So while the Soviet Army was quite powerful in terms of numbers, organization, and equipment, it's widely acknowledged that the NCO corps, such as it was, was the weak link in the force structure. Most were simple conscripts, and were able to reach the highest enlisted rank within their period of compulsory service, leaving them little choice but to leave the service for a civilian career. What would it take for the Soviet Army to retain enlisted personnel to form an experienced NCO corps, and would such a corps of junior leaders significantly affect performance?
Just doing some envelope numbers, it would look like there are about 800 company, platoon, and squad NCOs in a motorized rifle division's rifle companies; these are the most important units to have good junior leadership in. In terms of simply attracting them with pay for years past their compulsory service, about 200$ a month per NCO puts them above average in terms of wages in the Soviet Union, which would be about 160,000$ of NCO pay per division, or about 192,000,000$ a year for the 100 Soviet divisions necessary to crush NATO's main strength in the 20 German, American, and British divisions in Central Europe. This is out of a military budget that in 1970, was just shy of 40 billion dollars.
Obviously, you can adjust the numbers to include more or less slots out of a division, but the order of magnitude makes monetary incentives look very affordable. Maybe in terms of putting it into practice, only select conscripts who have completed their two years of service for NCO school, instead of choosing them immediately after their orientation training? From there, extend the time in grade requirements to become a senior sergeant, or include more graduations of rank to highlight a career path, or a combination of both.
Just doing some envelope numbers, it would look like there are about 800 company, platoon, and squad NCOs in a motorized rifle division's rifle companies; these are the most important units to have good junior leadership in. In terms of simply attracting them with pay for years past their compulsory service, about 200$ a month per NCO puts them above average in terms of wages in the Soviet Union, which would be about 160,000$ of NCO pay per division, or about 192,000,000$ a year for the 100 Soviet divisions necessary to crush NATO's main strength in the 20 German, American, and British divisions in Central Europe. This is out of a military budget that in 1970, was just shy of 40 billion dollars.
Obviously, you can adjust the numbers to include more or less slots out of a division, but the order of magnitude makes monetary incentives look very affordable. Maybe in terms of putting it into practice, only select conscripts who have completed their two years of service for NCO school, instead of choosing them immediately after their orientation training? From there, extend the time in grade requirements to become a senior sergeant, or include more graduations of rank to highlight a career path, or a combination of both.