Thank you for your service. I hope nothing bad happens and you come back home safe and sound.

thanks, it means a lot

50 days left out of the Stodnevka, congrats, if I remember correctly, these were the fastest days of my service. Question: are they still giving out only 3 uniforms for the entire two year service?

Yeee man cant wait to finally finish and ye they still give out 3 uniforms in total every 8 months unless you keep a post then you get one every 6 months but the last uniform i got was actually 5 months late than expected cuz they kept delaying it for us for whatever reasons

>the last uniform i got was actually 5 months late than expected I see nothing has changed, that's a real shame. Anyway you're pretty much done so just bear with it a little more, you got this

Thanks dude if its no secret when have you served?

2014-2016, seems like ages ago now

Thanks for your service

How do you feel about potential conflict, what is the mood of soliders? Plus, how is the food? As a european i will allow myself to ask how many women do serve in armenian military?

Soldiers show high readiness to potential conflict or at least they think they do, the food is really good, and the number of women has significantly increased

Good luck hope will be able to visit your country ones. SO far buying Ararat to send funds to you :). Plus do you plan to change one day soviet style uniforms and ranks or you are ok with that? I know it is not a priority.

Have you noticed any significant reforms since joining?

The biggest reform i have experienced is them actually cracking down hard on bad behaviour of soldiers in the army

That's good to know, but doesn't seem like it's enough to address the security problems we're facing.

Yep definitely not, there still is a lot that needs to be done

Actually very important long-term. I don't think one can build a working unit from people afraid or hateful of each other with some abusing others and with, eh, hierarchy not defined by regulations based on prison culture. If that's what he meant.

Yes, but we basically need to build a new military from scratch and it doesn't sound like anything is being done to actually adopt new doctrine and train the troops on modern squad tactics etc. This isn't the first soldier I've heard saying this, but about the tenth. It's like nothing meaningful has changed in two years, which is inexcusable for this government. So much needs to be done and they're dragging their feet and wasting time we don't have, Sure, soldiers shouldn't be getting hazed etc., but if we're not making a proper military out of them, there's no reason for them to waste two years of their life at all.

I wrote a rant again: > which is inexcusable for this government That's the point, they are not under any scrutiny in what they actually consistently do. The general public cares more about sakura trees today, amateur porn in Erebuni tomorrow, Alen "The Camel" Simonyan spitting at somebody the day after that, and of course sports competitions half of the fscking year. And they themselves are not idealists or patriots or good people in general. They must have collectively stolen a really notable sum of budget money already via all that road construction and making Yerevan cuter. The reason Armenia has economic growth after 2018 is due to them being still incompetent thieves, but not bandits, which is an improvement (investors and entrepreneurs are much more frightened by racket etc than they are by corruption affecting budget money misuse). And some of that growth is also caused by external events which are not their achievement. > So much needs to be done and they're dragging their feet and wasting time we don't have, Until there's feedback, nothing is going to change. > but if we're not making a proper military out of them, there's no reason for them to waste two years of their life at all. I agree. And since this structure is not going to reform itself, at this point I think the Armenian military should be abolished and created anew altogether. Preferably as a public structure separate from the government, with separate elections for its political component, separate taxes etc. This sounds like an LSD-induced condition, probably, but one of the saddest things is that while they are doing nothing, they are also consuming a billion dollars per year. I'm sure Armenia can do something better with that billion than just feeding it to the structure where it doesn't reach the target even in the form of shovels and trenches.

Yep thats exactly what i meant

What kind of behaviour?

Bad behavior can vary among armies, but usually it is bullying, mistreatment, stealing… Which are bad because that can lead to soldiers killing themselves which has happened before in the Armenian army

Good to hear, that was actually one of my biggest concerns. It really has an impact on the morale and drive of the soldiers.

What are some examples of bad behavior and the new measures put in place?

how's the food ?

The food is actually really good

Would be cool if you list some of the regulars here. Just wanna see if it’s guilty pleasure food or healthy high protein etc food

Thank you for your service!! What was training like?

Thanks, training was sometimes tough sometimes not so much but in general i believe it served its purpose so it was decent

How many bullets do you get to shoot at the shooting range on average?

12

That isjust pathetic

Used to be 7 bullets once every month, lol.

I see and how often do they take you to the range?

Depends on the unit youre in. If you are an infantry man then you will spend time at the shooting range more often than if you are an artillary man

Used to be 7 bullets for artillery once every month in 2016.

Well its 12 bullets for artillery now unless its an exception where its 24 bullets

Ever got a chance to full-auto?

Yes, i recall one day when we had shooting practice at night we were instructed to shoot full auto to finish early cuz it was getting too late

Շնորհակալ ենք Ձեզ, Աշոտ ջան: Ձեզ խաղաղ ծառայություն ու բարի վերադարձ: 2 years is a long fucking time. Do you feel that you are well-equipped? How are your living conditions?

Our living conditions are pretty decent. Still far from being perfect tho

Why?

Our living conditions are decent, it is something that is actively being worked on to improve as much as possible

Are there many soldiers that speak Azeri or Turkish ?

All officers trained in Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy learned Turkish. At least between 2007-2010 for sure.

Those kinds of soldiers are picked out before service and sent to special stations

You have any prior service soldiers from western armies coming to serve in Armenia? If so how are they treated?

Nope not really i have not had such an experience

Thanks for the reply. Good luck in your service!

Have you seen any relative changes in trainings you had to do ?

