Army for the poor

Prapor

Active member
Just thinking... Around here, military service is mandatory, supposedly for every male citizen after they reach the age of 18 years, BUT...

Wealthier parents can pay off the military draft committees; even wealthier ones can send their young off to schools and universities in Europe, America, etc, abroad, to completely shield them from conscription.

The poorer families cannot afford the ever increasing bribe amounts, let alone to ship their sons off to Oxford or some such place. So, their children either go and surrender themselves to the army, or hide and wander the streets until caught by police and forcibly delivered to the draft committee anyway.
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Those average boys from poor, working-class (or less) families become regular infantrymen in the Army, your basic cannon fodder; and common sailors in the Navy, they who wash the deck.
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All this has me concerned indeed. This kind of order may still be standing, for now. But for how long? Those young men who are being abused every day by their commenders, who have to perform the dirtiest menial tasks in the military, while the children of the rich party overseas; they are becoming frustrated. Anti-conscription rallies are only growing in number and volume.
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There are 250,000 young men hiding from conscription around the country...

I do not know what will happen, but anything will be better than the current situation. Well, there are 'contract' troops now. This year, their number is supposed to grow to reach 425,000 (vs. about 750,000 conscripts). Consequently, the number of officers is to be expanded from around 150,000 now, as Serdyukov, the defense minister, says due to the acquisition of new weapons and more troops to man them, as well as the establishment of a new branch (the so-called 'Space Defense Forces) the military needs about 70,000 more officers
http://www.newsland.ru/news/detail/id/663716/cat/42/
http://moycent.ru/zarplata-voennyx/z...x-v-2011-godu/

Contract troops are paid 24000 rubles per month (about US$900), while conscripts are paid 18000 (US$621). A Sergeant in command of a platoon (lowest officer rank and position), under the new increase, will get 50000 (US$1724). The thing is, what often happens is after a conscript has served his requiered one year (or 1.5 for the Navy), they are often pressured, by their commanders, to sign contracts to serve more.

The army will rely on conscripts for a long time yet
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They won't find the manpower otherwise. Not enough willing to serve voluntarily... In some regions now, they even reconscript men who failed to pay alimony (with a portion of their salary going to the wives and children they've wronged). Hence you see older men in the ranks
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Not all-in-all a bad thing. They are experienced. Certainly none of that bullying and abuse happens in the barracks where the 'dedy' ('grandfathers', as they are referred to by younger soldiers) serve. They bring discipline and order with them.
 
Hope the conditions get better.
At least these guys get paid better. I got paid less than $100 per month. Way less in fact.
 
Hope the conditions get better.
At least these guys get paid better. I got paid less than $100 per month. Way less in fact.

lol 10 years ago, a regular sailor on a Russian battleship was paid, I am not kidding, about US$1 a day. Putin, I think, realised that treating the military badly can lead to nowhere good.
 
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