MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of volunteers in the 42nd motorized rifle division deployed in Chechnya will reach 90 percent of the whole strength, Colonel Yakov Firsov, Russian Land Forces press service chief, told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
Firsov quoted Colonel General Alexander Morozov, Land Forces Chief of Staff, as saying at a conference at the Land Forces Staff that "there will be no conscripts in the unit before year-end, as it will be fully manned with volunteers."
According to him, the conference also discussed the issue of manning sergeant positions with volunteers as soon as possible.
"Sergeants play the most important part in controlling and training servicemen, and therefore, they must be volunteers primarily and soonest," Firsov said.
According to the Land Forces Staff, 33 more Land Forces units will be converted to all-volunteer manning in 2005.