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Almost 300,000 contract servicemen in Russian Armed Forces — Defense Ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry plans to replace all junior command personnel with contract servicemen

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russian army will soon increase its contract personnel number to 300,000. This year, the Russian Defense Ministry plans to replace all junior command personnel with contract servicemen, head of the ministry’s main personnel department Viktor Goremykin told reporters on Friday.

According to him, the Defense Ministry is building the contract service system so that the contract servicemen had the opportunity to engage in training: "A serviceman can start with a primary position, and then undergo training for junior commanders. In the future we plan to fully replace all conscript sergeants with contract personnel, which is the task of the year."

"Today, regarding the manning level - 299,508 people in the army are contract servicemen. We are nearing the level of 300,000 contract servicemen," Goremykin said. According to him, "there are some ideas and plans to mark this."

"And for two consecutive years - in 2013 and 2014 - we were attracting 80-90 thousand people each year, said the personnel department chief. "This is quite a lot. At enlistment offices we have instructors in the services and branches of the armed forces to ensure targeted selection, which has already brought very good results."

According to the Defense Ministry, manning of troops (forces) with servicemen under contract is based on the rigid multi-level system of selection of candidates, obligatory sending them to instruction in training centres or educational institutions for preparation and subsequent conclusion of contracts, as well as multi-level system of military service, which provides, depending on qualifications, professional growth of contract servicemen.

Goremykin said that the Defense Ministry was developing a variety of measures to make military service attractive. One of these measures is military mortgage. To date, contract personnel in six years of service can obtain housing through military mortgages.