3 Oct 2017 21:05

Kazakhstan begins inspecting combat readiness of all army personnel

ASTANA. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan has begun a final inspection of combat readiness of the country's armed forces personnel, the Kazakh Defense Ministry press service said.

"All the Armed Forces' taskforces, units and military authorities are to be checked. The inspection will cover 100% of personnel in the course of this October," the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The objective of the final inspection is to assess actual levels of combat readiness and combat capabilities of troops, and evaluate combat training results for 2017.

It is not only based on the results servicemen receive in passing tests and exams in the disciplines they are taught that the readiness of army units and formations will be assessed, the ministry said. Chairmen of the testing commissions in every military unit are given powers to choose several divisions that are to be placed on full alert and brought out to the areas of teaching grounds for tactical live-fire exercises, including ones carried out at night. "This is how the units' cohesiveness and ability to accomplish missions according to military application within the set deadlines will be assessed, alongside every commander's ability to control their subordinates and associated force elements," the ministry said in the statement.

"The current levels of preparedness and professional skills of servicemen let us concentrate primarily on improving the actions of basic tactical units of battalion tactical groups during the check. This is what will be the main indicator of the quality of troops'combat training in the 2017 training year," the ministry quoted the director of the Kazakh Armed Forces General Staff combat training department, Maj. Gen. Timur Abishev, as saying.

The final inspection will be conducted in three stages. The first two stages will be dedicated to the inspection of taskforces, military units and control authorities of different military services, regional commands and service arms. Ministry of Defense and General Staff structural units will be assessed during Stage 3, the Kazakh Defense Ministry said.