LIFe aBOaRD a FOXTROT-CLaSS SOVIeT SUBmaRIne

Sea Classics, Jan 2006 by Bonner, Kit

Despite their modernity, life was considerably more primitive aboard post-war Soviet submarines than many Westerners expected/PART II

SOVIET/RUSSIAN MANDATORY ENLISTMENT - ARMY OR NAVY?

When a teenager reached the age of 18, he was automatically available for national service in the Navy or Army of the Soviet Union. Before the collapse of the Soviet system, there was no appeal and the rights of the individual counted for nothing. A youth had to obey the State, and if the Army needed men, there is where he would go. As to the Navy, most of the young people lived inland in either farming or urban centers far from the sea. They knew little of the Navy or maritime affairs, and were as frightened of being conscripted into the Navy as the Army. It was the luck of the draw, and choice had no bearing in where a recruit was placed!

For those that were ordered to the Navy, there was a mandatory period of service that ranged from three- to five-years dependent on training received. Since the Soviet Union had universal conscription laws, all young men were subject to military service, and three years was the minimum. Women could volunteer, but were not permitted to serve aboard submarines and some surface ships.

When an individual's service was completed, he returned to his home, and took up his prior life - or, he remained in the military. After all, the military did provide food, uniforms, approximately $20 per month (US), some medical and dental work (if you liked extractions and silver teeth), and shelter. An officer such as an Army Major or a Captain 2nd Rank in the Navy earned $250US monthly. In Soviet and now Russian society, this was/is a respectable amount except when a BMW filled with teenagers drives by - the Russian gang leaders and drug dealers.

On the downside, the Army was and is renowned for its violent hazing and outright torture of young people entering the service. It is not like the military services of other developed nations who routinely play tricks on inductees, yet with a minimum of outright cruelty. The Russian military has been found guilty of outright murder, maiming, theft and destruction of the property of new inductees. Despite complaints and obvious evidence, the practice continues into the 21st century. Recruits are often robbed and beaten by instructors, and there is little recourse.

The Soviet Navy and its successor, the Russian Navy, does not harass its new people on the scale rampant in the Army. The Russian Navy has far greater problems than dealing with cruelty to new people. The Navy is lucky to have funds to pay its sailors, and keep fuel in its ships. The fiscal year of 2006 has a budget of 12% of what is needed to maintain the bare minimum to keep the Russian Navy on an international footing. Just simple items such as tools, food, and electricity alongside piers cannot be purchased, and credit has been worn thin in most ports. In essence, the Russian Navy is on the brink of bankruptcy, and in some ports, the electricity has been cut off to the ships due to nonpayment of utility bills. In the days of Soviet rule, the Navy simply did not pay its bills or engaged in barter as well as heavy taxation - hence its success at providing funds. Its successor, the Russian Navy, does not have the luxury of forcing contractors and vendors to provide goods and services at gunpoint.

This bodes poorly for the new recruits into the Navy and those who have served for many years expecting some form of retirement. Those that do have sufficient years for retirement must draw their benefits within the boundaries of Russia - if they can wade through the bureaucracy.

There is another more pressing problem in today's Russian Navy - theft by gangs, Naval officers and shipyard workers. Critical parts that contain precious metals have gone missing, and stocks of morphine and other pain-killing drugs have all but disappeared. Sailors have little chance at sea if they are injured because their shoreside comrades have robbed them just for simple sustenance.

In a recent exercise which the Russian President Putin observed, ballistic missiles failed to emerge from a submarine's silos. The electronic fire control mechanisms had been parted out for the gold, silver and palladium precious metals. Russian gangs and Naval officers had conspired to loot this Delta TV-class ballistic missile boat - Nouomoskovsr (K-407) - thus it was a worthless military asset. The officers had not been paid, and the gangs around Murmansk were only too willing to assist in the theft - which is now epidemic in and around Naval stations.

If Russia intends to have a Navy that can guard its shores and put to sea, it has many fundamental problems to resolve before that day comes. The loss of the Oscar-class Kursk (K-141) in August 2000 was a devastating blow to Russian national pride, and the recent near loss of the rescue mini-sub Priz (AS-28) in August 2005, was almost a repeat.

LIFE IN A SOVIET/RUSSIAN FOXTROT-CLASS SUBMARINE

The average age of a sailor in the submarine service is 19- to 22-years, and the officers are hardly like Sean Connery in the Hunt for Red October or Harrison Ford in K-19, The Widowmaker. The officers are also young - generally under 30-years of age. The only crewmen aboard a Russian submarine that are older (30-40 years) are the warrant officers or Michmen. The retention rate for first-time enlistees after three-years mandatory service was less than 30%, and the Soviet/Russian Navy needed some form of inducement to keep trained people. That meant a class higher than ratings, but below the officer corps. They are similar to the American custom of the "Chief of the Boat," and represent a bridge between the crew and the officers. The class of Michmen was created to retain long-term enlisted crewmen who were highly experienced in various aspects of submarine or surface warfare. This required higher salaries, but the experience of these men could not be wasted. They have their own mess and bunking area as well as the respect that comes with knowledge and experience. A seaman in the Russian submarine force can aspire to the rank of Michman after eight- to ten-years of devoted and spotless service. Retirement is generally in the late-40s for officers and enlisted ratings. Shore assignment at higher ranks allow an officer to remain for a few more years.