Putin relieved Colonel General Bondarev of his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces. Putin dismissed Colonel General Bondarev from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces. Notice period for dismissal of the Aerospace Forces.
For several days now, the news has been spreading in the media that the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces has been appointed and that General S.V. Surovikin will become him. He will take this post instead of General Viktor Bondarev. The Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces has received a new assignment and will work in the Federation Council. The former commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces will work with the committee in the field of defense and security and is currently preparing to take up a new position. The new appointment of the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces and the reshuffle in the leadership were not accepted by everyone unequivocally.
How did the military personnel in the Aerospace Forces react to the appointment?
The military personnel of the Aerospace Forces reacted especially negatively to this appointment. Although the dismissal of Bondarev, the commander of the Aerospace Forces, is also due to the fact that his leadership was distinguished by an increased number of air accidents. But unlike his predecessor, Sergei Surovikin never had anything to do with the air force; for most of his military career he commanded motorized rifle formations, and in recent years he led the work of a detachment in Syria. According to the pilots, entrusting the command of the Aerospace Forces to a person who has no experience at the controls of an aircraft is an extremely reckless decision.
Air Force Major General Aleksandr Tsialko also took this news without much enthusiasm. In his opinion, the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces must be a professional in his field. With such assignments, it often happens that the commander first has to be taught basic knowledge. It will be difficult for him to understand the documents, the organization of work and simply understand the life of the pilots. The command of such troops is trained in specialized military educational institutions.
It is precisely because of the incompetence of the leadership that there are cases of pilots dying while on duty. The commander of the Aerospace Forces must listen to his deputies in order to avoid mistakes in leadership. Tsialko believes that Surovikin will not always do this. Therefore, problems cannot be avoided.
It's no secret that pilots don't like infantry. This does not happen because of great pride, but because you need to understand the flying business. Pilots have their own special language for orders. Thanks to this, generals assign all the necessary tasks to their subordinates. For this reason alone, the new VKS Group may have problems with interaction and management.
What is known about the new boss
Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces S.V. Surovikin went through a difficult military path. His biography has difficult moments. The new head of the Aerospace Forces is 50 years old, he is a career professional military man who graduated from the military combined arms command school located in Omsk. Sergei Vladimirovich began his service during the Soviet army. Immediately after graduating from college, he was sent to serve in Afghanistan. He served during the war on the territory of Tajikistan, as well as in the North Caucasus. In 2002 he graduated from the military academy under the General Staff.
In the period 2002-2004, he headed the 34th motorized rifle division stationed in Yekaterinburg. Then he served as part of the 42nd division during the military operations during the military conflict in the Republic of Chechnya. There he held mainly command positions and took part in the work of the headquarters. Since October 2013, he has led military formations within the Eastern Military District. Since 2017, he has led the work of Russian troops in Syria. He has military awards and was awarded orders such as “for courage” and “for courage.”
In the 90s in Tajikistan, at the risk of his life, he delivered military equipment and personnel to ensure the elimination of the serious consequences of a natural disaster in the affected regions of this country. Many of the general's colleagues speak of him as an experienced and professional military man.
But not everything is so smooth in the biography of the future commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces. There was a moment in his life when he was taken into custody after the death of civilians. This happened in 1991, when he was still captain of the Toman division. By order of the State Emergency Committee, he was to participate in restoring order in troubled Moscow. On the night of August 21, he was given the order to break through the barricades of civilians posted at the Garden Ring. He led a convoy of infantry fighting vehicles. As a result of the clash, three picketers were killed.
After this tragedy, he was forced to spend seven months in “Matrosskaya Tishina”, but subsequently, the charges were dropped, and the rank was promoted to major, with the light hand of Boris Yeltsin.
Another incident occurred with Sergei Surovikin in 2004. His subordinate wrote a report to the prosecutor's office about his commander beating him because of an incorrect vote in the elections, and a month later his subordinate shot himself. But in both cases the guilt of the division commander was not proven.
