MOSCOW, June 5 (AVN) - The Armed Forces reform plan envisages preservation of the Airborne troops as a separate military branch and reserve of the Supreme Command, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Tuesday.
Ivanov was speaking during a visit to the stationing area of the 45th separate airborne reconnaissance regiment under command of Colonel Viktor Kolygin in the Moscow district of Sokolniki.
Having heard the report of Airborne Commander Georgy Shpak, Ivanov said that the two officials had reached mutual understanding in all issues pertaining to state and reform plans of the Airborne Troops, programme of armament and promising types of combat equipment.
The minister stressed that the Airborne would continue accomplishing peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Kosovo, but "in a lesser volume." About 5,000 paratroopers are operating within peacekeeping contingents in former Yugoslavia, he said, citing the Airborne Staff data.
According to Ivanov, airborne units and formations are best prepared for combat, which was proven during their involvement in the anti-guerrilla operation in the North Caucasus. At the initial stage paratroopers suffered heavy losses, as neither the Airborne nor other branches had had an opportunity to carry out full-scale combat training. At the current stage the Airborne command is tasked to increase the number of permanent-readiness units. At present there are 10 such regiments under Shpak's command. They will have all opportunities for combat training, Ivanov stressed.
The minister handed over state awards to officers of the 45th regiment who had been involved in the Chechnya war. The Order of Courage was conferred on Captain Yevgeny Isayev, deputy company commander, the order For Military Merins on Colonel Viktor Kolygin, and the second-degree medal of the order For Merits to the Fatherland on Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Minayev, head of a battalion's medical service.