joining up. But they joined up to avenge the attack, not to serve as expendable pawns in an endless game with only marginal benefits to American security.
Weasels like Charlie Rangel are suddenly all in favor of a draft, because they know it will radicalize our politics just as it did in the late 60’s. And, as a practical matter, it will hamstring any future POTUS from actually deploying our troops for any effective purpose.
Who cares? Call me an isolationist. The shame is upon the interventionist who wants to spend young lives and our money, trying to reform moslem and African hell holes.
If we have just cause, and invade and hold absolute rule until they are reformed, as we did Germany and Japan, then fine. But this decade long fantasy that we can let them keep islam as a nations operating system, and also make them civilized is insane.
The Koran should be viewed as Mein Kampf.
They said it themselves — they can’t rise to our standard of professionalism.
Yep. It's long overdue to get rid of the last crumbs of President Peanuthead's toxic legacy and abolish the registration system.
I saw what a mess the rest of the world is concerning freedom and liberty that we enjoy and they have no hope for. The draft made me wiser and an adult.
Put it this way when I was in college before the draft I believed everything I was told but afterwards I would complain that these high sounding ideas seem good but won't work with real people. So I'm conflicted because without the draft it seems men have become sissified.
PRECISELY!!!!!
Isolationism is not a dirty word, its a traditional conservative ideal. Absolute isolation is impossible to obtain but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be looking to drastically reduce the burdens to us and future generations of Americans.
The 14th Amendment could not be any more clear.
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction”
President Wilson said draftees were actually volunteers. The people, through Congress, declared war. So the whole nation “volunteered”, collectively.
Socialism at it’s finest.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.