Putin is desperate to begin calling up vets who have already served and are out of the Army. As a veteran, there is no way in hell I would have answered the call to go to Iraq during shock and awe, had Bush/Cheney thought, “Uh-oh, better call Rock O.” I came home in one-piece after Vietnam. One unjust war is the only dice roll you’d get out of me. Throw me in the brig. I don’t care. Been there, done that.
Here’s an idea for Putin: round up all the oligarchs, the oligarchs’ sons and daughters, the military leaders’ sons and daughters, etc. There are plenty of spoiled Russian kids born into stolen wealth who would make excellent cannon fodder.
Yahoo headline: Flights out of Russia sell out after Putin orders partial call-up
Caleb Davis
Wed, September 21, 2022 at 5:13 AM·1 min read
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/flights-russia-sell-putin-ord…
GDANSK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - One-way flights out of Russia were selling out fast on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin ordered the immediate call-up of 300,000 reservists.
Putin’s announcement, made in an early-morning television address, raised fears that some men of fighting age would not be allowed to leave Russia.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the call-up would be limited to those with experience as professional soldiers, and that students and those who had only served as conscripts would not be called up.
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Just heard on the BBC that for troops already in Ukraine their 3 to 6 months contract are null and void. If Uncle Pooty Poot wants you to stay longer, you will “serve” beyond the end date of your contract.
Perspective: In the US Army during Vietnam, every single one of us who was “short” (i.e. less than 100 days remaining in service) constructed an “F.T.A. Short Calendar” with 100 squares. You filled in one each day remaining just passed in color coded pens to spell “F.T.A.”
Being short conferred the right on you to wake up the barracks or offices on our Kaserne with a booming “Shoooooooooooooooooooooooooooort!” scream which made your brothers laugh and curse you at the same time. The same thing happened everywhere in the US Army during our most unpopular war.
Imagine being a prisoner. You’re told your last day of service is 14 JUNE 74. On that day, suddenly Nixon tells you, “Just foolin’! Uncle Sam still needs you until we wrap up the war.” There would have been mass mutiny (yeah, I know, we are the Army)and guys would have said to arrest them, take them to the brig, go find new bodies in the colleges and Doctor’s offices for rich kids with false/fake medical deferments.
Putin is insuring his own demise with these latest conscription moves. The opposition is now waking other Russians to the Dangerous Dictator Putin.
Here’s another thought: You start calling up your vets, guys who already served while the Trumps, Chenevskys, Gingrichovsky’s, Clintontrovas, Roveputins, Limbaughchevskys, etc., stayed home out of harm’s way. Nothing worse in your Army than a p.o.ed vet of 40 or 50 who are livid they had to leave Moscow or St.Petersburg to become cannon fodder on the Western Front while the “connected” are back home downing vodka shots in the nightclubs or outdoor cafes while you slog through the Winter Is Coming:
More, this time from The Financial Times. . .
The Economist headline: Vladimir Putin mobilises army reserves to support Ukraine invasion
Sub-headline: Announcement comes ahead of stage-managed votes in occupied regions to join Russia
Max Seddon in Moscow, Henry Foy in Brussels and Polina Ivanova in Berlin 3 HOURS AGO
https://archive.ph/ON4CN
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, in a pre-recorded statement aired after Putin’s announcement, said Moscow would only call up reserves, rather than deploy the conscript army. This would add 300,000 people to Russia’s fighting force, he said.
Shoigu said these would be people who have previously served, have experience in combat and have some military specialisation that is needed by the armed forces. “These are not people who’ve never seen or heard anything about the army,” he said.
“Let me pre-empt questions. We’re not talking about the mobilisation of any students?.?.?.?They can calmly keep going to class,” Shoigu said. He claimed that after the reserves were called up, Russia would still have only used up 1 per cent of its mobilisation potential.