Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation introduced the reform of military departments, changes are being introduced in order to optimize military training, and this, according to experts, can significantly reduce the number of reserve officers.

However, the relevance of the reform is justified, on the contrary, not by a reduction, but by the need to expand the scope of military programs for future reserve officers.

It is worth recalling that since 2008 they already exist in addition to military departments military training centers (MTC), which are responsible for training career officers in engineering, technology, and science-intensive specialties in civilian universities, now they intend to connect these training centers with military departments and create separate training centers.

Retired Air Force Colonel, ex-deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Victor Alksnis in a conversation with suggests that, quite possibly, such centers will exist separately from civilian universities, which will entail a decrease in the mobilization capabilities of the army.

-The Ministry of Defense announces the liquidation of military departments at universities, what do you think of such an initiative?

I have a negative attitude. This is due to the fact that as a result of reforms in the Russian army (the so-called “reforms”), we have a serious shortage of officers. Especially during the era of Serdyukov, a large number of military schools and academies were closed, they were reorganized and lost their teaching staff. And now the problem of the lack of officer personnel is considered one of the most important. Yes, for the small army that we have today, we can cover the need for personnel with this number of officers, but the problem is that no mobilization reserve.

If the size of the army increases - you understand, the army exists for the purpose of entering the war - there simply will not be enough officers. And therefore, military departments played a very important role, almost all men, students, where these departments were, received the necessary military training and, if it was necessary to increase the size of the army, they were called up for junior officer positions, then at the very least this task could have been resolved.

Now, if the departments are closed, I would not hope that special centers will train reserve officers in such quantities. I really doubt. For the students themselves, there will be no motivation to leave home, to spend several months away from study and work, whereas previously they received all this at their place of study. Therefore, it seems to me that this is one of those excesses of reformers that have been manifesting themselves over the last 30 years in the Ministry of Defense.

Are military departments in universities no longer coping with their task or are there other disadvantages? Lack of qualifications for training or lack of unified management? What is the reason for the reform, in your opinion?

One of the current problems not only in the army is that our leaders have an ineradicable “itch for reformism.” Everyone wants to distinguish themselves and go down in Russian history. Officials are simply experimenting on the army as a test subject, but they should first “practice on cats.”

In addition to the departments, military training centers were also created for the training of highly qualified reserve officers: engineers, technicians? Separate centers are created to unite with them. What could be the negative aspects of such educational centers?

It’s one thing when a student has a military department, and he takes it seriously, as an important discipline, he moves from the classroom where he took the exam in strength and materials to another - where he immediately receives the training necessary for an officer. And it’s a completely different matter when a student needs not only to leave the walls of his alma mater, but also to go, perhaps to another city, to go somewhere to a “study center.” I think this is stupidity and it will not end well.

- But how is all this carried out in most countries, from where we adopt experience?

If in most countries of the world the ground army relative to the population and the scale of the state - and they are not very large, these European countries, the territory is insignificant - is in a normal ratio, then Russia has the largest territory, so it needs such a large army that can ensure the protection of its borders and a large number of officers.

Other countries do not face this problem; they tend to have small, compact armies that can provide security to their relatively small borders. Russia, I repeat, has the largest territory in the world, therefore, the largest borders in the world, and control must be exercised over them.

This reform will lead to a reduction in the number of reserve officers for the Russian army.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation explained exactly how the reform will take place, during which all military departments in civilian universities will disappear. In early June, the Russian government submitted to the State Duma a draft law designed to unify educational structures involved in military training of students. According to the document, it is proposed to turn all military departments and faculties in civilian universities into military training centers. Many people were frightened by this restructuring. There were rumors that students would no longer be able to study at military departments, as they would be liquidated.

As it turns out, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. The number of students who will be able to obtain a military specialty or rank directly at their institute or university, on the contrary, will increase.

“Not a single university will reduce the military training of students, but on the contrary, the number of universities with military departments will increase,” State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Nikolai Pankov said at a briefing at the Ministry of Defense.

Today, reserve officers are trained in 150 civilian universities, and reserve soldiers and sergeants are trained in 90 military specialties.

The military department emphasizes that in recent years they have consistently increased the volume of military training, increasing the number of military departments in civilian universities. In 2015 there were 70 of them, in 2016 - already 75, in 2017 - 87. And in September 2018, at a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense, the issue of creating six more will be considered. Thus, there will be 93 military departments in the country (if by that time the law on military training centers has not yet come into force).

