Ukraine urgently needs the supply of modern weapons from the West in order to protect its sovereignty and regain control over the territories occupied by Russia. However, the reorganization of the Ukrainian ground forces is no less important..
Ukraine entered the war with 38 infantry and tank brigades, as well as 9 artillery brigades, organized according to the Russian model. Each of the brigades consists of about 4 thousand soldiers under the command of Colonel. Unlike Western armies, Ukraine does not use the top-level divisional and corps structures that are common in NATO, relying instead on " Therefore, Kyiv lacks combat personnel capable of integrating air and long-range forces, logistics, intelligence and command of the highest level..
Richard Hooker, former Special Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of the US National Security Council for Europe and Russia, writes about this in an article for the Atlantic Council..
He notes that the current structure of the Ukrainian forces suffers from control coverage problems and prevents Ukraine from conducting large-scale operations.. According to Hooker, the best approach would be to turn the regional commands into true corps headquarters, commanded by three-star lieutenant generals with battle-hardened subordinates, and introduce a divisional headquarters under a two-star major general as an intermediate command echelon.. Both new structures should include the support structure (artillery, air defense, aviation, engineering forces, logistics services, reconnaissance units, medical and reconnaissance units) that plays a critical role in achieving success in modern warfare.. Establishing these structures in the midst of hostilities will be challenging.. However, with the right support, they could be deployed even before 2023..
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Thus, four regional corps may appear, uniting 2-3 divisions (including territorial defense forces), taking into account the terrain and threats. To go on the offensive and counterattack, Ukraine also needs a fifth reserve corps of at least three tank and mechanized divisions.. He would become an " To coordinate these corps, Ukraine needs to create field army headquarters headed by the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces.
Hooker notes that many of the building blocks needed to build such a structure already exist.. And Kyiv only needs to reformat and expand them for use in combat. These structural formations do not have to be large, like the United States and NATO. And key positions can be at least partially filled with officers who cannot participate in operations at the front due to injury or age.. Many women already serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And they can also play an important role in reformatting the structure of the army.. Using a cadre of staff officers already trained in Western military colleges, as well as with the support of NATO and the EU, these new headquarters can be deployed even before the end of 2022. And they can begin to carry out their missions at the end of spring 2023.
As the war dragged on with no end on the horizon, Ukraine was faced with the need to make up for losses on the battlefield with new recruits.. Unlike Moscow, Kyiv can actually use the entire pool of human resources. Commanders will be tempted to send partially trained soldiers to the front. But you should not do this if Ukraine wants to build up combat-ready forces. The best approach, according to Hooker, would be to temporarily withdraw damaged units to rest, and also reinforce them with fully trained fighters, who would then be brought up to speed by veterans.. Units do not have to be fully staffed in peacetime if key weapons and combat vehicles have the necessary crews. In this case, the selection and training of junior officers - sergeants, lieutenants, captains - is of paramount importance.. The best should be assigned to combat units participating in the most difficult corners of the front.
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In general, careful use of human resources can maximize the effectiveness of Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.. Hooker points to problems in Ukraine. Some retired officers sent to serve at checkpoints. And at least one graduate of the Royal Military College Sandhurst serves in territorial defense.. By carefully combing the civilian workforce, Ukraine can identify recruits with skills that can be turned into military specialties while preserving critical sectors of the economy..