2008 Russian Military Reform

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Significant reforms of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were announced in October 2008 under Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, and major structural reorganisation began in 2009. The stated aims of the reform are to reorganize the structure and the chain of command in the Russian army, and to reduce it in size. There had already been reforms in the past, namely the 1997 reform under MOD Igor Sergeyev and the 2003 reform under President Vladimir Putin. The reform programme of 2003 was in many areas very similar to the 2008 programme, as it emphasized already the need for reductions in personnel strength, a gradual decrease in the use of conscripts in favour of professional soldiers, the creation of a professional NCO corps and drastic changes to officer training and education.