Questions from Orientir magazine correspondents are answered by the Commander of the Siberian Military District, Colonel-General Nikolai Kormiltsev

Nikolay Viktorovich Kormiltsev was born on March 14, 1946 in Omsk. He graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School. He served as a platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander, and deputy regimental commander.

After graduating from the Frunze Military Academy in 1978, he was appointed a regimental commander. 1983-1988-Deputy Division Commander, Division commander, head of the district training center in Omsk.

In 1990, he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. He commanded an army corps and then an army in the Far Eastern Military District.

Since November 1994 - First Deputy Commander of the Trans-Baikal Military District. Since August 1996 - Commander of the ZabVO troops. Since December 1998, after the merger of the two districts, he has been Commander of the Siberian (United) Military District.

"Comrade Commander! A new military-territorial entity has appeared on the map of our country, which has no analogues in the world both in terms of its geopolitical scale and in terms of the nature of the tasks being solved. To what extent has it been possible to implement organizational and managerial measures related to the unification of districts so far?

- Indeed, the district's area of responsibility includes the largest region in terms of geopolitical and economic significance, including thousands of kilometers of the state border, the most complex border areas, strategic and national economic objects of Western and Eastern Siberia, Transbaikalia and the North. Even by today's modern standards, the spatial scope of the combined Siberian Military District is impressive. SibVO unites troops stationed on the territory of four republics, two territories, six regions, four autonomous districts of the Russian Federation with a population of more than 22 million people and a total area of 5116 thousand square kilometers, which is 29.96 percent of the territory of Russia.

If we talk about the tasks at hand, then, of course, their range has significantly expanded, a number of them are fundamentally new in nature, additional operational areas have appeared, and the structure, composition and tasks of the troops have significantly changed.

Today, according to the above parameters, the SibVO is the largest military district in Russia, capable of developing and conducting the first and subsequent operations of modern warfare independently or as part of a strategic group.

- Nikolay Viktorovich, please evaluate the positions of those opponents who believe that the main argument against the merger is that it is simply impossible to manage such a huge structure.

- Unfortunately, we often hear that the decision to merge districts was made hastily, for the sake of some momentary benefits. Personally, I do not share this opinion. The idea of creating a new Siberian Military District as a simple mechanical unification of two military districts will be too superficial and simplified. No, this is the largest and most complex, multi-faceted process, quite long in time, when the fact of unification is just the beginning of the formation of a new quality district.

The idea of combining the districts is based on the idea of reasonable sufficiency to ensure the military security of the region. At the same time, such a structure of the military district troops is being created, which in peacetime will correspond as much as possible to its operational purpose for performing tasks related to the localization of possible armed conflicts in potentially dangerous areas, preparing strategic reserves and conducting territorial defense.

This is, in essence, the application in practice of modern views on the further development of the Russian Armed Forces, which is based on the fact that the increase in their combat power should occur primarily by improving the quality parameters, the ability to concentrate and apply existing forces and means at the right time and in the right place.

At the strategic and state levels, the advantage is that a new, less expensive version of the military-administrative division of Russia is being implemented in practice, and the transition to the territorial principle of leadership of all the troops and forces of the Russian Federation has begun, with the status of operational-strategic commands being given to military districts.

It is impossible to recognize the current system as rational when there are separate management, communication, logistics, technical and other types of support for various law enforcement agencies on the territory of one district. And many of them basically duplicate similar systems of the Armed Forces. So there is still a lot of work to be done on optimizing management structures.

I would also like to emphasize something else. The scale does not at all remove from us the most simple, everyday concerns about providing heat, food, and clothing, nor does it relieve us from the work of preserving the health and maintaining the normal social well-being of military personnel and their families in the vast territory of the two districts that have now been brought together.

- Currently, we are in the middle of the first stage of reforming the Armed Forces, which, as you know, should be completed by 2001. What results can we talk about at the moment, and have we managed to implement all of them?

- Of course, in real life everything turned out to be much more complicated than was determined by the initial plans for the reform of the Armed Forces. Not all of us, in SibVO, managed to solve from the plan. However, the state did not give the army much of what was promised for the process of large-scale reform.

