The Missions and Objectives of the Russian Armed Forces

While we may have a surficial understanding of the mission and objectives of the Russian military, much of which is communicated to us through the eyes of the biased Western media which seems quite certain that Russia's goal is to conquer the better part of Europe.

 

Using a VPN, I was able to access the website of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and the pertinent webpage which outlines the Objectives of the Russian Armed Forces as shown here:

 

The mission statement opens with this:

 

"Given the foreign policy shifts of recent years and new national security priorities, the Russian Armed Forces now have a totally new set of objectives..."

 

The four objectives are as follows:

 

1.) Deterring the military and political threats to the security or interests of the Russian Federation

2.) Supporting economic and political interests of the Russian Federation

3.) Mounting other-than-war enforcement operations

4.) Using military force

Note that "using military force" is not the first objective of the Russian Armed Forces, rather, deterrence, supporting the homeland and other-than-war operations would appear to be priorities.  You will also notice that their objectives do not include having 750 military bases in 80 nations around the world:

 

Let's look at each objective in turn.  Here are some of the tasks that Russia's Armed Forces will use to deter war and military-political threats and to provide for national security:

 

- tracking the rising military-political tensions and uncovering war preparations to attack the Russian Federation and/or its allies;

- sustaining the status, operational availability and mobilizational preparedness of the strategic nuclear forces and the relevant support capabilities to assure their functionality and usability; keeping the C2 systems ready to inflict the desired losses on the aggressor under any conditions;

- maintaining operational capabilities, war and mobilizational preparedness and training of the peacetime general purpose forces on the level high enough to beat back local aggression;

assuring readiness for strategic deployments as part of a state-run effort to put the nation on a war footing;

- making arrangements to put in place territorial defenses.

Here are some of the tasks that Russia's Armed Forces will use to support its economic and political interests:

 

- providing for security of Russian citizens in war zones and areas of political or other sort of instabilities;

- creating the friendly environment for Russian state or government-related economic activities;

- safeguarding Russian national interests in the territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zones and the World Ocean;

- staging and conducting information counter-balancing operations.

 

Here are some of the tasks that Russia's Armed Forces will use in other-than-war operations:

 

- living up to the commitments in keeping with the relevant international treaty obligations and inter-governmental agreements;

- fighting international terrorism, political extremism and separatism; preventing and putting in check sabotage activities and terrorist acts;

- undertaking a partial or full-fledged strategic deployment, maintaining operational availability of the nuclear deterrence capabilities;

- running UN/CIS-mandated peace-keeping/peace-enforcement operations while operating either as part of a coalition set up by an international Russian-participated organization or on an ad-hoc basis;

assuring a martial law/emergency regime in one or several constituent units of the Russian Federation pursuant to express directives from the National Command Authority;

- safeguarding the national borders of the Russian Federation in the air and underwater media;

Of most interest to us is the use of military force to assure the security of the Russian Federation.  According to the Russian government, Russia's Armed Forces are trained to engage in four types of war:

 

1.) Armed Conflict

 

A form of conflict waged to resolve political, ethnic, religious, territorial and other kind of difference through the use of arms, with the country (countries) involved in the relevant military operations coming short of letting the tensions be escalated to the special status generally known as war.

 

2.) Local War:

 

A war between two or more countries pursuing limited political goals, where combat operations are generally prosecuted within the confines of the warring sides. Under certain circumstances, local wars can escalate into a regional or large-scale war.  In my opinion, this is the type of war currently being fought in Ukraine and is on the brink of becoming a regional war given Washington's unfettered support for Ukraine's military.

 

3.) Regional War:

 

A war involving the given region’s two or more countries (groups of countries) operating through the use of either national or coalition armed forces commanding both conventional and nuclear capabilities within a single region confined by the waters of seas/oceans and aerospace, with the warring sides pursuing critical military and political goals. A regional war requires a full-fledged deployment of the armed forces and economic capacities, as well as the enhanced engagement of the material resources and moral courage available to the warring countries. Should any nuclear-have countries or their allies happen to participate in a regional war, such a war can feature the threat/risk of nuclear weapons being eventually employed.  In my opinion, this is the type of 

 

4.) Large-Scale War:

 

A war between coalitions of countries or larger world powers. It can be precipitated by escalation of an armed conflict, local or regional war by way of a significant number of countries from different world regions being effectively involved. In a large-scale war, the warring sides would pursue radical military and political goals. It would require that participating countries mobilize all of their available material resources and moral courage.

 

Modern Russian defense planning, while being reflective of the realistic grasp of Russia’s current resources and capabilities, is based on the assumption that the Russian Armed Forces together with other national troops should be prepared to repel aggression and rout the aggressor. Besides, the Russian Armed Forces should be ready to mount active (offensive and defensive) operations under any scenario of armed conflicts being unleashed and carried on in the conditions of the adversary resorting to massive use of modern and advanced lethal weapons, with assorted WMDs making no exception.

