An ex-US Army general who witnessed Russia's basic training of recruits says it was awful, and the

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

'newbies' being drafted face disaster on the front line

A former US Army general said that Russia's announced mobilization of 300,000 reservists was a "jaw-dropping" sign of weakness.

Mark Hertling, who commanded the US Army Europe, explained in a Twitter thread that he has personally witnessed how the Russian army is "poorly led and poorly trained."

The poor training, coupled with the decision to draft in recruits with little experience, is likely to spell disaster for Russia, he said.

"Mobilizing 300k "reservists" (after failing with depleted conventional forces, rag-tag militias.. recruiting prisoners & using paramilitaries like the Wagner group) will be extremely difficult," Hertling said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/an-ex-us-army-general-who-witnessed-russia-s-basic-training-of-recruits-says-it-was-awful-and-the-newbies-being-drafted-face-disaster-on-the-front-line/ar-AA12c2D7

[MarineCombatEngineer]

1. I've said this before and I'll say it again,

my personal experience "training" with the Russian equivalent of their combat engineers in the 90's is that they were a joke, their "training" was nothing compared to our training, of the equipment that they didn't sell for drugs or booze was in poor shape, maintenance was a joke, unit cohesion was nonexistent, their NCO's and officers didn't give a crap as long as it didn't reflect poorly on them.

I can't remember how many times we had to cancel exercises because they either showed up drunk, high, or they just didn't show up.

It would seem nothing much has changed in their military since the fall of the Soviet Union.

[brush]

4. You mention the Russian NCOs. I keep reading reports that...

there is no appreciable professional ranks of NCOs in the Russian army, which is one reason why there is so little discipline in the ranks.

Did you find that to be the case?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

6. Yes, that was the case,

an NCO in the Russian military back then wasn't promoted because of their intelligence, it was how the commanding officer liked a certain individual and, unlike Western militaries, given the bare minimum of training and then assigned to a unit.
Unlike US NCO's, who have a lot of autonomy to follow an order, the Russian NCO is strictly controlled and has no autonomy with regards to following an order.

With the Russian military, it's all about strict central control with very little wiggle room for on scene commanders to change tactics even in the face of defeat.

[erronis]

2. Maybe the goal is to eradicate young men - they might cause trouble at home in the USSR.

Send them to the slaughtering fields. Less mouths to feed and less chance that the older disaffected population can revolt against this autocracy.

[Simeon Salus]

3. "One out of two men gets the rifle."

"The man with the rifle shoots, the man without follows him. When the one with the rifle is killed, the one who is following, picks up the rifle and shoots!"

Glad to know the Russians have progressed since then. Putin considers himself a latter day Stalin, so this makes sense, a really messed-up way. At least the Russian rifles have been previously dropped.

Time for some Russian tank jokes?

[grantcart]

5. Fodder, canon fodder.

[HAB911]

7. Our "militias" should be willing to suit up and help them

that would kill two birds..................