Creation of the Military Police
Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin was at the origins of the creation of the military police structure, it was he who opened this structure. The powers of this unit include the activities of the FSB and military counterintelligence. Military police not only carry out patrol tasks, but also carry out operational activities. The military personnel of these units are also required to monitor the maintenance of the guardhouse.
By creating this structure S.V. Surovikin was supposed to become its head, but due to the fact that an old criminal record came to light, for which he received a 1-year suspended sentence, his candidacy was withdrawn from consideration.
His criminal record stems from a case in which he was found guilty of firearms trafficking. Later it turned out that he had been framed, his criminal record was expunged, but the prosecutor’s office did not forget such an incident. The chief military prosecutor of the Russian Federation opposed his candidacy and in 2011, in his letter to the Minister of Defense, he expressed his position. The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation, in order to avoid conflict, sent Surovikin to the post of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Military District.
Last appointment
Information that Surovikin will be appointed commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces has been discussed among military personnel for a long time. It is believed that he received this appointment after his excellent work carried out during the Syrian conflict. Despite the fact that he is a typical ground commander, he managed to organize the work of aviation, air defense systems, space forces and motorized rifle formations.
Two other candidates were considered for this position:
- Lieutenant General Igor Mokushev;
- representative of the space forces Alexander Golovko.
S.V. Surovikin was not considered with particular seriousness among possible candidates. Both candidates went through their military career and were associated with activities in the field of missile and air forces, but on this issue the choice was made for other reasons.
The pilots did not want to see the candidacy of Alexander Golovko. Since at the time of the creation of the Aerospace Forces, the Rocket and Space Forces very actively began to develop the budget allocated to the entire structure. For this reason, Golovko, as a representative of the rocket and space forces, was not the best option. Therefore, the choice not in his favor only made Air Force representatives happy.
General Sergei Surovikin was chosen due to the fact that he has extensive combined arms experience. In such a position, a representative of one type of military will experience difficulties. The example of his predecessor Viktor Bondarev is indicative. There is an opinion that the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev, is leaving precisely because of the plane crash that happened in 2016 in Sochi. This tragedy influenced the decision not in his favor.
For Surovikin, the news of the appointment also came as a surprise, but he has good experience in commanding various types of troops and acts as a good manager. Therefore, despite all the complexity, there is hope that he will understand this issue perfectly, as he has always done. Due to the fact that the Aerospace Forces is becoming a real inter-military structure, it includes not only Air Force troops, but also air defense and space-missile forces. This is a structure that acts in the interests of all troops of the Russian Armed Forces.
General Surovikin's military experience in commanding a combined arms military district, which includes such military formations as the fleet, air defense systems and other various types of troops, is of great importance for working in this position.
The general gained good experience in Syria, where he had to manage various systems and organize work on their interaction. There have already been examples of the appointment of commanders from other military structures in the history of Russia. There was a case where Anatoly Serdyukov, who had nothing to do with the army, was appointed to the most important position of Defense Minister. But, despite this fact, he was able to get into the swing of things and even began a large-scale military reform.
Therefore, it was logical to make such a decision, to appoint Sergei Vladimirovich Surovikin as commander of the Aerospace Forces, by decision of the commander-in-chief, combined arms general, because his experience in the interaction of various troops will ensure effective work in his position.
prizivaut.ru
who will become the commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces?
The Ministry of Defense has selected the main contenders for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS). The candidacies of two military leaders are being considered: Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Makushev and Commander of the Space Forces, Colonel General Alexander Golovko. It is noteworthy that Colonel General Sergei Surovikin was initially nominated for this post. His appointment could have become a sensation, since Surovikin is a combined arms commander.
As the Ministry of Defense told Izvestia, the final choice between Alexander Golovko and Igor Makushev will be made in the very near future, since the current commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, will leave to work in the Federation Council by the end of September. Both candidates are honored military leaders and have extensive leadership experience.
