A former United States general predicted that Russia’s newly announced conscription will be a disaster, just as Google searches for “How to break a poor home” have skyrocketed in the country since Putin announced the new measure.
Mark Hertling, formerly an army lieutenant general specializing in troop training, took to Twitter today to explain that Russia’s barely existent military training program is sure to spell further disaster for Russia in their spluttering invasion of Ukraine.
“The announced mobilization of 300,000 Putin’s ‘reservists’ this morning was breathtaking to me, but not for the reason some would suspect,” Hertling tweeted: “Why? Because [sic] know how Russian soldiers are trained, in basic training and in their units.’
Hertling went on to explain how the US military trains about 150,000 recruits a year in ten weeks of rigorous basic training, then sends them to specialized training before the troops “report to their units ready to be integrated into the specific mission.”
However, in the Russian military, Hertling said, recruits often receive no basic training at all and are sent directly to their units where they receive training that sometimes lasts only a few days.
Meanwhile, Russians seem to agree with Hertling’s assessment of their frontline prospects, as Google searches for “как сломать руку в домашних условиях” — which translates to “how to break an arm at home” — skyrocketed in the country just hours after Putin had announced he was calling on 300,000 civilians to join his invasion of Ukraine.
Mark Hertling, former Army Lieutenant General specializing in troop training, took to Twitter today to explain that Russia’s barely existing military training program is sure to spell further disaster for Russia in their sputtering invasion of Ukraine.
Putin has announced that 300,000 people with military experience will be conscripted from Wednesday
Hertling said he has visited Russia before and seen their basic training, which he described as “terrible”.
‘During 2 visits to the RU, I saw the basic and unit training. It was atrocious,” he wrote, “introduction versus qualification on guns, rudimentary first aid, very few simulations to conserve resources, and…most importantly…horrible leadership by ‘drill sergeants’.
The problem is that the Russian army is poorly managed and poorly trained. That already starts in basic training and doesn’t get better during the time of the RU soldier in uniform.’
Mobilizing 300,000 ‘Reservists’ (after failing with exhausted conventional troops, rag-tag militias…)’
Hertling argued that the Russians’ rushed training process coupled with the use of questionable recruits would certainly spell disaster for their offensive.
“…recruiting prisoners and deploying paramilitaries such as the Wagner group) will be extremely difficult,” he wrote.
“And putting ‘newbies’ on a frontline that’s torn, has low morale, and doesn’t want to be, portends more RU disaster.”
‘Mind blow. A new sign of RU weakness.’
Google search data suggests Russians are considering desperate measures to get out of the catastrophic conscription Hertling predicted.
The search engine measures search terms on a scale of zero to 100 – zero stands for less popular terms and 100 more.
When Putin delivered his address and announced conscription at 2 a.m. EST Wednesday, searches for “how to break an arm at home” clocked in at zero, according to News weekmeaning they were so low they didn’t even follow the scale.
By 4 a.m. EST, however, searches for that term in Russia had risen to 38 out of 100.
Hertling explained how the US military trains about 150,000 recruits a year in ten weeks of rigorous basic training, then sends them to specialized training before the troops “report to their units ready to be integrated into the specific mission.”
Hertling argued that the Russians’ rushed training process coupled with the use of questionable recruits would certainly spell disaster for their offensive
Putin’s draft will take effect on Wednesday.
Currently, only individuals with previous military experience are eligible.
After Putin’s announcement, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured Russians that only 300,000 people with “previous military experience” would qualify.
Conscription comes as Russia struggles to fill its ranks on the Ukrainian front. Military officials have been seen trying to recruit violent criminals from national prisons to join the fray.