The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (russian: Генеральный штаб Вооружённых сил Российской Федерации, General'nyy shtab Vooruzhonnykh sil Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the
military staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
of the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...
. It is the central organ of the military command of the Armed Forces Administration and oversees operational command of the armed forces under the
Russian Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...
.
As of 2012, the
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States)
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Afg ...
is
Army General
Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.
In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...
Valery Gerasimov
Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov ( rus, Валерий Васильевич Герасимов, p=vɐˈlʲerʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪdʑ ɡʲɪˈrasʲɪməf; born 8 September 1955) is a Russian army general serving as the Chief of the General Sta ...
and since 2014, the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff is
Colonel General
Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...
Nikolai Bogdanovsky.
The
General Staff Building
The General Staff Building (russian: Здание Главного штаба, ''Zdanie Glavnogo Shtaba'') is an edifice with a 580 m long bow-shaped facade, situated on Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in front of the Winter Palace.
T ...
is located in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
on
Znamenka Street
Znamenka Street is a street in Khamovniki District of Moscow. It runs from Borovitskaya Square to Arbatskaya Square, lies between Kolymazhny Lane and Vozdvizhenka Street. The numbering of houses is carried out from Borovitskaya Square.
Etymolo ...
in the
Arbat District
Arbat District (russian: link=no, район Арбат) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population:
The district extends from central Mokhovaya Street west to Novoarbatsky Bridge over th ...
. Together with the
Main Building of the Ministry of Defense and several Staff directorate office buildings nearby, it forms the so-called "Arbat military district" as it is often referred to among the military personnel to outline the highest supreme command of the Russian Armed Forces.
History
![Commemorative Decoration 250 Years of the General Staff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Commemorative_Decoration_250_Years_of_the_General_Staff.jpg)
In the
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...
, the acted as the main commanding and supervising body of the military. A
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
Staff first formed in 1921 but, historian
John Erickson John Erickson may refer to:
* John E. Erickson (Montana politician) (1863–1946), American politician from Montana
* John E. Erickson (basketball) (1927–2020), American basketball coach and executive, Wisconsin politician
* John P. Erickson ...
says, until 1924 developed into an unwieldy grouping dealing with combat training, routine Red Army affairs, and defence policy, all without real definition. Erickson dates the development of the Staff as the Soviet "military brain" from
Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (russian: Михаил Васильевич Фрунзе; ro, Mihail Frunză; 2 February 1885 – 31 October 1925) was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Born in the modern-day ...
's appointment to the post of Chief of Staff by Order No.78 of 1 April 1924. 'From this date.. the history of the Soviet General Staff – as it was to become – begins'.
On 22 September 1935, the authorities renamed the RKKA Staff as the General Staff, which essentially reincarnated the General Staff of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. Many of the former RKKA Staff officers had served as General Staff officers in the Russian Empire and became General Staff officers in the USSR. General Staff officers typically had extensive combat experience and solid academic training.
William Odom
William Eldridge Odom (June 23, 1932 – May 30, 2008) was a United States Army lieutenant general who served as Director of the National Security Agency under President Ronald Reagan, which culminated a 31-year career in military intelligence, ma ...
wrote:
During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, the Soviet General Staff maintained Soviet plans for the invasion of Western Europe, whose massive scale was made known secretly to the West by spies such as
Ryszard Kukliński
Ryszard Jerzy Kukliński (June 13, 1930February 11, 2004) was a Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of brigadier general by Polish President Andrzej Duda. Kukliński passed top secret Soviet documen ...
and later published by German researchers working with the
National People's Army
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...
files, and the ''Parallel History Project'' and the associated Polish exercise documents, ''
Seven Days to the River Rhine
Seven Days to the River Rhine (russian: «Семь дней до реки Рейн», ''Sem' dney do reki Reyn'') was a top-secret military simulation exercise developed in 1979 by the Warsaw Pact. It depicted the Soviet Bloc's vision of a seven- ...
'' (1979).
Since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
and especially since 2004 the General Staff and the
Russian Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...
have attempted to divide direction of the armed forces between them, often in intense bouts of bureaucratic disagreement. It has been reported that the General Staff's main role now is that of the Russian Ministry of Defence's department of strategic planning, and the Minister of Defence himself is now gaining executive authority over the troops. This is, however, contradicted by some Russian commentators and defence analysts.
[
Pavel Felgenhauer]
"Russia's Imperial General Staff"
''Perspective'', Volume XVI Number 1 (October–November 2005)
Defence Minister
Anatoliy Serdyukov
Anatoly Eduardovich Serdyukov (russian: Анатолий Эдуардович Сердюков; born 8 January 1962) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was Russia's Minister of Defense from 15 February 2007 to 6 November 2012, and made ...
who initiated the
2008 military reform, in order for separation of operational and administrative functions, the Ministry of Defense formed two functional lines of responsibility: the first was planning the use and construction of the Armed Forces, the second was planning the comprehensive support of troops (forces). The transition to a three-tier principle of responsibility was conducted: the main commands of the branches and formations were responsible for combat training, and the General Staff, joint strategic commands and formations were responsible for operational training. As a result of the transformations carried out, the General Staff was freed from duplicate functions and became a full-fledged strategic planning body that organizes and exercises control of the Armed Forces in fulfilling the assigned tasks.
The General Staff's history dates back to its creation as early as 25 January 1763 during the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. The Day of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is celebrated annually on 25 January even though the current General Staff of Russia was established at a different date. The General Staff of Imperial Russia then became the in 1918 before being succeeded by the present Staff.
General Staff organization
''As of September 2015:''
* Main Directorate of Communications
[RF MOD website www.mil.ru]
* Main Operational Directorate
*
Main Intelligence Directorate Main Intelligence Directorate may refer to:
* Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine), the military intelligence service of Ukraine
* GRU
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́ ...
(GRU)
* Main Organizational Mobilization Directorate
* Directorate of the Chief of Radioelectronic Combat Troops
* Military Topographical Directorate
* Main Command –
Ground Forces
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
* Main Command –
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
* Main Command –
Air Forces
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...
*
Aerospace Defense Command –
Space Forces
A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...
and
*
Strategic Rocket Forces
The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Фед ...
Command
*
Airborne Forces
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...
Command
*
Special Operations Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
Command ( rus, командование сил специальных операций, (KCCO), Komandovanie sil spetsial’nalnykh operatsii, (KSSO)); (2012 – present)
*
National Defense Management Center
The National Defense Management Center, also known as the National Defense Control Center (NDCC) (russian: Национальный центр управления обороной РФ, ) НЦУО, formerly the Central Command Post of the Gener ...
* Operational Training Directorate
* 8th Directorate
* Troop service and safety of military service Directorate
* Directorate of the Chief of the Construction and Development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems
* Directorate of the Chief of the Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Troops
* Directorate of the Chief of Engineering Troops
* Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research
* Central Command Post
* Hydrometeorological Service
References
Further reading
* Захаров М.В. Генеральный штаб в предвоенные годы. — М.: Воениздат, 1989
* Zakharov, M.V
''General Staff in the Pre-war Uears'' Moscow, Voenizdat., 1989 (chapter 6)
External links
* Dr S. J. Main
Conflict Studies Research Centre
The Conflict Studies Research Centre (CSRC), was a component of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, based at Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. It specialised in potential causes of conflict in a wide area ranging from the Baltics to Central Asia.
...
, UK MOD
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Military of Russia
Military of the Soviet Union
Staff (military)