Trends in upgrading military clothing and uniforms and related gear supply rates

Military Thought, July-Sept, 2004 by S.I. Shlyaev

Indoctrination and instilling the sense of organization and order has always relied on clothing and uniforms in our military. This is why the Russian Armed Forces have always assigned a special role to military uniform. Alongside its purely military function, it requires military people to be disciplined, tidy, smart and bear with dignity the honorable name of defenders of Motherland, prize the honor, valor and glory of its Armed Forces.

Military clothing and related gear constitute a set of pieces of military clothing, footwear and gear designed to be worn by members of the military and standardized with regard to their outward signs. Military clothing and military footwear are called uniforms. The essential outward signs of pieces of military clothing and uniform include: their design and color, decorative and distinguishing elements of appropriate colors (piping, trouser strips, cap bands, central strips on shoulder boards), accessories of authorized design, shoulder boards and tabs. Worn with military uniform are government decorations, insignia, distinctive devices and other military heraldic symbols established under prescribed regulations.

Today, the total number of names of clothing and related gear runs into more than six thousand. They include: 1,500 names of outer clothing; 500 names of footwear and individual gear; 2,000 names of special clothing and footwear; 1,500 names of other articles.

Supplies to the military of the above over recent 10 or 15 years were affected by severe financial constraints (at the rate of nearly 20 percent of the minimum requirement). Provision of clothing and related gear for our military was thus an uphill task. At the same time, the main problems involved in the provision of clothing and related gear to the military were resolved in 2001-2003:

* there was a timely transition to wearing seasonal military clothing and uniforms in a timely manner and without any disruptions or breaking into the emergency supplies;

* all categories of military personnel are provided with field clothing;

* every year, the industry manufactured around 30,000 sets of service uniforms for officers and at the same time Voyentorg [Commissary] tailors made service uniforms (20,000 sets);

* records are kept of backlog money due to military personnel for undelivered clothing and related gear and the payment of refunds began in 2003 at the rate of 2.05 billion rubles with a total of another 2.4 billion to be paid in 2004 (this means, we will pay off the clothing and related gear backlog during 2004-2005).

In compliance with the RF President's instructions, we have studied the question of providing in 2004 of service uniform articles to all members of contract-based service personnel. Up for approval are a draft edict of the RF President "On Military Uniform, Insignia and Distinctive Devices of Military Personnel" and of a government resolution "On the Rate of Supplies of Clothing and Related Gear, Bath and Laundry Services for Military Personnel in Peacetime" both of which call for optimization of service rates. Members of military personnel should be provided with the usual sets of clothing and uniforms to keep up their outward appearance in line with corresponding traditions of the Russian Army and Navy and to make them feel comfortable operating in various climatic and weather conditions.

In accordance with the draft edict of the RF President "On Military Uniform ...," a new order of the day of the RF Defense Minister is being drafted "On Regulations Governing the Wearing of Military Clothing and Uniform by RF Armed Forces Personnel" which will specify types of military uniform: army uniforms for Ground Forces personnel and navy uniforms for members of the Navy, each of which (with the exception of uniforms for seagoing personnel) are divided into dress uniforms, service uniforms and field uniforms. Military clothing of the Navy is further divided into three varieties: shipboard clothing, clothing for shore troops and other troops comprising shore troops, the Air Force and the Air Defense of the Navy. Regulations specify the wearing of a standard field camouflage clothing as service uniform for sergeants and ordinary soldiers of the Ground Forces, navy petty officers and sailors serving on the contract and draft basis in shore troops and units of the Navy. At the same time, dress uniforms for the Navy are also standard and they will be made of black woolen fabric. Thus, it will be possible to preserve the traditional appearance of servicemen and reduce the number of varieties of sets of clothing for the Ground Forces from 36 to 14 and for the Navy, from 55 to 21.

The main rates of clothing and related gear supply will be determined by the above resolution of the RF Government and the order of the day of the defense minister. On the whole, the proposed regulations governing the supply are going to reduce cost by 700 million rubles and most certainly preserve intact the quality of articles of military clothing, footwear and personal gear.