September 16, 2014 Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council visited the State Marine Technical University of St. Petersburg (MTU). During the visit he got familiarized with the university research and development engineering laboratory, had a tour of some university departments and inspected the Military Training Centre. The interest of the Security Council to the alternative military training is not accidental: the MTU military training centre experience deserves studying and proliferation. The Military Training Centre has worked at the University for already six years. The Centre Director, Rank 1 Captain Albert Akopyan tells the magazine “New Defence Order. Strategy” of the centre problems and work prospects as well as of the experience the centre gained in the area of the military experts training at the civil university.
Albert Benikovich, tell us please, how the MTC started at MTU?
The Military Training Centre at the State Marine Technical University of St. Petersburg was established, like all other centres, to improve the application efficiency of the federal state educational institutions of higher professional education to the benefit of the country’s defense and security pursuant to Executive Order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 6, 2008 (No. 275-r). It followed a two-year experiment on the premises of the university military training department. On May 31, 2006 the Ministry of Defence and university signed a State Contract on the training services provision (then as an experiment) to train the university students into military officers. Similar State Contracts were signed in 2007 and 2008.
The centre has worked for quite a long time now. What did you manage to attain over this time?
Today we have every reason to believe that the military officers’ training at the military training centres attached to the state universities was a balanced and timely decision. Hereby the former reserve officers’ training system was not destroyed, vice versa, at the universities where the military training centres were established and military departments were retained, the requirements to the training process, training facilities and staff were enhanced. In general, all this improved the quality of the people military training. This happened at our university as well. According to the resolution of our academic council the military department was included into the military training centre as an independent structural unit. The centralization of the training process, training facilities and staff promotes the education quality improvement and the students’ military and patriotic upbringing.
The popular belief goes that military officers’ training is the exclusive task of the military cadet schools.
The process of the military training centres’ development in the military education system is not simple. In effect, unfortunately, in the military cadet schools even now there are opponents of the new military training system. Hopefully, this misunderstanding of the new military training system is just the effect of their lack of knowledge of its peculiarities, and not of the fear of the rivalry in the area of the military staff training. The alternative format of the officers’ training can and must bring about the spirit of competition between the military training centres and military cadet schools.
In just six years we got the evidence in favour of the civil universities’ potential use in the area of the military staff training. Our graduates are appointed to the surface vessels and submarines, weapon bases, military representative offices attached to the military industry companies and organizations. Currently, the MTC graduates’ list is comparable with that of a military cadet school. Simultaneously I would like to emphasize our graduates’ high motivation in terms of the military service.
But I believe this is not the only problem the new military education system faces?
Certainly, there are other problems as well. In our case this is the definition of the military training centre (military department) status among the Navy military educational institutions – to facilitate and improve the interface with the Navy educational institutions. For the same reason it is hard for us to create and maintain our own present-day training facilities and use the training facilities of the Navy educational institutions on the free-f-charge basis. The laws provide these issues but in effect we face insurmountable obstacles of both objective and subjective nature. But now the situation tends to change for the better.
The decisions made at the state authorities level on the issue of the state and problems of the provision of ship-building companies of Russia as well as Navy with high-skilled engineering staff as exemplified by the State Marine Technical University of St. Petersburg at the meeting held in April 2014 enabled us to make serious steps on the way of improving the MTC training facilities for the prospect until 2020 (in cooperation with the Navy General Head-Quarter). The university also takes relevant steps towards the MTC by means of the premises and computers provision.
What are the training conditions for the student enlisted to the Military Training Centre like?
The material provision of a citizen who made a training contract with the MTC and a military institute cadet is different. For example, monthly payments: an MTC student at the first year receives 1,650 roubles, at the subsequent years – from 3 to 4 state grants (4,020–5,360 roubles) depending on the training results. A cadet receives from 15,000 roubles, regardless of the training results. The student pays 750 roubles per month for the hostel whereas the cadet lives in the hostel free of charge. The student is paid 5,000 roubles to buy the uniform and overalls once over the times of studies and the cadet is provided with the uniform and overalls as per the rates for the entire tuition period. Besides, the student pays for his meals and the cadet is provided with the food and board free of charge. Certainly, the difference in the financial provision of the students and cadets is due to the fact that the cadets take military service with its hardships and restrictions, while the students don’t.
Initial service conditions for the graduates are also different. Upon the graduation an MTC graduate is provided with the military transfer documents to his duty station and the military school graduate with the monetary allowance (about 40,000 roubles) and military transfer documents to his duty station. The term for the admission to the next rank for the MTC graduate is 3 years and for the military school graduate – 2 years. The total military service record does not include the training time in the military training center, but does include the training time at the military school, thus providing 10% increase of monetary allowance from the entering office date.
As far as the first-rank service time is concerned, the relevant proposal will be discussed by the legislation improvement task force, hopefully the gap will be closed.
As a result of these legislation biases, is the MTC students’ training somewhat financially compromised?
