Inside the Soviet Army

Osprey Elite #12

by Steven J. Zaloga, Ronald Volstad (Illustrator)

Osprey's survey of the Soviet Army during the Cold War period (1946-1991). For a young Soviet man in the 1980s, the chances were high that he would be obliged to serve for at least two years in the Soviet Armed Forces. At this time Soviet society was far more militarized than most other European countries; by the time they turned 18, most Soviet boys were far more familiar with military life than their Western European and American counterparts. Focusing on the daily experiences of a young recruit in the Soviet Army of the late 1980s, this book examines the history, organization, appearance and equipment of the Soviet forces, from pre-service indoctrination to uniforms and leadership.

Genres: Military History, History, Military Fiction, Soviet Union, Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 1987

About the author

Steven Zaloga is an author and defense analyst known worldwide for his articles and publications on military technology.  He has written over a hundred books on military technology and military history, including “Armored Thunderbolt: The US Army Sherman in World War II”, one of the most highly regarded histories of the Sherman Tank.  His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He was a special correspondent for Jane’s Intelligence Review and is on the executive board of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/producer for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series Firepower.  He holds a BA in history from Union College and an MA in history from Columbia University.

Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.

Reviews

[Emerson Stokes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently this is one of Osprey’s older books in their elite series, and it shows just a bit. This book was initially published in 1987 and was originally called “Inside the Soviet Army Today” (later republished in 2005). I think the book suffers for a want of more detail, which is not customary for Osprey’s books. However, this is not entirely their fault; the USSR was secretive about the innerworkings of its army and I doubt they would’ve allowed Mr. Zaloga to travel over to the USSR and start questioning internal garrisons about ethnic tension within units. Still, there are parts such as the daily routine of other units in the Army (only that of the average infantry is covered) that could be used to give a more complete understanding of the Soviet Army.
Despite the criticism I may have, the book sheds light on some uncomfortable truths about the Soviet Army. When the USSR fell, these issues were exacerbated severely, and some never went away under the reformed Putin army. “Off-the-record” punishments (i.e. beatings) were not uncommon, units were given inadequate training material, and the internal rationing system seemed to begin breaking down as the USSR started to push for more self-sustaining units (the troops would grow their own food). Universal throughout the army was mistrust of ethnic minorities, who were not even given courses in Russian when they were conscripted.
Overall, it’s a decent read enough for military fans, though it leaves me asking for more in some parts.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Copy is called "Inside the Soviet Army Today"- but Today was 1987- when this book came out- so it's perfect for Games like "Team Yankee" and other games. The focus on the late 70s/80s- Afghanistan and the late Cold War era makes it ideal for the Gamer of the period. It's a great early example of the Osprey Elite/Men At Arms series, 64 pages pages filled with some little potted history of the army - descriptions of all the services and their training- lots of b/w pics of uniforms, badges, and details- and a wonderful Colour plate section where the Illustrator Ron Volstad really struts his stuff with nice renditions of the Soviet uniform finery. When this came out it was state of the art uniformology, and its still quite good- and it is itself a Cold War relic worth reading.

Steven Zaloga, the author and renowned Expert on all things Russian/Soviet, can't keep the condescension out of his tone, in describing the many ways Soviet Traditions, Training, and Equipage was less than ideal most of the time. Of course he's right- but you can sort of tell the Cold War was going on when this was written. Soviet ways were more progressive than Czarist times- and that's the scale that mattered inside the CCCP- but it was hard to resist pointing out the inadequacies from a Western perspective. This tone does not stop you from learning- but it may detract for some readers. This era was shortly after my own ROTC classes, so I was comfortable- but still learned a bit.

Zero gore and few adult concepts make this a fine book for the Junior reader about 8-9 or older. The Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast will get exactly what they want- good information on what the Soviet Soldier wore- and good Colour pics to follow when painting miniatures or models. The Enthusiast may want a deeper resource, but this is a fine start. For the Warhammer 40K player who's been talked into playing Soviets in the Club's Team Yankee campaign- this might be the one book you need to catch up. A fine example of Cold War OpFor Hobby information- before the Wall fell....

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is primarily a peek inside the acquisition of personnel through conscription, the organization of the Soviet Army at the level of the conscript, how a soldier’s day is commonly organized during peacetime and what the soldiers wear. There is little in the way of battle tactics other than the principle of massive fire in battle. Other than snipers, Soviet soldiers did very little target practice, their battle tactic has changed little from World War II. Spray the enemy with ordinance and rely on numbers rather than accuracy. The argument is that the soldier under fire is unlikely to stop and take careful aim at the enemy. A great deal of text is devoted to the many ethnic groups in the Soviet Army and how is it fundamentally segmented so that non-Russians are discriminated against.
There are many images of soldiers in the field. The captions of those images generally give a detailed description of specific aspects of their uniform. There are 12 color centerpieces in the middle that show the standard uniforms of soldiers in many different branches of the Soviet Army. If your interest is in the basic structure of the Soviet military at the levels of the conscript and in what the soldiers wear, then this is the book for you. If you are interested in battle planning and tactics, then you will have to look elsewhere.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A title providing short introduction to organization, equipment and training of armed forces of Soviet Union in its last days. The booklet was written in late eighties, so these days there are probably much better sources for this topic, but it still does an adequate job. However, I suspect that its primary value consists of the color plates showing different types of uniforms used during seventies and eighties by Soviet armed forces.