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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Soviet Union
Index
The general organization of the Strategic Rocket Forces, Ground
Forces, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces, and Naval Forces at the
command level paralleled the organization of the Ministry of
Defense. The commander in chief of an armed service was an
administrative rather than an operational commander. He equipped,
trained, and supplied the forces of the service, but operational
control rested with the Supreme High Command and was exercised
through the General Staff.
Each armed service had two first deputy commanders in chief,
one of whom was chief of the main staff for the service
(see
fig. 29). The other had unspecified duties. The deputy commanders in
chief were numerous. They commanded the combat arms and other
branches of the service. Some deputy commanders in chief were
responsible for premilitary and combat training, military education
institutions, rear services, or armaments for the service as a
whole. The armed services also had deputy commanders in chief with
specialized duties. For example, the Strategic Rocket Forces had a
deputy commander in chief for rocket engineering. Other deputy
commanders in chief had responsibilities that were unknown to
Western observers. The commander in chief, first deputy commanders
in chief, and deputy commanders in chief, together with the chief
of the service's political directorate, represented the military
council or top leadership of the service.
The main staff of each service planned the operational
employment of its service in coordination with the General Staff in
the Ministry of Defense. In peacetime the main staff controlled the
territorial commands or components of a service.
Data as of May 1989
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