Lieutenant General Igor Makushev was born on August 6, 1964 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. In 1985, he graduated from the Chernigov Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, and in 2006, from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
He has a reputation as an accomplished fighter pilot and combat commander. Makushev went through all the steps of the career ladder - from pilot to deputy commander of the air army. He is qualified as a sniper pilot and has over 3 thousand flight hours. As deputy commander of the 16th Air Army, he took part in the operation to force Georgia to peace in August 2008. Igor Makushev became known to the general public when in the summer of 2014 he presented at briefings the position of the Russian military department in connection with the death of the Malaysian Boeing 777.
In his current position, General Makushev solves the problems of scientific substantiation of promising directions for the construction, development, training, use and support of the Armed Forces.
Unlike Makushev, the second candidate did not come from the flight personnel, but from the space forces. Colonel General Alexander Golovko was born on January 29, 1964 in Dnepropetrovsk. Graduated from the Kharkov Higher Military Command and Engineering School of Missile Forces (1986), the Military Academy named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky (1996), Military Academy of the General Staff (2003).
From 1986 to 2001, he served in various command and engineering positions in military units of the Main Test Center for Testing and Control of Space Facilities named after. G.S. Titova (GITSIU KS). In 2007, he headed the GITSIU KS, and in 2011 he became the head of the Plesetsk cosmodrome. In December 2012, Golovko was appointed commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces.
According to Izvestia, until recently the main contender was considered the commander of the Eastern Military District (EMD), Colonel General Sergei Surovikin. However, according to some reports, he himself refused this position. After all, even the very fact of considering the candidacy of a “land” general became a kind of sensation in military circles.
Sergei Surovikin graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1987, and later from the Academy. M.V. Frunze and the Military Academy of the General Staff. He went through all stages of his officer's career. In the 1990s he served in Tajikistan in the 201st Motorized Rifle Division, and in the 2000s he commanded the 42nd Guards Division in Chechnya. In 2012, he led the working group of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the creation of military police. In October 2013, Surovikin was appointed commander of the Troops of the Eastern Military District.
The reason for nominating Surovikin for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces was that he commanded a group of troops in Syria, where he managed to effectively integrate ground forces, aviation, air defense systems and a space group into a single system.
The fact that the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, will be delegated to the Federation Council from the Kirov Region became known in July of this year. Bondarev has held the position of Air Force Commander-in-Chief since May 6, 2012. The Colonel General was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces on August 1, 2015. It was under him that the Air Force turned into the Aerospace Forces due to the integration of the Aerospace Defense Forces into them.
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The Aerospace Forces are waiting for a strong hand: who will lead the aerospace forces
The most desirable candidate is Colonel General Surovikin
For the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, after it was vacated by Colonel General Viktor Bondarev on Tuesday, according to MK sources, three main candidates are being considered: Commander of the Space Forces, Colonel General Alexander Golovko, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Ministry of Defense, General Lieutenant Igor Makushev, as well as the commander of the Eastern Military District, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin.
Candidate for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin. Photo: 42msd.livejournal
At the moment, the acting commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces is Lieutenant General Pavel Kuralenko, the first deputy commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces. According to MK, he is also being considered as a successor. However, oddly enough, Sergei Surovikin is still considered the main candidate.
If his appointment takes place, it will become a real sensation: a combined arms general - commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces - this has never happened in the history of modern Russia. However, it should be borne in mind that Surovikin is considered one of the most experienced and combat generals. He commanded not only the district, but also our military group in Syria, where he gained experience in managing heterogeneous forces, when space forces, air defense systems, aviation, and various ground structures were combined in a single integrated system.
And here I would like to remind you that such appointments - when a commander is appointed to a non-core branch or branch of troops - as a rule, indicate that order needs to be restored in this structure. And this should be done by a person who is not burdened by official and friendly ties in this branch or branch of troops and is capable of looking at the problems there with a fresh, unclouded look.
So, in 1987, after the high-profile story of the overflight and landing of the German amateur pilot Matthias Rust on Red Square, major organizational events were held in the army. Then Army General Ivan Moiseevich Tretyak, an outstanding military leader, but who had nothing to do with air defense, was appointed commander-in-chief of the air defense. The troops remembered him as a person involved in the arrangement of military camps throughout the country, which turned out to be very useful for air defense troops, although it was not directly related to the tasks of combat training.
