PSKOV. Aug 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Pskov-headquartered 76th Airborne Division being transferred to volunteer manning has full junior officers' staff, a competent source in the HQ of the division told Interfax-Military News Agency Friday.
"As the 76th division is transferred to volunteer manning, this year's graduates of the Ryazan Airborne Force institute have been sent to our division first, which allowed us to fill all the platoon commander positions," the source said.
According to information publicized at a round table in the State Duma in late June, the 76th division had 125 empty primary officers' positions.
As a source in the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax- AVN, however, that "after the graduates of military higher educational establishments reported for duty the overall filling of commanders' positions exceeded 90 percent but career officers fill only slightly over 60 percent of the primary officers' positions - others are filled by the graduates of the Junior Leutenants' fast training courses and graduates of civilian universities, committed to officer military service," the source said.
He said that since 1990 the number of military higher educational establishments has fallen from 158 to 56 (plus 27 branches). Military academies train 16,000 officers annually, military universities 19,000, and military institutes 39,000, he added.
"However, the drain of officers, especially junior officers, can't be stopped so far," the source emphasized.