Russia: Military service breaks mentality

Military service breaks mentality

2 Aug, 2008 - Moscow: Defense of the country is one of the most important tasks for the government. Every country should be protected, no matter whether it is a peacetime now or not. For many years it was traditional for the young male population in Russia to be in military service for two years. It was obligatory, and everyone was to fulfill his duty. Today the rules have changed, and the term of military service has been reduced to 12 months. Plus the system of alternative service is developing, providing more qualified specialists.

Military service in Russia is a thing that mothers are afraid of when their boys are born. It isn't a normal way of spending time. Bullying is commonplace and is sometimes even perpertrated by those supervising training. How many stories we hear about those young guys who become victims of senior officers! The most shocking one was about one boy who lost his legs and now is an invalid, thanks to military service and Russia's legislation. Parents are doing their best to find an escape from such a fate for their child. The best way is to pay money to doctors so that they declare the son to be ill and unable to serve. That is illegal, and very expensive, but it is an escape from the eternal problems of going through "the school of true men." Serving in the army under Russia's conditions changes people. I have a friend who had to serve for two years. He was summoned because he failed the exam to enter the university. That was a person who enjoyed drinking good wine and playing his guitar near the fireplace. He had plans for his future life, his girlfriend and job. All that collapsed, as two years is quite a long time. Now I should apologize for the following words, but the degradation of the person was obvious. His character be­came stronger, but this doesn't mean my friend became brave or valiant. After these two years he decided education was useless: "Diploma? I don't need it to earn money; it can be bought if necessary!" It took him about a year to pull himself together. At the moment he works at a small company and repairs computers. Two months ago he told me that he would try to take exams to enter the university as at least an evening student. I haven't seen him since that time, but I hope his plans will come true. Still, that is the story of my friend, and not of all of those guys who have been in military service. The experience of serving breaks one's mentality, and it is difficult to come back to normal life. The only way to solve this problem is to improve the conditions of military service and to control this whole system, but it seems impossible. Plus, during two years of service, the outer world changes - change some vectors, and their guiding lines don't meet modern standards any more. But the new 12-month term, attractive as it looks, can't really help, as the mind changes anyway there. Mothers cry and become irritable if they don't manage to evade military service for their sons. There is nothing new, everyone knows that, but improvement is hardly visible. The social sphere is a wide field in Russia, and the day it works appropriately seems to be far away.