Turn the Ukrainian army into a Swiss one?

By Roman Khimich (Ukraine)

 

Mid-August was marked by a series of statements by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. These statement signal a fundamental change in the system of manning the armed forces and, in a broader perspective, vision of the entire defense doctrine.

 

The system of basic military training is declared to be mandatory and should cover all reservists, that is, effectively a major part of the adult population, including both men and women. Citizens who have passed such training should form a people's militia, which, in turn, should serve as the basis for a national territorial defense system. Finally, the authorities voiced the aim to create guerrilla, sabotage and intelligence networks on the basis of volunteer corps in cases of external aggression.

All these steps, taken cumulatively, comprise the elements of a comprehensive reform, a model set by the organization of the Swiss Armed Forces.

 

This is not the first attempt undertaken by Ukrainian authorities to solve the problem of mobilizing population in the event of hostilities. In mid-March 2014, in the midst of a military confrontation on the Crimean peninsula, several working groups were created at the request of Andrii Parubiy, the former secretary of the NSDC (National Security and Defense Council). The experts were required to prepare a regulatory framework and trigger the establishment of the mass mobilization system. Specific forms of this system were to be clarified in the working process.

 

The author participated in one of these groups, which developed the project of Ukrainian Army Reserve. The working group proposed a framework governing territorial defense forces in different states and developed a holistic view on the matter. Based on this experience and knowledge, author offers his assessment of the ideas expressed by Ministry of Defense leadership.