On the Day of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, December 12, the newly appointed commander Mykhailo Drapatiy announced large-scale changes in the army during a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
What does the reform announced by Mykhailo Drapatiy provide for, how realistic is it to implement it and how much time might it take, ICTV Fakty discussed with the deputy director of the Ukrainian Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies Mykhailo Samus.
- What should change in the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: Mykhailo Drapatiy's statement
- An expert talks about the idea of reforming the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- Expert on the announced changes in military training
- Expert on the specifics of reform during war
- Expert on the possible timing of the reform implementation
What should change in the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: statement by Mykhailo Drapatoy
In the Ground Forces, which are the largest structural part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to Mykhailo Drapatoy, changes are required:
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- military training;
- recruiting and social support;
- technologies;
- management processes.
Mikhail Drapatiy claims: his focus will be on human dignity and high-quality training of personnel.
The latter, the Commander of the Ground Forces continues, provides for the reformatting of programs and the transformation of training centers for faster, but at the same time highly professional training in accordance with the needs of the Armed Forces and the dynamics of the front.
– More developments of new, high-quality simulators, the latest teaching methods.
The skills and abilities of our foundation – the infantryman – must be as applied and practical as possible, without unnecessary lyricism, and the main bearers of this knowledge will be the sergeant corps with combat experience, – notes Mikhail Drapatiy.
According to the Commander of the Ground Forces, these changes will focus on the principles of military leadership and knowledge technologies.
– Without such skills it is impossible to establish control over the chaos of battle, and now this is one of the main goals for changing the situation at the front, – says Mikhail Drapatiy.
Without transparent recruitment models, the commander is convinced, the Ground Forces will not be able to prepare for new security challenges.
Therefore, this process, promises Mykhailo Drapatiy, will be installed with maximum transparency and zero tolerance for corruption.
Social support, according to the commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will become permanent – from the first day of service to employment in civilian life after dismissal.
Mykhailo Drapatiy plans to implement this through changes in the support of military personnel and their family members.
The reform also provides for a technological advantage in the infantryman's armament.
The ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, says Mykhailo Drapatiy, must become high-tech, flexible and adaptive, the elite.
The Commander of the Ground Forces did not elaborate on this point, but only reported that he would work on this jointly and harmoniously with the team of the General Staff, the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense and other departments, as well as with volunteers and foundations.
Maneuverability and efficiency in the administrative apparatus should be ensured by optimization of management processes.
Mykhailo Drapatiy plans to achieve this through organizational changes and digitalization.
The emphasis, the commander says, will be on logistical support and training.
– The main goal is to critically review the structure of the officer corps' time spent on clerical work and find a more useful use for the freed-up resource, – the military man explains.
Changes, Mykhailo Drapatiy is convinced, will certainly happen.
To implement his reform of the Ground Forces, the commander has already secured the support of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
– No matter how difficult it is for us, we have no right not to do this. This is how I see my task today.
The Ukrainian people, every soldier, having joined the ranks of the Armed Forces, began to build the army of the future. We must complete our work with a double victory – over the enemy, and over everything that slowed down the transformation of the army, – noted Mykhailo Drapatiy.
Expert – on the idea of reforming the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies Mykhailo Samus in a commentary to Fakty ICTV notes: Mykhailo Drapatiy's statements are very logical and correspond to the current situation.
However, how exactly the commander of the Ground Forces intends to implement his plan, says Mikhail Samus, is known only to Drapatiy himself and a group of officers who are developing this concept.
– The changes announced by Mikhail Drapatiy can be implemented in a million ways. Everything depends on the resources, funding and plans of the commander, — the expert explains.
Currently, Mikhail Samus continues, there are many tools for training personnel — using computer technologies, simulators and the like.
At the same time, the expert says, he is sure that Mikhail Drapatiy will try to do everything as best as possible.
– How he will succeed, we will see, because the main thing is not what is planned, but what will happen in practice, – notes Mikhail Samus.
Expert on the announced changes in military training
The first thing that Mikhail Samus notes is that when speaking about “faster, but at the same time highly professional training in accordance with the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the dynamics of the front”, the commander of the Ground Forces had in mind not a reduction in training, which was only extended to 45 days in November, but its intensification.
– Mikhail Drapatiy noted that “an infantryman's skills should be as applied and practical as possible, without unnecessary lyricism, and the main bearers of this knowledge will be the sergeant corps with combat experience”.
This means that instead of painting fences, combat training – 45-day or 60-day – should last day and night, that is, study so much that you don’t even go to bed, says Mikhail Samus.
The expert adds: since 2014, representatives of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, like other centers, have been talking about the need to abandon conscription and move to general basic combat training for all citizens of Ukraine – both men and women.
– We meant that there is no point in keeping a person in the so-called conscription service for a year, but it is better to conduct a compact, very intensive and effective two-month training course using modern methods and approaches.
I am sure that if we had introduced general basic training for all citizens of Ukraine for a period of two months in 2014-2015, then in 2022 everything would be different for us, the expert notes.
In my opinion Mikhail Samusya, in one day of preparation you need to study as much as possible.
It shouldn't be like it was in Soviet times, says the expert, when two years of military service turned into endless drill training, painting grass and sports fields, or peeling potatoes.
– This is not training. The training should be such that the company that provides the food peels the potatoes, while the people study day and night, says Mikhail Samus.
Therefore, improving the training of military personnel, the expert claims, is entirely realistic.
– I don’t see any problems with this at all, the specialist notes.
Expert on the specifics of reform during war
Changes in training issues, says the deputy director of the Ukrainian Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, are just one of the tasks facing the commander of the Ground Forces.
It is important to consider, the expert notes, that in addition to generating forces, there is also their use.
– If it were peacetime now, we would be talking about generating forces in a calm state. The commander would do this quite methodically and without haste.
However, there is a war going on now, so the situation is completely different, since Mikhail Drapatoy needs to deal with reforms, and effective generation of forces, and their effective use, although these are interconnected processes, the expert explains.
In addition to training, Mikhail Drapatoy, the expert says, also needs to change the management and organization system of the Ground Forces.
Expert on the possible timeframe for implementing the reform
How much time will be needed to implement the reform, says Mikhail Samus, only the commander of the Ground Forces knows VSU.
– It is impossible to predict anything here. The training can be changed quite quickly. However, some structural changes will require more time.
A large resource load, for example, a complete change in the system of training centers, etc., will require even more time, the specialist explains.
We recall that on December 27, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky, following the results of the final annual meeting on issues of training military personnel, announced that preparation for participation in combat operations in general should last two months.
According to the commander-in-chief, after basic general military training, which since November has lasted 45 days instead of 30, it is important to ensure a 14-day adaptation period for recruits in brigades.
