Center for American Progress

The Seeds of Russia’s Military Collapse in Ukraine Were Planted by its Bungled Elimination of Conscription
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The Seeds of Russia’s Military Collapse in Ukraine Were Planted by its Bungled Elimination of Conscription

Larry Korb describes the conditions that allowed Russia's forces to be overwhelmed by Ukrainian troops.

In the spring of 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, I was invited to Moscow. As a former assistant secretary of defense who dealt with manpower issues in the 1980s, I was part of a four-person American delegation meeting with Russian military leaders to discuss why and how the United States transitioned successfully from a conscript or draft military to an all-volunteer force (AVF) after the war in Vietnam.

The advice I would give at that meeting, and the Russian failure to follow it, helped create the conditions that allowed Russia’s forces to be overwhelmed by Ukrainian troops to the point of failure in its attempted conquest of its neighbor.

The above excerpt was originally published in Military.com. Click here to view the full article.

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Author

Lawrence J. Korb

Former Senior Fellow

Department

National Security and International Policy

Advancing progressive national security policies that are grounded in respect for democratic values: accountability, rule of law, and human rights.

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