The Ministry of Defense said that until 2008, only reserve officer training programs existed in civilian universities. And only military departments implemented these programs. In 2008, the training of career officers in engineering, technology, and science-intensive specialties was organized in civilian universities.

In addition to military departments, military training centers appeared in civilian universities. Thus, since 2008, there have been two structures in universities - a military department and a military training center. They work in the same classrooms, on the same training grounds, on the same weapons, on the same military equipment.

“The idea was born for all types of military training to create a single unified structure in civilian universities called a military training center. Such centers will implement all three military training programs: training reserve officers, career officers, as well as privates and reserve sergeants,” said Nikolai Pankov .

The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the creation of military training centers poses absolutely no threat to the teaching staff of existing military departments. On the contrary, the volume of military training will increase, so none of the teachers will lose their jobs. “We are not changing anything, we are maintaining the volume of training and the current training programs. More than 61 thousand students are currently undergoing military training in civilian universities. For the training of career officers - 10.5 thousand, reserve officers - 34.2 thousand, sergeants and reserve soldiers “16.5 thousand. And these proportions will remain the same,” noted the Deputy Minister of Defense. According to Pankov, students will not notice these “overflows” at all.

The bill on the creation of military training centers on the basis of military departments in civilian universities was considered and approved at a meeting of the Russian government on May 30.

“The purpose of the bill is to increase the efficiency of managing the process of training university students in existing areas of military training,” says the official website of the Cabinet of Ministers. According to the authors of the legislative initiative, this, among other things, is necessary for more effective joint use of the educational material base, training weapons and military equipment available at institutes and universities.

“We talked a lot about the fact that we need to give the maximum number of young people the opportunity to undergo military training, to obtain a military specialty at universities,” said the head of the military department, Sergei Shoigu, at a recent meeting of the Public Council under the Ministry of Defense. “We continue this work. We have started to see "Comprehensive training centers. These include both military departments and military institutes."

In the second week of summer, students and their parents were close to panic. Of course: the Ministry of Defense seems to have decided to abolish military departments.

A bill to abolish military departments in universities was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Ministry of Defense (order No. 1112-r dated June 4, 2018). The document underwent public discussion and received positive opinions from the Ministry of Justice, the Legal Department of the President and other structures. There is little doubt that the document will soon be adopted by the Duma and become law. What is its essence?

According to State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Nikolai Pankov, in the bill, the military department only legitimizes the system of relations with civilian universities, which de facto began to take shape about 10 years ago. According to his assurances, not a single student will not only not suffer from the renamings, but will not even notice them. However, the floor goes to Mr. Secretary of State himself.

...and girls too!

— Nikolai Alexandrovich, please remind us of the background to the appearance of this bill.

— Until 2008, civilian universities only had military departments for training reserve officers. But that year we came to a very serious decision, absolutely uncharacteristic of our army, to organize the training of career officers in science-intensive specialties within the walls of civilian universities. So, in addition to military departments, military training centers (MCCs) appeared.

In 2014 President Vladimir Putin gave the idea to organize training in universities not only for reserve officers, but also for soldiers, sergeants, foremen and sailors. Half-jokingly, we now call this form of paying off the constitutional debt to the homeland “military service in installments.”

While studying at his civilian university, the student undergoes military training according to the program for a soldier or junior commander, participates in camp training, passes an exam, takes an oath, receives a military ID and replenishes the mobilization reserve. Well, the same thing that many still remember from Soviet times when they received lieutenant's shoulder straps after graduating from the military department.

— Yes, in the USSR it was possible to become a private in the reserves without serving in the army, but for sergeant badges you had to serve for 2 years. What other innovations have happened since 2008?

— For those who now receive the rank of reserve officer, little has changed these days. Another thing is a student studying to become a career officer. He is subject to more stringent health and physical fitness requirements. He necessarily enters into a training agreement at the UVC and at the same time undertakes to serve as an officer for 3 or 5 years. For the fact that his student life ceases to be as easy as that of an ordinary student, he (or she, the doors of the UVC are also open for girls) receives a small additional payment. In the 1st and 2nd years this is a one-and-a-half scholarship, in senior years it is 3-4 scholarships. Well, a one-time payment of 5 thousand rubles for the purchase of a uniform.

