Howdy.
A blast-from-the-past situation happening in Ukraine. We have Russian professional military engaged to a local stand-off currently against Ukrainian regulars in Crimea.
The setup from the perspective of regular forces is clear. Russian mobility and preparedness against the motivation boost to defend one's own sovereignty.
But what happens when the Ukrainian reserves come to play? The population base allows for a large reservist army but what does it take to make those reserves into anything else than poorly coordinated cannon fodder?
I suppose a lot depends on the quality and quantity of the officer corps: If they are trained to handle a fast reservist army build-up then they probably have a template in place. They need to organize the reserves into military formations, equip them, bring them to operational capability through planning, training and tasking.
There are probably enough assault rifles, light anti-tank weapons, mortars and mines for everyone stacked up someplace. But what do you think; can the reserves be pressed to play a role in any meaningful time frame?
M |