But now, when the tasks of combat training are a priority, the candidacy for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, according to our sources, is considered exclusively from these positions. And here other candidates for this position are also spoken of as exceptionally honored military leaders.
Lieutenant General Igor Makushev went through all the required steps of the career ladder - from a simple fighter pilot to deputy commander of the air army. In 1985, he graduated from the Chernigov Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, and in 2006, from the General Staff Academy. He is a sniper pilot and has over 3,000 hours of flight time. Many people remember him from the press conferences of the military department in 2014, where he presented materials from the Ministry of Defense related to the death of the Malaysian Boeing 777 over the Donbass.
Another candidate for commander-in-chief, Colonel General Alexander Golovko, also graduated from the General Staff Academy in 2003. He served in positions from department engineer, station chief, company commander, department head, department head at the Main Center for Testing and Control of Space Facilities named after G.S. Titov to commander of the Space Forces.
www.mk.ru
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces Wikipedia
Story
Tasks
Structure
Command
Commanders
Educational establishments
Other
see also
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5
- 1 2
- 1 2
- mil.ru.
- TASS. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
- Source: Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko (Russian) appointed Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces TASS. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
- Biographical information. Biography of Pavel Kurachenko // RIA Novosti, August 3, 2015
- http://vagsh.mil.ru/edumap
Links
wikiredia.ru
Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Armed Forces Wikipedia
Aerospace Forces (VKS)- a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed in 2015, as a result of the merger of the Air Force (Air Force) and the Aerospace Defense Forces.
We began to fulfill the assigned tasks on August 1, 2015 in accordance with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
The general leadership of the aerospace defense of Russia is carried out by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and the direct leadership is carried out by the Main Command of the Aerospace Forces.
The main headquarters of the Aerospace Forces is located in the building of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, located in the Arbat area, on Znamenka Street in Moscow.
Story
The Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation were formed by combining the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces.
On August 3, 2015, during a conference call, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General S. Shoigu, said:
“The formation of the Aerospace Forces by combining the Air Force and the Aerospace Defense Forces is the best option for improving the country’s aerospace defense system. This allows, first of all, to concentrate in one hand all responsibility for the formation of military-technical policy for the development of troops solving problems in the aerospace sphere, secondly, due to closer integration, to increase the efficiency of their use, thirdly, to ensure progressive development of the country’s aerospace defense system.”
Since September 30, 2015, the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation have been actively participating in the Russian Military Operation in Syria. The work of the Aerospace Forces was highly appreciated by Vladimir Putin, many military personnel were awarded high government awards from Russia and Syria. At the end of 2016, 84% of the Russian Aerospace Forces flight personnel had gained combat experience in Syria.
On March 17, 2016, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, presented the Battle Banner of the Aerospace Forces to the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev.
Tasks
Aerospace forces solve a wide range of tasks:
- repelling aggression in the aerospace sphere and protecting command posts of the highest echelons of state and military command, groupings of troops (forces), administrative and political centers, industrial and economic regions, the most important economic facilities and infrastructure of the country from attacks by enemy aerospace attacks;
- defeating enemy targets and troops using both conventional and nuclear weapons;
- aviation support for combat operations of troops (forces) of other types and branches of troops;
- defeating the warheads of ballistic missiles of a potential enemy attacking important government facilities;
- providing senior management levels with reliable information about the detection of ballistic missile launches and warning of missile attacks;
- monitoring space objects and identifying threats to Russia in space and from space, and, if necessary, countering such threats;
- launching spacecraft into orbit, controlling military and dual-use satellite systems in flight and using some of them in the interests of providing troops with the necessary information;
- maintaining the established composition and readiness for use of military and dual-use satellite systems, means of launching and controlling them, and a number of other tasks.