 

It is important to note that Russia's Armed Forces are trained to effectively wage two concurrent armed conflicts of any type in peacetime, during an emergency and to prosecute two local wars following completion of the full-fledged strategic deployment of the nation's Armed Forces.

 

Now you have some idea of how Russia's leadership views the missions and objectives of its armed forces.  Given the recent threats to the Russian homeland from overly and overtly aggressive Western politicians who wish to see their long-range weapons used to attack the fatherland, putting the missions and objectives of the Russian Armed Forces into perspective is important to understanding how they will respond to these provocations.

The 1033 Program and the Militarization of American Police Forces

Let's open this posting with three videos.  The first shows a recent confrontation between Denver police forces and a non-protesting civilian vehicle containing a pregnant woman (second video):

Denver. Police were firing pepper bullets and tear gas at cars stopped at an intersection, targeting a car with a pregnant woman.

A man yells at them “You’re shooting my car with my girlfriend in it? My pregnant girlfriend in it?”

The cops open fire on him with pepper rounds. pic.twitter.com/MrJjqo4ETB

— Chad Loder (@chadloder) May 31, 2020

Here is what happened to an elderly man with a cane when he got in the way of Salt Lake City's Rescue Team (aka SWAT Team) when they arrive on the scene of a burned out police vehicle (21 minute 45 second mark):

Lastly, this is what happened to 75 year-old Martin Gugino who received some special treatment from Buffalo's finest:



Notice how none of those who are employed to "serve and protect" came to the man's assistance when it was clear that he hit his head hard enough that he was bleeding from his ear?

With these recent events in mind, let's look at one of the main reasons behind the increasing violence meted out on America's civilian population by its police forces; militarization.

Let's look at some background first.  Back in 1997, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the 1033 program was enacted to allow the Department of Defense to offload excess equipment to local law enforcement agencies for no cost (except for shipping costs which are borne by the law enforcement agency) though the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) division of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as shown here:  

According to LESO, since its inception, the 1033 program has transferred more than $7.2 billion worth of property to local law enforcement with $293 million worth of equipment being transferred in fiscal year 2019 alone (values are based on initial acquisition costs).  Requisitions cover a very wide spectrum; from clothing and office supplies, tools and reduce equipment up to small arms and tactical vehicles which have benefited more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States.  Of the transfers, only five percent are small arms ($360 million worth) and one percent are tactical vehicles ($72 million worth).

On the DLA's High Visibility Property webpages we find these two pages:

1.) Small Arms (under .50 caliber):

LESO states that small arms obtained though the 1033 program are on loan from the Department of Defense and may not be permanently modified; when arms are returned to the DoD, they must be restored to their original configuration.

2.) Tactical Vehicles:

The 1033 program certainly looks like "one-stop shopping" for all of civilian law enforcement's military needs, doesn't it?  

LESO is required to release data of its "accountable property" on a quarterly basis since fiscal year 2016. Since Minnesota is the source of the most recent policing "issues", let's look at what the state has acquired through the 1033 program.  In total, Minnesota state law enforcement agencies have acquired 5,651 items with acquisition values ranging from $0.41 for a dust and moisture sealed protective cap to $865,000 for mine resistant vehicles.   Here is a complete listing of the Mine Resistant Vehicles that have been acquired by Minnesota's law enforcement agencies and which agencies have acquired this equipment because, after all, you can never have enough mine resistant vehicles:

In total, the state of Minnesota's law enforcement agencies have received at least $10,203,112 worth of DoD castoffs since the program began.

According to Campaign Zero, a police reform campaign that seeks to end police violence, one of the issues that has led to the increasing conflict between police and citizens is the militarization of America's law enforcement agencies.  They have the following recommendations:

1.) End the federal government's 1033 program.

2.) Establish local restrictions to prevent law enforcement agencies from purchasing or utilizing military weaponry as follows:

a) prevent police from using federal grant money to purchase military equipment.

b.) prevent police from deploying armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft, drones, Stingray surveillance equipment, camouflage uniforms, and grenade launchers.

c) prevent police from using SWAT teams unless there is an emergency situation or imminent threat to life and high-ranking officers have given approval.

d) prevent police from conducting no-knock raids.

e) prevent police from accessing federal grant money or purchasing military equipment if the department has been recently found to demonstrate a "pattern or practice" of discriminatory policing.

f) wherever possible agencies should seek to return to the federal government the military equipment that has already been received.

Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that America's law enforcement officials have taken an "us against them" philosophy when dealing with the citizens who pay their salaries.  The militarization of America's police has led to a scenario where the use of deadly force is just part of the business plan that is being used when dealing with the public, a business plan that has led to the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans at the hands of those that are hired to protect us. 

Let's close with this statement from the New York Civil Liberties Union regarding the gentleman that hit his head after being pushed by a Buffalo police officer:

Serve and protect indeed.