However, there are certainly intermediate results. The main one is that, despite the crisis phenomena that have hit the Armed Forces hard, we managed to keep the main group of troops in the East of Russia in a combat-ready state. At the same time, significantly optimize existing structures, eliminate parallel, duplicate links. In the Siberian Military District, units and formations of constant combat readiness have actually appeared, where a full-blooded educational process is possible.

Based on the available capabilities, a command and control system adapted to the requirements of the day has been formed. We managed to keep the bulk of the officers, although not to the extent that we would like. Of course, there are also problems. Many of them are related to insufficient funding, as well as the quality and technical condition of weapons and equipment, and the social status of officers.

-- Problems with the financing of the Armed Forces, especially such an important component of army life as combat training, have already become a byword. Meanwhile, you managed to conduct brigade tactical exercises with live firing last year. The district is noted among the best in the organization of combat training. How do you manage to get out of a difficult situation?

- In solving the tasks of combat readiness, we immediately set a course to maximize the use of all reserves, search for non-standard approaches in combat training, and form commanders of various levels of ability and desire to organize and conduct the educational process in conditions of strict restrictions.

For example, in difficult winter conditions, a command and staff exercise of the combined-arms border association was held, and within its framework - a battalion tactical exercise with live firing. The Sevastopol Order of Alexander Nevsky Siberian Cossack Motorized Rifle Regiment of constant combat readiness, by the way, armed with the most modern BMP-3, held a full-blooded company drill with live firing. In April, combat missile launches were successfully conducted in one of the district's missile brigades; earlier, air defense forces conducted live firing. In March, in one of the machine-gun and artillery divisions, artillery fire control was actually carried out on the ground.

We, as in the country, have too many crisis moments, but it is not in the nature of Siberians and Trans-Baikal residents to complain about difficulties. Trials harden us, make us stronger and more purposeful. There is, I will not hide, a severe shortage of resources and funds. But we don't have barefoot, undressed military personnel.

We are constantly looking for reserves, saving money, and finding unconventional solutions. In operational and combat training, we widely introduce energy-and fuel-saving forms and methods of training, pay a lot of attention to the training of staff officers as a key link, and replace expensive tactical exercises with command and staff exercises. At the same time, we understand that the field is a soldier's academy, but we are forced to limit our requests to the state's capabilities.

In the SibVO, the main tasks of the winter training period in 1999 were completed, the spring draft was held without disruptions, exercises, shooting, and educational events are being held according to the plan.

- Nikolay Viktorovich, the merger of districts has apparently caused a serious reduction in the number of senior military personnel. How, in particular, was the fate of the staff and management officers of the former Siberian Military District decided?

- All those who wanted to continue their service, had the appropriate professional qualities, got this opportunity. Another thing is when the personal wishes of officers and generals of the former SibVO department did not coincide with the interests of the service.

102 officers were dismissed to the reserve at their request, 7 generals and 46 colonels expressed their readiness to serve one step below the previously held position, 36 senior officers were appointed to higher positions.

- Last year, many officers ' contracts expired. Did the district's personnel suffer serious losses?

- Indeed, in the SibVO last year, almost two thousand officers ' contracts expired, and this year more than ten thousand more are expiring.

There are certain problems with signing contracts, especially among junior officers, and there is also a problem with filling primary officer positions.

We are well aware that it is hopeless and ineffective to fix the officers in the SibVO by administrative measures. For remote districts, a more pronounced system of preferential priorities is needed. As you can see, such programs are not implemented on the district scale. However, this does not mean that you should sit idly by.

- As far as we know, the district has developed a program for the admission, commissioning and social support of graduates of military schools and academies. Please tell us about its main provisions.

- In principle, we don't do anything special. They simply clearly defined the entire chain, starting from the arrival of an officer from a school or academy to the final stage of becoming a post. There is a clear personal responsibility of officials for the implementation of each component of the program, and the procedure for its financial, material and social support is defined. There is a set of educational and informational measures aimed at adapting graduates of military schools and academies to serve in the Siberian Military District.

