MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - As many as 239 higher civilian educational establishments are training reserve officers in Russia.
"Military departments are accomplishing a number of missions including the manning of the Armed Forces with officers in peacetime. The Russian government has the right to open them. Speaking about the number of higher educational establishments with military departments, it is determined proceeding from the demand for officers in the Armed Forces," chief of the Defense Ministry's HR department Major General Sergei Davydov said in an interview published in the January issue of the Armeisky Sbornik monthly.
Davydov said that the Russian government approved the list of 239 higher civil educational establishments with military departments.
"Reserve officers are trained for nearly all armed services and military branches, the Defense Ministry's main and central departments and the Russian Railway Troops," the general said.
The training course for reserve officers comprises 450 academic hours. Moreover, students spend 30 days at training sessions in regular military units. Th total time for mastering the program is fixed at 1,000 hours, including time for self- training. The course covers 2.5 to 3 years, Davydov noted.
Many reserve officers trained in higher civilian educational establishments remain in the army upon graduation.
"Many of them make an excellent military career. An entire range of current military chiefs proves that these are no empty words. Among them are Chief-of-Staff Anatoly Kvashnin, Deputy Defense Ministers Army General Alexander Kosovan and Colonel General Igor Puzanov, and many others," Davydov added.