Recruitment of conscripts to the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus: What types of troops are most preferred?

На русском языке: Комплектование срочниками ВС РБ: каким родам войск отдается наибольшее предпочтение?

On November 19, thousands of conscripts took the military oath in all units and formations of the Belarusian Armed Forces, internal and border troops. Based on the data from open sources, the monitoring group of the Belarusian Hajun project decided to analyze in which units conscripts took the oath the most and which units are given priority in the recruitment of conscripts.

How many people were conscripted for active service in autumn 2022?

On October 20, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported that in total, about 10 thousand conscripts are to be drafted to the troops within the framework of the autumn conscription campaign 2022. And here we should pay attention to the following characteristics:

1. Sources often provide rounded numbers of those who took the military oath, rather than the exact number (up to each soldier);
2. Judging by photo reports, a certain number of contract soldiers also took the oath. We do not know whether the general statistics of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus takes them into account.

We note that conscripts are recruited not only by the Belarusian Armed Forces, but also by the Internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, the Border troops, and even by the State Security Committee (at least one unit – the 14th regiment of government communications of the KGB in Maladzechna).

How many conscripts took the oath in the Internal troops and the Border troops?

On November 19, more than 1500 servicemen from all units of the Internal troops took the oath. The same number of recruits – 1500 people – also took the oath in the units of the Border troops. The total number of conscripts is more than 3000. Therefore, less than 7000 recruits are left to complete the units of the Belarusian Armed Forces (the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported that more than 6000 people would take the oath in the units of the Belarusian Armed Forces, so we will refer to this figure hereafter).

The oath of new recruits to the Belarusian Armed Forces / Ministry of Defense of Belarus

How were the remaining over 6000 recruits distributed among the units of the Belarusian Armed Forces?

In simple words, a conscripted soldier drafted to the army has two paths for the beginning of the service:

1. He gets to the training center (described below), where he is trained in his specialty, and then by assignment he will get to a unit for the service.
2. He gets to a unit, where after a course of basic military training, he will be distributed to a division; he will be trained in his specialty on the spot.

All conscripts from option №1 get into the 72nd joint training center for warrant officers and junior specialists (72 JTC) in Barysau. On November 19, from 2000 to 2100 conscripts took the oath there (different sources have different data).

Let’s take the figure of 2100 for the analysis. The 72nd JTC is a “forge of personnel” for the entire Belarusian Armed Forces. There are 6 schools in its structure, which train junior commanders and specialists in the 81st specialty. The 72nd JTC consists of:

• The 3rd school for the training of specialists of tank and artillery units;
• The 59th school for the training of specialists in the operation of automotive vehicles and repair units;
• The 12th school for the training of specialists of signal units;
• The 320th school for the training of specialists of the engineering troops, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection troops, Air Force and Air Defense Forces;
• The 307th school for the training of motorized rifle and airborne units;
• The 114th school for the training of warrant officers and food service specialists.

The oath of new recruits to the Belarusian Armed Forces / Ministry of Defense of Belarus

In total, 3900 people are left for the remaining units of the Belarusian Armed Forces.

And where are the remaining 3900 conscripts?

They were distributed as follows (further divided by type of troops):

• Mechanized brigades of the Ground Forces (which are the main combat formations) – about 600 people:
  — The 20th – over 200;
  — The 11th – about 150;
  — The 19th – about 100;
  — The 6th – about 150.

As for the 19th Mechanized Brigade, it was reported that in total, more than 150 servicemen took the oath in the following units and formations: the 231st Artillery Brigade, the 19th Mechanized Brigade, the 3609th Artillery Ammunition Storage, the 228th Separate Electronic Warfare Regiment, and the 52nd Specialized Search Battalion. Let’s assume that about 100 recruits joined the 19th Mechanized Brigade.

As for the 6th Mechanized Brigade, it was reported that over 220 recruits of the Hrodna garrison took the oath. These are (except for the 6th Mechanized Brigade) the 557th Engineering Brigade, the 74th Signal Regiment, the 1st Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment, the 250th Guard and Service Battalion, etc. Let’s assume that about 150 recruits took the oath in the 6th Mechanized Brigade.

The oath of new recruits to the Belarusian Armed Forces / Ministry of Defense of Belarus

• Units of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces – about 540 people.

Here is information on some units:

— The 49th Radio-Technical Brigade and the 50th Combined Airbase – over 100;
— The 120th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade and the 61st Fighter Airbase — 98;
— The 8th Radio-Technical Brigade — 125;
— The 16th Electronic Warfare Regiment — 44;
— The 377th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment and the 15th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade — about 150;
— The 1st Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment — 23, etc. 

• Units of the Special Operations Forces – over 1200 people:

— The 103rd Airborne Brigade — over 500;
— The 38th Air Assault Brigade — over 500;
— The 5th Special Operations Brigade — over 200. 

The oath of new recruits to the Belarusian Armed Forces / Ministry of Defense of Belarus

For comparison, the number of conscripts of the autumn conscription campaign 2021, who were drafted to the Special Operations Forces:

• The 103rd Airborne Brigade — about 500;
• The 38th Air Assault Brigade — over 400;
• The 5th Special Operations Brigade — no data, in May 2022 more than 400 people were drafted to the unit. 

What conclusions can be made based on the collected information?

1. First of all, during the analysis, it is important to study the recruitment of the mechanized brigades of the Ground Forces and brigades of the Special Operations Forces, as these units are the main striking force of the Belarusian Armed Forces. The absolute priority in recruitment of conscripts to the Belarusian Armed Forces is given to the Special Operations Forces, where over 400 conscripts on the average are sent to each of the three brigades. This is a steady trend: the largest number of conscripts is sent to the brigades of the Special Operations Forces every year (compared to other military units). The four mechanized brigades of the Ground Forces look considerably understaffed, with twice as few conscripts sent to them as to the brigades of the Special Operations Forces. 
2. We should remember that the 2100 recruits who are being trained at the 72nd JTC will also be distributed to all units and formations of the Belarusian Armed Forces in 2-5 months (after the training course). For example, commanders of motorized rifle divisions, crews of BMP-2/ BTR-82A/T-72B tanks, drivers-mechanics and commanders of self-propelled guns, MLRS, mortars, etc. will arrive from the 72nd JTC to the mechanized brigades. And to the brigades of the Special Operations Forces – drivers-mechanics of APCs and commanders of mobile divisions. That is, the number of conscripts between the mechanized brigades and the brigades of the Special Operations Forces will be a little “equalized” with the cadets of the 72nd JTC. However, this does not negate the conclusion that priority in the recruitment of conscripts is given to the Special Operations Forces.
3. In general, the bulk of the conscripts are distributed to a large number of military units, which are mainly composed according to peacetime regulations.
4. Given such number of drafted conscripts, the formation of a new operational command of the Belarusian Armed Forces (Southern), announced at the end of May, is highly questionable. It should be noted that the active operational commands (Western and Northwestern) have two mechanized brigades and one artillery brigade each. Considering the number of drafted conscripts and limited financial resources, we can’t expect the formation of a full-fledged Southern Operational Command in the nearest future.