This year, more than a thousand school graduates have come to us. Among them are officers of more than twenty military specialties-from commanders of motorized rifle platoons to specialists in the legal and housing and maintenance service.

Due to certain conflicts of military reform, for the first time in the district, 165 graduates of aviation and aviation technical schools intend to serve in a different specialty, so all of them will undergo short-term retraining on the basis of the Omsk Tank Engineering Institute and 34 officer courses of the Siberian Military District. And the specialties, taking into account their basic training, they will receive the profile that the district troops most urgently need. These are primarily commanders of communications platoons, motorized rifle and artillery platoons, and deputy company commanders for educational work.

For the arrival of the replenishment of the officer corps in the district, the administrative buildings that are being released are being re-equipped. Lieutenants will be able to get "malosemeyki". So, it is planned to open small-family dormitories in the cities of Chita and Krasnoyarsk for more than 100 families each, in Novosibirsk-for 70-80 families.

Other measures have also been thought out to ensure a decent welcome and quick commissioning of graduates of military schools. Constantly in the field of view of the district command are issues of full satisfaction of officers with all the necessary types of allowances.

In large, nodal garrisons of the Siberian Military District, meeting and recreation points are organized for graduates of military schools. In June of this year, under the supervision of the district headquarters, training camps were held with young officers, during which graduates got acquainted with the peculiarities of service in the Siberian Military District, studied their functional duties in depth, and passed tests for admission to practical service activities.

"Your district is participating in an experiment to train junior officers in short-term courses. How would you rate its results? What are the future prospects of the initiative?

- Indeed, two years ago, our initiative to fill the shortage of personnel in primary officer positions was supported by the Minister of Defense and the General Staff. The measure was forced, but at that time it was urgently needed.

We proceeded from the fact that, taking into account the Trans-Baikal specifics of the service, it is necessary to select and train people from the local population who know firsthand our harsh realities of service. At the transition stage, you can use forcibly trained officers-platoon commanders, primarily motorized rifle, tank, communications, RVIA, air defense, whose roots are here, in Transbaikalia and Siberia, and who do not rush to the west. The experiment, despite the fact that we were the first, was a success. 248 graduates of officer courses are already serving in the SibVO, and they are serving quite well. Today, the second set of more than 150 people is being trained, all of them served in the army, many of them have combat experience. I believe that along with graduates of military schools, they will become a reliable and quite professional addition to the district's officer corps.

By the way, I want to draw your attention to this point. After a year, only one of the 248 graduates of the first set, as they say, "went off the track". This is a kind of challenge to young lieutenants-graduates of military schools. And it would be good if the personnel officers responded to the challenge with dignity. Unfortunately, the problem of young officers terminating their contracts has not yet been solved.

- The Siberian Military District is located on the territories of many constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Such regional leaders as A. Lebed and A. Tupeev are known all over Russia. How is cooperation with governors and heads of administrations being built in the district?

- Our contacts with the regional authorities are quite normal, working, and there is mutual understanding. In Western Siberia, familiarization meetings have recently been held in all regions, general principles and approaches to joint activities have been discussed, and daily business contacts are being established at the level of district services and local authorities. They are based on establishing direct links, without intermediaries, across the entire range of supplies to the district. A system of unified efforts is being formed to address issues of conscription, military-patriotic education, work with veterans, and information support.

It is gratifying that many managers are sympathetic to our problems and meet them as far as possible. So, recently, the district was provided with fuel and lubricants by the administrations of the Kemerovo and Novosibirsk regions free of charge for conducting exercises. The administration of the Kemerovo region provided coal, electricity, and bread to the brigade located on the territory of its region almost all winter. The Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, A. Lebed, undertook to help create cadet corps on the site of disbanded military schools. I have given only a few examples in Western Siberia. And there are a lot of them all over the county. And they testify to the revival of the remarkable principle of unity of the army and the people. So our relations with the regional authorities are quite normal and working. We very much hope that the interregional association "Siberian Agreement"will cooperate with the Siberian Military District of a new quality. We all need mutual understanding and support from each other right now. So the process of cooperation should continue to be comprehensively developed.

Permanent link to this publication: