[MuttTheHoople]

In 1994, I went through Army Boot camp and one of my bunkmates was a Russian who was drafted into the Red Army in 1985. He told me that all the training was done by Officers, and the Sergeants were merely there for administrative duties.

Western Armies (American, British, Canadian, French, German, etc.) have traditionally had very strong NCO Corps. Senior leadership entrusts much responsibility to these NCO's and it pays off on the mission end.

Eastern Armies either entrust too much authority in their officer corps, or Senior leadership. In authoritarian countries, many Generals hate have subordinates that have a strong base of knowledge- they're afraid that they'll get overthrown. Other armies have a contempt for ALL enlisted men, not just privates.

[BlueLancer]

For a good read on the NCO/officer setup in the old Soviet Army (and, for all I know, continues on in the Russian Army), read "The Liberators" and "Inside the Soviet Army" by Viktor Suvorov ... really great stuff.

[EnderWiggin1970]

If you read the article you’ll see how things are changing such as in the 2008 reforms in Russia. Ironically, as the US is now the more authoritarian state, with extremely poor educational backgrounds among the recruits, it appears the situation is reversing.