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Turkmenistan
Force Structure
Of the 108,000 uniformed soldiers and officers and 300 units
of the former Soviet armed forces that were in Turkmenistan in
April 1992, nearly 50,000 personnel and thirty units were withdrawn
or disbanded within the following year. By 1993 the republic's
armed forces comprised around 34,000 active-duty personnel attached
primarily to the army and air force. At that point, the reduced
force operated 200 military units while seventy remained under
Russian control. Turned over to Turkmenistan's command were one
army corps directorate, two combined arms units stationed at Gushgy
and Gyzylarbat, several air defense and air force aviation units,
technical support and logistical units, and virtually all the
armaments and other military property. The armed forces are divided
into four branches: the army, air force, and border guards. The
government has announced plans to establish a naval force on the
Caspian Sea.
Army
The army, which had been reduced to about 11,000 personnel by
1996, is organized into one corps headquarters, three motorized
rifle divisions, one artillery brigade, one multiple rocket launcher
regiment, one antitank regiment, one engineer brigade, and one
independent helicopter squadron. There are also signal, reconnaissance,
and logistics support units. The three motorized rifle divisions
are based at Ashgabat, Gushgy, and Gyzylarbat. The army's inventory
includes about 530 M-72 main battle tanks, 338 armored infantry
fighting vehicles, 543 armored personnel carriers, 345 pieces
of towed artillery, sixteen self-propelled guns, 114 multiple
rocket launchers, sixty-three mortars, fifty-four antitank guns,
and fifty air defense guns.
Air Force
Turkmenistan's air force has four regiments with 2,000 men and
171 fighter and bomber aircraft, of which sixty-five are Su-17s.
The main air force base is at Gyzylarbat. In 1994 the organization
of the air force remained contingent on further negotiation on
disposition and control of former Soviet units. Pending such negotiation,
the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation maintained one
air force and one air defense group in Turkmenistan. In the meantime,
air force readiness was hampered by the resignation of most Russian
pilots in the early 1990s and a shortage of trained Turkmen pilots.
Border Guards
About 5,000 personnel serve in the Turkmenistan Border Guard,
which is commanded jointly by Turkmenistan and Russia. The Border
Guard Command was established in 1992 to replace the Soviet-era
Central Asian Border Troops District of the Committee for State
Security (KGB) of the Soviet Union. The border guards patrol the
wild, mountainous Afghan and Iranian frontiers, which total 1,750
kilometers and are rated the most sensitive borders of the country.
The guards have small arms and some armored personnel carriers;
experts evaluate them as an effective border force.
Matériel Supply
In the mid-1990s, Turkmenistan lacked adequate matériel and
technical support for its armed forces. However, a protocol with
the Russian Arms Company (Rosvooruzheniye) provided for delivery
of much-needed arms to Turkmenistan's military in 1995-96 in return
for natural gas. Under this agreement, Turkmenistan was to supply
6 billion cubic meters of gas annually to the Russian Natural
Gas Company (Gazprom) for sale to industries that will fill arms
orders for Turkmenistan. Rosvooruzheniye also was to transfer
30 percent of this revenue to hard-currency accounts in Turkmenistan.
Recruitment and Training
The 1992 constitution provides for universal conscription of
males for service in the national armed forces. The period of
regular service is eighteen months for army draftees and one year
for those with higher education. Draft deferments from active
military duty are granted only to individuals involved in seasonal
animal herding. A presidential decree of July 1992 allowed two-year
alternative service at a state enterprise for conscripts in certain
categories, but this decree was nullifed in December 1994.
Conditions of service seriously deteriorated in the years immediately
following independence. Large numbers of Turkmen were absent without
leave from units outside and within Turkmenistan, hazing and fighting
on ethnic and regional grounds were common among conscripts, instances
of insubordination and failure to comply with orders increased,
and relations between the Russian officer corps and Turkmen troops
were strained to the breaking point. In recent years, discipline
has been strengthened somewhat by improved working conditions,
amnesty for some cases of absence without leave, the removal of
political organs from the armed services, and increased opportunities
for service within Turkmenistan. In addition, legislation has
improved pensions given to career personnel in the Ministry of
Defense, the Committee for National Security, the Border Guard,
and the Interior Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, when
men reach the age of fifty-five and women the age of fifty.
All of the personnel except officers in the armed forces are
conscripts, more than 90 percent of whom are Turkmen. By contrast,
about 95 percent of the officer corps is made up of Slavs. After
many Russian officers had left Turkmenistan under the negative
conditions of the early 1990s, others were prevented from leaving
by a September 1993 agreement giving Russian citizens the option
of fulfilling their military obligation in Turkmenistan, swearing
allegiance to either state, or transferring to any region of Russia
after five years of service in Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistani officers are trained in military educational establishments
of the Russian Federation's Ministry of Defense, while Russian
officers in Turkmenistan train draftee sergeants and specialists.
Some limited training is provided in the military faculty established
at Turkmenistan State University. Turkmenistan has sent about
300 of its officers to training schools in Turkey, but it declined
an offer from Pakistan's general staff to provide officer training
in Pakistani war colleges.
Data as of March 1996
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