What is the OUV, what is the UVC...

- This is what we have today. What is the essence of the coming changes?

— Since 2008, there have been 2 parallel structures in universities - the military department and the Educational Center. They worked in the same classrooms, take classes at the same training grounds, with the same equipment. The next step suggested itself logically - to create a unified structure in universities, which it was decided to slightly rename. Now these are not military training centers, but military training centers. It is within the framework of the OUV that all 3 training programs will be implemented. As I already said, this is the training of career officers, reserve officers and private reserve sergeants. This is what the draft law says. At the same time, military departments as such will not evaporate. On the contrary, within the framework of OUV their number will increase. If in 2015 there were 70 of them, then in 2017 there were already 87, and this year, apparently, it will exceed 90. We train reserve officers in one and a half hundred military specialties, soldiers and sergeants in nine dozen.

Back in USSR?

Why do students need all these VUTs and UVTs, it’s clear - for the majority, this is a legal and not particularly burdensome way to get a military ID in hand, thereby opening up the path to public service. But the system is also beneficial to the military. For the Ministry of Defense, this system is the cheapest source of replenishing the manpower reserve. After all, all expenses, except perhaps the official salary of teaching officers, are borne by civilian universities. The costs, I must say, are quite large. Currently, more than 61 thousand students of civilian universities are engaged in non-military military training. 10.5 thousand for the career officer program, 34.2 thousand for reserve officers, 16.5 thousand for privates and reserve sergeants. Apparently, the number of such students will grow from year to year, but the proportions will not change. It appears that the goal of the reform of military education in civilian universities is to return to the Soviet model, when the right to undergo military training was granted to all male and female students.

A bill proposing the liquidation of military departments in universities and their replacement with single military training centers. The corresponding order appeared on the Cabinet of Ministers website.

“In order to more effectively share the educational and material base, training weapons and military equipment available to these units, the bill proposes to replace several existing types of structural units of military training in universities with a single type of military training units - military training centers,” the document says.

Currently, military training is conducted in universities through training centers, military departments and military training faculties.

In addition, the explanatory note to the order clarifies that the main goal of the bill is to increase the efficiency of student training in areas of military training. Also, the authors of the initiative do not expect that the creation of centers will lead to an increase in the number of students studying in military specialties.

Before this, the State Duma had already made adjustments to the procedure for training military personnel. In particular, in March 2017, deputies adopted in the third reading a bill, also prepared by the government, according to which students studying at universities that do not have military departments can undergo military training at military universities.

That is, in fact, the current introduced bill will replace several types of already existing military training units in universities with a single center.

The practice of higher pre-conscription training in higher educational institutions and technical schools dates back to the USSR - in the second half of the 1920s. It was introduced as part of the reform of the armed forces and involved 180 hours of theoretical and two months of practical training at training camps in military camps. The first military training classes started in the 1926-1927 academic year, covering 135 universities and 80 thousand students.

After graduating from the university, students who underwent such training could serve in the army in nine months (in the navy - 12 months), while for all other conscripts the service period was two years - in the infantry and artillery, three years - in the air fleet , and four years in the Navy.

Among the first universities to open military educational formations were, in particular, them. Lomonosov. The military departments trained junior commanders of the Red Army, and later the Soviet Army.

However, in the early 1990s, the training program for junior officers in higher educational institutions began to gradually wind down. According to the Ministry of Defense, military departments are now open at 54 civilian universities. Unlike Soviet times, students who have undergone military training at a university are not conscripted for military service.

The duration of training at military departments varies depending on the military specialty: it takes 30 months to become a reserve officer, 24 months to become a reserve sergeant, and 18 months to become a reserve soldier. At the same time, classes at the military department are conducted in parallel with the main educational process.

From time to time, modern military departments at universities find themselves at the center of scandals. So, in April of this year, information appeared that students of the St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications named after Professor M.A. Bonch-Bruevich was charged money for studying at the military department.

The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation then reacted sharply to the appearance of such information.

“It is unacceptable that a business should be built on people who want to become soldiers, sergeants or reserve officers. I signed the order of measures and instructions. We have two options: either we deal with the rector of this university, or we will close the military department at St. Petersburg State University of Technology,” said the Minister of Defense at one of the conference calls.