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Russian General Staff faces major 'overhaul'

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An upcoming large-scale reshuffle of the Russian General Staff is aimed at optimizing the number of officers and generals serving at central headquarters in Moscow, a high-ranking military official said on Tuesday.
MOSCOW, September 30 (RIA Novosti) - An upcoming large-scale reshuffle of the Russian General Staff is aimed at optimizing the number of officers and generals serving at central headquarters in Moscow, a high-ranking military official said on Tuesday.

"Up to 30% of the General Staff's personnel could be either transferred to other posts, including civilian positions, or retired. The General Staff will be reorganized by March 1, 2009," said the unnamed source.

Russia has downsized its Armed Forces from 4.5 million in the Soviet era to about 1.1 million personnel, while staff numbers at central offices have remained almost unchanged, numbering up to 10,500 senior officers and generals.

Future reductions will affect all main directorates and departments, including the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and the Main Operational Directorate, the source said.

"It will be a reshuffle on a global scale, but not overly drastic," he said.

The scale and the context of military reforms is believed to be the major source of a long-running conflict between the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense, which intensified after the appointment of Anatoly Serdyukov as defense minister.

According to some military analysts, the recent appointment of Gen. Nikolai Makarov, former chief of Armed Forces Arms Procurement, as chief of General Staff, indicates that the Russian military leadership is attempting to "reverse the negative, destructive trends that are now plaguing the Armed Forces, and stop the technical degradation of the Army and Navy."

Commenting on the upcoming reforms, Col. Gen Vasily Smirnov, the chief of the Main Organization-Mobilization Department of the General Staff, said the optimization would be carried out in line with changes in the nature of tasks accomplished by the Armed Forces at present and in the future.

These new tasks include the transition from conscription to voluntary military service and the modernization of weaponry and equipment in service with the Russian Armed Forces.

"These new tasks must be accomplished and the structure of the General Staff must be changed accordingly," Smirnov said on Tuesday.

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