The Chain of command leading from the President of Russia (as commander-in-chief) through the Minister of Defense down to the newest recruits. The Russian Armed Forces are organized through the Russian Ministry of Defense, which oversees a structure of joint command and control functions with units reporting to various commanding officers. Troop-control divisions of joint strategic commands are followed by operational command/inter-branch formations directly supervising military units in conflict zones which are the equivalent of old-time armies. Brigades, the primary "new-generation" operational-tactical units, are located on the lower tier of this pyramid.[1]
Russia inherited a system of military-administrative units from the Soviet Union. Until 2010 the country was divided into six (reduced from eight) military districts and one special region. Each district was made up of units of the ground troops, special troops, district rear services, military educational institutions and local military command and control bodies. Air Force and Air Defense Troops units deployed in the region were often also subordinated to the district administration. The district administration was charged with carrying out operational, military-administrative, and mobilizational tasks. It was to supply logistics support to the units on its territory and to provide territorial defense. The commander of a military district was responsible for the land force units on his territory. He had no authority over other branches of the armed forces, except for front-line aviation, which was periodically subordinated to the commanders of military districts during the course of experiments with new command structures.[2]
Command structures (except in the Navy) were unified at the operational level only during times of war, when commanders on the front were in charge of all forces operating on the front, regardless of the branch. This did not apply to some special units and long-distance bombers that answered directly to the General Headquarters of the Supreme Command. Cooperation with the Navy was maintained by transferring naval units to the command of maritime fronts (or fronts located near big rivers and lakes with flotillas). Cooperation was sometimes ordered higher up in the chain of command.[3]
In 2010 Russia's defense minister, Anatoly Serdyukov, announced that the four new military districts and joint strategic commands replace the six pre-existing military districts, have been established ahead of schedule, permanent strategic commands control these new districts' forces, resources and all troop branches. In the past, only ground forces came under direct control of military district commanders, with joint commands only established in wartime. By October 2010 All joint strategic commands have been established and are became operational.[4] The four-tier troop-control system consisting of military districts, armies, divisions and regiments was replaced with a three-tier system consisting of tactical commands, brigades and battalions.
The reforms have established new army brigades while disbanding a large number of reserve units to be called up in the event of a full-scale mobilization. The army is being prepared to fight in local and regional conflicts of varying intensity, which are now considered the most likely form of military engagement for Russia.
In 2009 the Russian Air Forces' structure was completely changed to a command-air base structure from the previous structure of air army-air division or corps-air regiment. The Air force is divided to 4 operational commands and military transport command and long range aviation commands:[5]
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