Structure
Organizationally, the Russian Aerospace Forces include three types of troops (forces):
Command
The command staff of the Aerospace Forces was appointed by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 394 of August 1, 2015:
Commanders
Educational establishments
Other
The main cultural institution is the Central Officers' Club of the Aerospace Forces (Moscow). The VKS has the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Aerospace Forces.
see also
Notes
- The flag of the Aerospace Forces, approved by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 470 dated August 1, 2015.
- The Military Balance 2018. - P. 198.
- The Russian Aerospace Forces began service., Interfax (August 3, 2015).
- 1 2 3 4 5 Shoigu: “A new type of armed forces has been created in Russia - the Aerospace Forces” // TASS, August 3, 2015
- 1 2 A new branch of the Russian Armed Forces - the Aerospace Forces - has begun combat duty in aerospace defense // Press Service and Information Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense, August 3, 2015
- The headquarters of the Aerospace Forces will be located on Arbat // Interfax, August 3, 2015
- August 12 - 104 years of the Aerospace Forces: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
- The Aerospace Forces have been created in Russia. "Lenta.Ru" // lenta.ru (August 3, 2015)
- Russian Minister of Defense General of the Army Sergei Shoigu held a regular conference call // Directorate of Press Service and Information of the Russian Ministry of Defense (August 3, 2015)
- An extended meeting of the Board of the Russian Ministry of Defense was held at the National Defense Management Center: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
- http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/51525/photos
- 1 2 Structure of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Aerospace Forces. Tasks and main command. // Official website of the Russian Ministry of Defense
- Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich. Biography (Russian), mil.ru.
- Source: Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko (Russian) appointed Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces TASS. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
- Biographical information. Biography of Pavel Kurachenko // RIA Novosti, August 3, 2015
- "Russian Military Review". 2017. No. 9. - P.73
- Source: Lieutenant General Pavel Kurachenko (Russian) appointed Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces TASS. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
- Biographical information. Biography of Pavel Kurachenko // RIA Novosti, August 3, 2015
- http://vagsh.mil.ru/edumap
- Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu checked the progress of construction of the Moscow Presidential Cadet School: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
- Moscow Aviation Institute (Russian) // Wikipedia. - 2017-09-17.
- Military training center. www.ugatu.su. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
- Military training at MSTU. N.E. Bauman | Military Institute MSTU named after. N.E. Bauman. mil.bmstu.ru. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
- Central Officers' Club of the Aerospace Forces: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Links
wikiredia.ru
Putin relieved Colonel General Bondarev of his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces
(updated: 19:44 09/26/2017)
MOSCOW, September 26 - RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved of his post and dismissed from military service the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev. The presidential decree was published on the official Internet portal of legal information.
Biography of Viktor Bondarev By the same decree, the president dismissed the head of Rossotrudnichestvo Lyubov Glebova, the head of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Saratov region, police lieutenant general Sergei Arenin, and the deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Valery Kulikov.
The decree comes into force from the date of its signing.
All four of those dismissed earlier became senators: Glebova will represent the Udmurt Republic in the upper house of parliament, Arenin - the Saratov region, Kulikov - the city of Sevastopol, and Bondarev - the Kirov region.
All of them, along with a dozen more new senators, should receive certificates of membership of the Federation Council from the hands of the speaker of the chamber Valentina Matvienko at the morning meeting on September 27.
The head of Mordovia appointed ex-ambassador Kislyak as a senator from the region. Governor Igor Vasiliev, speaking about the appointment of Bondarev as a senator, noted that he and the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces have developed strong business relationships that will allow them to work together for the benefit of the Kirov region. “Viktor Nikolaevich clearly understands the problems and challenges facing the defense industry, and he is ready to defend both the interests of our defense industry enterprises in the Federation Council and to help the region as a whole,” Vasiliev said.
At the same time, a RIA Novosti source reported that Bondarev is being considered as a candidate for the post of head of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security.
This position became vacant after the Federation Council on July 12 relieved Viktor Ozerov, who had headed the committee for 16 years, from it. According to a RIA Novosti source, Ozerov’s decision to leave the post of chairman “was not momentary, it was deeply thought out and weighed.”
