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Soviet Union [USSR] Life in the Soviet Armed Forces
On the day before beginning to serve in the armed forces,
Soviet conscripts have traditionally attended an induction ceremony
in which local CPSU officials and veterans give patriotic speeches.
The next day, they are transported directly to the military unit in
which they will serve their two- or three-year tours of duty.
Neither the conscripts nor their families know its location
beforehand. After one month of basic training that reviews their
premilitary training, conscripts take the military oath in their
regiments. In the oath, conscripts swear to guard state and
military secrets, to master the craft of war, to protect state
property, and to defend the homeland and government without sparing
life or blood.
Soviet troops lived under harsh conditions and strict
discipline. The practice of stationing troops in isolated areas
outside their home republics or regions and the system of internal
passports kept the desertion rate relatively low; the location of
Soviet troops far from their home region also enabled them to be
deployed more easily against a rebellious local population. Troops
had about an hour per day of "free" time, much of which was used
for additional political training and mandatory sports activities.
Leave and temporary passes were not issued as a matter of course.
New conscripts could also expect to be harassed by soldiers in
their second year of service. Such hazing occasionally spilled over
into physical abuse and theft by senior soldiers against first-year
troops. Conscripts were paid between 3 and 5 rubles per month, the
equivalent of about US$10. Low pay for conscripts conserved the
Ministry of Defense's resources, but soldiers often became burdens
for their families, who sent them money.
The rate of alcoholism among military personnel was reported to
be higher than in society as a whole, a fact that could be
attributed to the boredom and isolation of life in the barracks. In
addition, the expense and difficulty involved in obtaining alcohol
often resulted in petty corruption and the sale of military
supplies on the black market. Soldiers were confined to the
stockade for minor infractions of this type. They were sent to
penal battalions for more serious offenses, and time spent there
did not count toward their discharge.
Units trained six days every week in winter and summer cycles.
The majority of parade drill, tactics, weapons, chemical defense,
political, and physical training took place in garrison. The armed
forces have strictly limited live firings of weapons, field
exercises, days at sea, and flight time. The average serviceman
might participate in several three-day regimental exercises and
possibly one larger exercise in the military district in a two-year
tour of duty. In addition to their military training, units have
often been called on to help with harvesting. The semiannual
turnover of conscripts, one-quarter of total military manpower, has
meant that new inductees were constantly being assimilated into the
armed services. This turnover and the two-year service term made it
difficult to train and retain specialists to work on sophisticated
weapons systems.
Semiannual discharge orders from the minister of defense
released troops completing their active duty and automatically
enlisted them in the reserves. These troops also had the option of
reenlisting as extended service soldiers or applying to become
noncommissioned officers. Few did so, however. On returning home,
released conscripts had to register as reserves with the
voenkomat and report to it changes in their residence,
health, education, or family status until their reserve obligation
ended at age fifty.
Data as of May 1989
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