(1991- )
Following the collapse of communism, more women entered the Russian military, which had difficulty maintaining itself solely with males. By the end of 1992 the number of women in the Russian armed forces climbed to 100,000, including 20,000 warrant officers and 1,100 officers (Herspring 1997, 50). The majority of them served in the ground forces. About 1,000 women were admitted into the elite airborne forces (Herspring 1997, 50—51). One hundred and sixty-nine specialties were opened to women. In 1992, mixed staffing was introduced. By the end of 1992, women volunteers outnumbered male conscripts by 367 to 125 in one motorized infantry unit, and the Moscow Military District announced that it intended to raise the percentage of women in its ranks to 10 percent (Her-spring 1997, 51).
The increasingly important role women played was most evident in the Air Defense Forces (ADF), where women occupied 50 percent of key positions in 1992 (Herspring 1997, 51). It was assumed that women had better aptitude than men for detailed work and making precise calculations. When, in 1993, women were allowed to join on the basis of a voluntary contract rather than conscription, the intent was not only to alleviate manpower shortages but also to assist underpaid professional soldiers by providing employment for their wives. Thus, by 1994, the total number of women in the military approached 250,000, but only 1,500 of them were officers (Herspring 1997, 52—53).
Despite their increasing reliance on women, Russian senior officers tended to resist placing them in "men’s" jobs and dismissed them at the earliest opportunity. By mid-1997, however, the situation of Russian women soldiers had improved. Out of an army of 1,200,000, women officers numbered approximately 2,400, including 4 colonels and 300 senior officers (ranked major to colonel) (Herspring 1997, 53). Astronaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to be granted the rank of major general. Meanwhile, women had been admitted to communications and chemical warfare schools. Although male commanders acknowledged women’s proficiency in carrying out technical, medical, and administrative tasks, they were reluctant to use them in combat, even when they constituted 20 percent of divisional personnel and were appropriately trained (Herspring 1997, 54). Additionally, there was no effective women’s lobby group to argue that women were full-fledged members of the Russian armed forces. The recurrent severe shortages of men, coupled with persistent praise of women in the press (citing the superior discipline of women, their more efficient work habits, and their greater devotion to duty), may improve the status of Russian military women in the future.