Ozerov himself explained to the agency that he was moving to the rules committee. According to him, this decision is due to the desire to change the environment and rhythm of life.
“Tomorrow afternoon there will be a committee meeting, then the issue will be put to a vote of the chamber,” said a source in the Federation Council.
Viktor Bondarev was born on December 7, 1959 in the village of Novo-Bogoroditskoye, Petropavlovsk district, Voronezh region. He worked his way up from an instructor pilot to the commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army. In 2009, he was appointed deputy commander of the Air Force, then served as chief of the General Staff - first deputy head of the Air Force, and in July 2012 became commander-in-chief of the Air Force. In 2014, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General. In August 2015, the president appointed him commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces.
Who will head the VKS
According to sources in the Ministry of Defense, Viktor Bondarev as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces may be replaced by Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, who currently commands the Russian group of troops in Syria.
The Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Army are liquidating the Akerbat cauldron. Among other candidates for this position, the media named Deputy Chief of the General Staff Igor Makushev and Commander of the Space Forces Alexander Golovko.
“Colonel General Surovikin will take up the duties of Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces in October of this year,” the source said, adding that this information has already been communicated to the leadership of the Aerospace Forces. A second source in the department also confirmed information about Surovikin’s appointment.
The Kremlin did not comment on the possible appointment of Surovikin.
“We do not announce personnel decisions,” said Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Sergey Surovikin was born on October 11, 1966 in Novosibirsk. In 1987 he graduated from the Omsk Higher Combined Arms Command School, and subsequently graduated with honors from the Frunze Military Academy and the Military Academy of the General Staff. Since June 2004, he commanded the 42nd Guards Division stationed in Chechnya.
In 2008, he was appointed head of the main operational directorate of the General Staff; in 2010, he served as chief of staff of the Volga-Ural, and subsequently the Central, military districts.
Since April 2012, he served in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Defense. In October 2012, he was appointed chief of staff - first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District. In October 2013, he was appointed commander of the Eastern Military District. Since June he has been commanding the Russian group in Syria.
ria.ru
The “land traveler” at the head of the Aerospace Forces will cause irritation among military pilots
General Surovikin knows how to find an approach to his subordinates - one of his deputies shot himself right in his office, another subordinate complained about the massacre on his part.
However, Surovikin is expected to head the Aerospace Forces (VKS) from October. Moreover, the general had never sat at the controls of an airplane in his life. What will his subordinates think about this?
The commander of the Russian group in Syria, 50-year-old Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, will head the Aerospace Forces from October instead of Viktor Bondarev, who is leaving for the Federation Council, sources in the military department told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
The “land traveler” at the head of the Aerospace Forces will cause irritation among military pilots
According to sources, this information has already been conveyed to the leadership of the Aerospace Forces.
"Ground travelers" in aviation are called "boots"
Among military pilots, the message about Surovikin’s possible appointment will be received with extreme irritation, said a senior reserve Air Force general.
“Surovikin never flew in his life; all his life he wore green shoulder straps, which people with blue shoulder straps despise. He did not command a single branch of the troops introduced into the Aerospace Forces and did not even stand next to them during his entire service. I did not study in the profile of any of the four former branches of the Armed Forces, now introduced into the Aerospace Forces. For the Air Force to be headed by a man from the motorized infantry? This has never happened at all,” said the newspaper’s interlocutor. – In aviation, ground travelers are called “boots”. His subordinates, of course, will carry out all of Surovikin’s orders, but they will secretly despise him.”
A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, former deputy commander of the Air Force of the Baltic Military District of the USSR for army aviation, Major General Alexander Tsalko also perceives such an appointment without delight. “Not the best option, to be honest,” he told the newspaper VZGLYAD. “Maybe he is a good person. But in general, in an amicable way, it would be better for him to refuse this position. I would say that he doesn’t understand this matter. Don’t sit on your own sleigh – this is my position,” he added.
“There are levels where the position is political, but the Minister of Defense and the Commander-in-Chief must be professionally trained. Or at least listen to experts,” Tsalko emphasized. – This must be absolutely special training: a pilot, preferably front-line aviation. For example, an army commander, let’s say, who has passed the levels of command of a regiment and a division, is a person who will manage more or less competently.”
