Arms Aircraft What was the peak military strength of the USSR during the Cold War?
Does anyone know where to find a good summary of the size and strength of the Soviet armed forces during the Cold War? Number of troops, tanks, aircraft, submarines, etc.
Size is fairly easy to compute. Soviet armed forces were organized on a conscription basis; every man aged 18 was supposed to be drafted for two years (three, if you're unlucky to land in the navy). There were, of course, health-related exemptions, but those were relatively few. The policy on drafting college students has been repeatedly reversed. So anyway, allyou need to do to arrive at the size of Soviet armed forces on any given day is to figure out how many men aged 18 to 20 there are and adjust this number 30% up to account for officers and warrant officers.
Strength, however, is a different matter altogether. Soviet armed forced had a tendency to undertrain personnel and undermaintain hardware. Misappropriation of supplies was another pervasive problem (so much so that thieving warrant officer became a stock comic character). Those problems, however, were never discussed; they were easier to ignore than to deal with...
Russian Ilyushin plane detained Bangkok. 5 arrested for arms smuggling
Do US Navy Masters at Arms serve on submarines as well as surface ships?
If so, how would the experience differ as a MAA on board as submarine compared to a destroyer, compared to an aircraft carrier? Is it easier to get on a VBSS team on a destroyer or an aircraft carrier?
easier to get on a VBSS team on the smaller ship, I'm sure why you can figure out why. I don't even know if carriers have VBSS teams since they're always surrounded by their battle group...
