Tuesday, July 10 2018 17:34

ArmInfo.Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan presented the vision of the development of the army in the context of the government program, which emphasized that the development of the country's Armed Forces is among priorities  from the point of view of ensuring the security of the Republic of  Armenia and Artsakh.

According to the document, the unstable atmosphere in Armenia's  security, the challenges the state faces and society, and external,  including directly military threats, require a reliable defense  system. The head of the defense department notes that in addition to  the initiative foreign diplomacy, this system allows ensuring  guaranteed, stable and dynamic economic development of Armenia and  Artsakh; to ensure the physical security of the population of the  Republic of Artsakh; favorable conditions for Armenia and Artsakh in  the negotiation process for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,  and, if necessary, is a pledge of action from the position of force.  "The ultimate goal of the new defense system is the formation of  efficient and apolitical Armed Forces with the full involvement of  the society in this process. In order to form such armed forces, it  is necessary to use means incommensurate with the capabilities of  Armenia that should be used as efficiently and transparently as  possible in order to ensure the society's complete trust in the army,  the document reads.

It points out that the government program clearly notes the  imperative of changing attitudes toward the army and military  service, as well as approaches to improving the fighting efficiency  and effectiveness of the Armed Forces. To realize this over task,  according to the document, it is necessary to carry out a cognitive  transformation - a sense of obligation replacing the sense of  mission. Tonoyan stressed that this applies to all categories of army  personnel. The Minister of Defense expressed his conviction that a  sense of duty strengthens in a person a constant expectation of a  decree from the superior, and if the task is not fulfilled in case of  inaction, it becomes a culture to justify its failure, which is  argued by failure to receive instructions. At the same time, he notes  that a directly proportional culture is formed in the presence of a  sense of mission that assumes equal responsibility for everyone from  the rank and file to the defense minister in the performance of the  task, and sometimes self-disciplined initiative can have beneficial  consequences of strategic importance. "According to this logic, we  should all be guided by the consciousness of the historical mission  of our state and people. Everyone who occupies a leading position,  without exception, must realize that in order to best fulfill the  mission entrusted to him, one must succeed in two key functions -  leadership subordinates and show it by example, encouraging people to  merit, punishing in fairness, setting clear goals and giving a  reasonable outline of their implementation, allowing disciplined  initiative At the same time controlling the fulfillment of tasks  without avoiding common responsibility, and finally, being tolerant  of insignificant mistakes, this in turn leads to the formation of a  team with high productivity, whose members will have a healthy  balance of character, consciousness and responsibility. The second is  a key function , visual representation of the goals, their planning,  acquisition, distribution and monitoring of implementation First of  all it is necessary to realize that the human resource in Armenia is  limited, and therefore, soldiers and officers of Armenian armed  forces should focus their attention not on quantitative, but on  qualitative predominance. Each commander and official should be  guided by the realization of the effective use of human, material,  financial and other resources to make the most effective use of state  and public security. An unsuitable, unsuccessful, uneconomical and  inefficient spending of resources is especially harmful for countries  with limited financial resources and relatively large military  forces. We all need to understand that the material, technical and  financial resources provided by the society to the Armed Forces are  the resources provided by our citizens through savings on our own  social, educational, medical and other needs that give priority to  security, "the document says. Stresses that from this point of view,  every commander should be aware of the high responsibility that he  bears to his parents for the life and well-being of their children.

On the other hand, according to the Minister of Defense, the  conscript soldier must realize that he is already on defense of his  homeland and must be morally and physically ready to bear with  dignity and difficulties of military service. Tonoyan expressed  conviction that the most numerous and technically equipped army is  doomed to failure if there is no atmosphere of justice, consolidation  and self-giving. "But these qualities are not formed on their own,  but depend on the success of daily activities to eradicate perverse  events and to strengthen positive ones. There should not be any  corruption manifestations in the army. Corruption in itself is evil  in any aspect of the life of the state, but it becomes a double  catastrophe in the Armed Forces and can be manifested by the  inability of technology, the lack of calories in the ration of the  soldier.  Therefore, the strengthening of the moral foundations in  the armed forces should be the focus of attention of the leadership,"  Tonoyan said.

He is convinced that in order to reduce corruption in the Armed  Forces, as well as to strengthen the moral foundations, it is  necessary to develop transparent material and technical management of  resources, which is to guarantee efficient distribution and capacity  building on the basis of the priorities of the defense strategy,  harmonization of managerial and budgetary solutions and programs.  "And, in the current security environment, the requirements of the  Armed Forces will largely exceed the economic capabilities of the  state, we must completely eliminate the influence of personal  interests in the field of resource management." One of the most  important issues for the Armed Forces and the defense system is the  fulfillment of constitutional requirements for maintaining political  neutrality and ensuring apolitical," the document says.

"The army should be on the sidelines of the possible illegal  political and electoral influence. The military should have a  constitutional right to free expression of will, avoiding involvement  in any doubtful processes. To this purpose, in the near future,  mechanisms will be developed for conducting an election campaign in  the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, which will be fixed in  the new Electoral Code," the document says.

It is also stressed that voicing problems in the armed forces by the  broader sections of the public, from the media and non-governmental  organizations, will help to find more just and effective solutions.

The minister also informs that in terms of the development of the  Armed Forces the government program will be updated. According to  Tonoyan, these documents should not only be adapted to new political  priorities and approaches to the organization of defense, but also  the review of the work done and the tasks should be refreshed.

The minister stressed that the ultimate goal of the updated documents  will be to strengthen the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces,  increase their economic efficiency and shift to the savings regime by  achieving overall efficiency in the defense system.