If solely the financial component of the military education and further military service is considered, the person entering the MTC must be in the less attractive conditions. Consequently, other things being equal, he should have a higher motivation to the military service. But most probably this is not the rule but an exception. People who failed to enter military educational institutions also enter our centre. But they make up about 10–15% of the total number of those who are enlisted to the centre.
All of us know that the final decision where to receive military education is, as a rule, made up by the parents. Proceeding from this, children from low-income and incomplete families, as a rule, choose a military educational institution. Some changes in the financial provision in favour of those being trained at the MTC, moreover, in favour of the centre graduates would undoubtedly produce a favourable effect on the military training system in the state higher professional education institutions and on the people who elected the profession of the Motherland defender as well.
Certainly, we experience the deficit of attention from the mass media. On TV more often higher military educational institutions are covered and on the web-site of the Ministry of Defence there is virtually no information of the military training centres. I believe that uploading of more complete data of each military training centre attached to a state university to the web-site of the Ministry of Defence would be very much appropriate. It is not surprising that we have to clarify the situation at some military registration and enlistment offices.
What other obstacles have the MTC graduates and trainees to overcome?
Unfortunately, due to organizational drawbacks we cannot route our graduates for the probation periods based on the objects considered for their initial appointments. The staff deployment situation for our graduates is nowadays clear only after the officers’ graduation from the military institutes therefore we have to make up proposals on the training camps (probation periods) ourselves and they are not always good. The experience showed that Navy institutes, reserve ships and brigades of the ships in repair in this aspect are inefficient. As probation term locations combat-ready units and joint forces, ship and submarine crew training centres must be considered. We are grateful to both the commanders and staff of the Baltic Fleet technical armament bases for the long-standing fruitful cooperation in holding training camps and probation periods for our students. As a result, our graduates already serve in these units.
Do the MTC students take the naval service ABC? What is the situation like, for example, with open-sea missions?
Certainly, long-range open-sea missions are beneficial for the formation of the future navy officer. Our university is not an exception. In April-May 2014 twenty-nine fourth year students participated in a long-range navigation mission on board the Smolny, Rank 1 training ship, the mission commander was Rear Admiral Vladimir Sokolov. The MTC unit commanders were Rank 2 Captain Denis Kuznetsov and Rank 3 Captain Andrei Martynovich. The mission staff consisted of ten cadet units, nine from the military educational institutions and our students were the only MTC representatives.
Upon the results of the competition between the educational institutions during the navigation mission it was our students who won. The mission command awarded our unit with an honorary diploma for the best troops service and daily activities organization, excellent training indicators, marked a high organization, order, upbringing of the MTC students, good physical shape, skilled leadership and initiative of our officers. This is a vivid example of the seriousness of our intentions in the area of military staff training.
What other activities do the MTC commanders and MTU rector’s office hold for the students receiving military education?
We pay a lot of attention to the military and patriotic upbringing of our students and cultivate the features required for the future officer. This is their separate and compact unit-based accommodation in the hostel, streamlined daily itinerary system supervised by the unit officers and sergeants enlisted from senior years’ students, military and sport activities, participation in different patriotic activities, etc. We do our best to provide maximum approximation of the MTC training process to that arranged for the cadets in the military institutes without losing training time. That is the way we do concerning physical education of the MTC students which is held on a dedicated curriculum made up as per the Physical Education Guidelines.
A key item in the military-sports training is our classes on YaL-6 life boats. Every year, on St. Petersburg day we arrange Hold Water boat regatta, this year the activity became Russia-wide. Every year the MTU and MTC students take boat mission tours along Lake Ladoga – to the military glory venues of Ladoga Flotilla. We lay the wreaths on the Neva River on Victory Day, etc.
We know that for a number of years military institutes and military training centres did not admit first-year students and cadets at all. However, MTU turned out to be able to defend its right for the students’ enlistment?
Yes, in the most unfavorable years for the military education, 2010–2012, when there were no enrolments to the military institutes and military training centres attached to the state higher professional education institutions, an agreement between the Administration for Military Representative Offices of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and MTU was signed. As per this agreement we started training civil engineering staff for the Administration thus avoiding the intermission in the MTC activities, retained the professors and instructors staff, and gained experience in the training process arrangement. Later we managed to obtain permission for signing contracts with these students for their training at the MTC. It is thanks to these decisions that in 2015–2017 officers will graduate from the MTC.
In general it is noteworthy that the university rector’s office has always demonstrated and is demonstrating parental care of the military department and military training centre. Among the graduates of the military department of Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute (the former name of our university) there are prominent commanders, commanders of the ships, nuclear submarines, admirals. The list includes the ex-Director of the Head Administration for Ship-Building of the Navy Vice-Admiral Vladimir Fominykh, ex-Director of the Emergency Rescue Activities Administration, State Prize winner Rear Admiral Nikolai Chicker and others. Most of the MTC graduates are so far lieutenants and their bright careers are still ahead.
