MOSCOW. July 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The Airborne Troops council will hold an extramural session in the northwestern Russian city of Pskov to consider preparations for the experiment on transition to the professional army that is to begin in the 76th airborne division on September 1, 2002.
"Preliminary results of the unit's preparation for transition to the professional basis will be summed up and its goals for the near future determined on July 31," secretary of the Airborne Troops council Colonel Valery Morozov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
The experiment's results will be valuable for the entire Armed Forces, and the Airborne Troops will do their best to meet the demands that they are facing, Morozov said, "The military council is to outline a set of goals that must be reached in the troops at the current stage of preparations for the experiment," he noted.
The session that will be chaired by Airborne Commander Georgy Shpak is expected to hear reports of the Airborne Command and 76th division command.
The 104th paratrooper regiment will be the division's first unit to be fully manned by professionals.
The division's manning table will be changed during the experiment. Professional servicemen will not perform functions of ancillary workers and fatigue-duties any longer. That is why the number of civilian workers and the strength of auxiliary units will have to be increased. In the United States the number of ancillary workers is three times higher than the number of combat personnel.
In addition, a developed infrastructure will be established in the division's compounds, more residential blocks, schools, kindergartens and entertainment centers will be built.
A professional serviceman will be paid RUB3,500-5,000 (USD111.3-159.1) a month.