Tsalko adds that with such appointments, it happens that commanders have to be taught basic things. “The level is very high. He needs to delve into literally everything - documents regulating flight work, combat training, everyday life. There are so many features that it simply won’t fit,” explained the pilot.
In this regard, Tsalko noted: “The problem is that the combined arms commander believes that with appointment to a position he receives a certain knowledge.” Let us recall that the command staff of such branches as the Navy, Airborne Forces and VKS (VVS), as a rule, undergo training in specialized, rather than combined arms military universities.
“During the Zapad-81 exercises, the late General Valentin Varennikov twice removed me from the post of regiment commander because I did not allow the crew to fly in the fog. Life is full of such cases when they press incompetently. Sometimes people even die because of this incompetence. And such a commander-in-chief will have a problem. Will he be able to obey his specialized deputies or not? I'm afraid not always."
– the general complained. Tsalko noted that if we take army aviation, which was repeatedly transferred from the Air Force to the ground forces and back, then “the paradox is that even some pilots began to command army aviation incompetently.”
“The military are forced people. You endure it no matter what. What are they going to show him, a fig in their pocket? They will carry out commands. If there are bad commands, they will avoid them,” he explained.
The general is confident that few people in the Aerospace Forces will be enthusiastic about Surovikin’s appointment: “It’s not a matter of ambition to fly. The point is that people don’t understand.”
A high-ranking source of the newspaper VZGLYAD in the Russian Air Force reminds: each branch of the military and branch of the armed forces has its own professional language for orders and instructions. It is with the help of this language that generals assign combat missions to their subordinates, and for tank crews the mission statement sounds fundamentally different than for sailors or pilots. The tank general simply does not know in what words and concepts to issue this or that order for, say, an air squadron. If only for this reason, due to the appointment of General Surovikin, the VKS can expect problems with force control.
The new commander in chief knows how to attack quickly
Whether this is a coincidence or not is still unclear, but Surovikin’s appointment became known the morning after good news came from Syria - our troops managed to quickly break through the encirclement of militants, which included a platoon of Russian military police in Idlib province on Tuesday. 29 Russian soldiers were freed from encirclement. It was General Surovikin, by the way, the creator of the Russian military police, who managed to organize the unblockade operation with lightning speed.
But Tsalko is confident: success in Syria is a shared achievement, because Surovikin is not the first commander of the group, and he led the group quite recently, in June. “This is not the person who came to Syria at the most difficult time and took on all this. He came to a well-established farm that works,” the interlocutor emphasized.
In Syria, the commander has deputies in the areas. “There is a deputy for aviation who gives him professional advice,” Tsalko emphasized. According to him, the commander is consulting on how to act in each specific case. At the same time, Tsalko emphasized, the deputy for aviation is protected by the fact that he is subordinate in parallel to the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces - that is, in case of disagreement, he can turn to his own commander-in-chief.
The battle path began in the August putsch
Sergey Surovikin was born in Novosibirsk in 1966. In 1987, he graduated from the Omsk Higher Command Military School with a gold medal, in 1995, with honors, from the Frunze Military Academy, and in 2002, also with honors, from the General Staff Academy.
Surovikin first entered the media field as a young captain. During the days of the August 1991 putsch, a battalion of the Taman division under his command was sent to patrol the center of Moscow, and it was during an incident with his battalion’s infantry fighting vehicles on the Garden Ring that three young people were killed. Surovikin was arrested, but the charges against him were eventually dropped because he was only following orders. Moreover, by Yeltsin’s personal order, he was promoted to rank.
Since 1995, he was sent to Tajikistan, where he rose from battalion commander to division chief of staff. In 2002, he was appointed commander of the 34th Simferopol Motorized Rifle Division. In 2004 he fought in Chechnya, after which he commanded the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army. Then he was deputy chief of the General Staff and chief of staff of the Central Military District. Before his appointment in Syria, he led the Ministry of Defense working group on the creation of military police and then commanded the troops of the Eastern Military District.
Another noisy incident with Surovikin occurred during his studies at the Frunze Academy - in 1995, he was sentenced to a year of suspended imprisonment for carrying weapons and ammunition. However, it later turned out that he had been framed, and his criminal record was overturned. In 2004, Surovikin’s subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Tsibizov, accused his superior of beating him for political reasons, but then he himself withdrew the statement from the prosecutor’s office.
In the same year, a tragic incident occurred - right in the office of Divisional Commander Surovikin, his deputy for armaments, Colonel Andrei Shtakal, shot himself in his presence.
The new commander-in-chief will rely on specialized deputies
The editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Viktor Murakhovsky, suggests waiting for the official appointment of a new commander-in-chief. But in general, he does not see anything unusual in the fact that a combined arms general will lead a “foreign” branch of the military. “The Aerospace Forces is becoming an interspecific structure that includes many branches of the military and works in the interests of all armed forces, and not only in the airspace,” Murakhovsky told the VZGLYAD newspaper.
The expert recalled that Surovikin previously commanded the Eastern Military District: “This is also one of the largest interspecific operational formations, which included the fleet, air army, air defense and all other types of troops in the east of the country.”
Murakhovsky noted that the new commander-in-chief will command different branches of the military, in particular Long-Range Aviation and the Air Force itself, operational-tactical aviation, and he already has such experience. After all, the group in Syria includes air defense, ground forces and special operations forces.
Navy forces also periodically appear off the coast of Syria, which quickly come under the command of the commander for the duration of their presence. Murakhovsky credits Surovikin for the success of the Russian aviation group in Syria.
The training of flight personnel and the actual use of aviation will be carried out by individual people, Murakhovsky explained: for example, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Aviation. The use of various types of troops is planned by a special headquarters. “The Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces is now the person who organizes the training and combat use of interspecific weapons systems operating in the air and space,” he explained. The expert does not expect any indignation on the part of the Aerospace Forces pilots with the new assignment. “Those who are indignant in the army quit,” he concluded.
As you know, the military is conservative and does not like change. Similar rumors were heard in the officer corps in the spring of 2004, when Anatoly Serdyukov, a tax official far from the army, was appointed Minister of Defense. Since his official biography included the position of director of a furniture store, many officers initially called him Taburetkin.
However, over time, Serdyukov got into the swing of things and even launched a large-scale reform. On the eve of the “five-day war,” almost no one remembered his furniture past. And the reforms he started forever changed the face of our army, and years later even many of his critics admit that the reforms turned out to be correct in many respects.
The editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Alexey Venediktov, wrote in his Telegram channel that the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Colonel General Viktor Bondarev was dismissed due to a poor-quality investigation into the Tu-154 plane crash of the Russian Ministry of Defense in December 2016 of the year.
ESA/Space Research Institute RAS
“Viktor Bondarev, commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, was dismissed from military service and sent to the Federation Council. He was made responsible for the Tu-154 crash (Alexandrov’s ensemble and Dr. Lisa), as well as for the inaccurate and incomplete investigation of this crash,” wrote Alexey Venediktov in his Telegram channel.
On September 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved and dismissed from military service the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, and the deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Valery Kulikov, writes znak.com.
The Tu-154 plane crashed on the morning of December 25, 2016, shortly after takeoff from Adler airport. 92 people died - military personnel, journalists, and artists of the Alexandrov ensemble. Among the dead was the head of the Fair Aid Foundation, Elizaveta Glinka (Doctor Lisa).
They were flying to a Russian base in Syria.
Reference
Viktor Bondarev was appointed commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces on August 1, 2015. Previously, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. Bondarev began his career as an instructor pilot and subsequently became an honored military pilot and sniper pilot. Bondarev was awarded the Order of Courage. In 2000, for the courage and heroism shown during the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, Bondarev received the title of Hero of Russia.
Viktor Bondarev began his career in the Kalman air regiment of the Barnaul Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots.