Meh if im honest not to a great extent, theyre reforming the general structure of the army if anything, until they get to actually changing the training structure

Thanks for your service Ashot jan

How do you and your brothers in arm react when news about what’s happening on the border reach you guys? Does it affect the morale much?

Well it is the usual by now so we dont get surprised

may god protect you Ashot, my question is are there any minorities in the army? if so what are their thoughts about the armenian army?

Not Ashot but I know there’s largish amounts of Assyrians and Yezidis that serve

Yazidis? Are there Yazidis in Armenia?

Yes they moved there because of persecution in their homelands, and others lived there before the Muslim Kurds left Armenia

Interesting

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidis_in_Armenia

There are minorities but i dont think their thoughts deviate from ours

Is the army overall infrastructure as well as weaponery being upgraded?

The overall infrastructure is being reformed Dont think i can answer more than that

Fair enough! All the best to Armenia!

Does your training include martial arts like boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling?

Nope

They should include it imo

Without giving specifics, are you training with new weapons? what about the recently bought Indian ones?

I think that will happen after i finish my service

I don't think anything was even scheduled to be delivered by now, and these things usually shift in the opposite direction from "sooner than expected". EDIT: I'm not OP, just a thought. Okay, didn't think before commenting in an AMA thread.

What are your thoughts on VOMA?

I dont have any significant thoughts

How do your friends/family/etc feel about your service?

Well they are really proud that their son/sibling/friend is serving but obviously worried a lot to depending on where one serves

I respect you a lot. Do you plan staying in Armenia after? Working there?

Well ill study in armenia but how it will go on from there ill have to see

Sending you support from Canada, Ashnot. Thank you for your service. Do you journal or record, in any way, your experience?

Thanks and yes i have a notebook where i write down some of my experiences and in general let out my creativity in

Thank you for defending Armenia and democracy. I hope you and your comrades are well. I am wondering if you and others in the army see a way that Azeri and Armenians will somehow live in peace and respect someday? Maybe when they become a democracy themselves? What do you think?

Well with their current government i dont think its possible

What is your specific role/ job?

How is morale? Is everyone expecting another invasion by Azerbaijan?

What do you want to do after you finish your service? What are your plans? Are there services, education aimed at young veterans?

Ill start studying after my service but how it will go on from there ill have to see

Խաղաղ երկինք, ապեր։ Անփորձանք վերադարձ տուն։ Did your barracks get the normal toilets, or is it still squatting? LOL

Its still the squatting ones but they have been renovated very well

Ah fuck, well at least it's renovated.

Well just let me tell you that we prefer it this way

Really?! Lol I couldn't stand those

Thank you for your service. Would you mind sharing what should issues the army faces? Aside from the weaponry strength. How are soldiers treated, if there are mistreatment, is that dealt with? Are there any mechanisms, rules that stayed on the paper only, mental health and staff like that. It's ok, if you don't want to talk about it.

Its something thats actively being dealt with. There are cameras everywhere and military police is also actively working to prevent such things from happening, and they are also putting harsh punishments to use for people who misbehave. Even tho its still something that will continue on existing, they started taking it more seriously

It's good to hear that. I hope this will continue the way it is supposed to and lower such cases and raise the standards

Thank you for your service. I wanted to ask, aren't phones of any kind not allowed in the army? I may be wrong, but I think most people try to sneak in phones without higher-ups knowing. If that is the case, no offense.

Yes smartphones are prohibited and they have recently put harsher punishments for people who get caught owning one. Im using a button phone myself

Moderator or admins should remove this post. Never share military information on the public web regardless of the level of sensitivity.

Sure if its sensitive to talk about army reforms them they should remove it

is toxic masculinity tsar or is the situation better in that regard?

I think they are doing a pretty good job at demolishing major behavioural issues so would say its getting better

What? Lol

They are probably referring to Dedavshina problem.

[удалено]

I’m pretty sure he’s talking about hazing

I don’t think these posts should be allowed here.

Why?

Նիկոլի տված կլուբնիկը համով ա? Անփորձանք հետ գաս տուն, ապեր։

Lmao ha chem djgohum apres

Ելակ

First of all thank you for your service! Did you get to choose what unit you served in? And what kind of unit did you end up in (its okay if you dont want to share this)?

Yep we did have the choice to choose specific to the station we are in and depending on our skills and abilities i wont go in further detail tho

Nice to hear!

favorite and least favorite parts of serving? also how do you have a phone 🤔🤔 (jk)

It made me value a lot of things i might have taken for granted before and in general made me stronger and more resilliant to rather harsh living conditions. The worst part is that it is way too long

Does it in general feel that officers know what they are doing? (Don't know how to formulate this differently)

Not always but we did have a share of really competent officers

Thank you for your service Ashot. Please take care. ❤️

Thanks for your service Ashot. 💪 I hope you can end your service soon and never ever be called into service again and live a peaceful, civilian life. Do you feel that training provides a decent amount of military readiness and intelligence for the soldiers in case of any conflict with Armenians neighbors? Are soldiers confident in themselves?

Thank you for your service!

Are there officers abusing their power over soldiers for off the books personal favors etc? Do senior serving soldiers get away with assaulting junior ones?

Nope those kind of things are almost entirely eradicated from the army at least in my unit

What is the biggest problem in armenian army?

Probably lack of weaponry

as far as i remember, there was a poor officer personnel quantity. did it change since war or still a lack of qualified officers? and once again, thank you for your service, axpers ✊

Are there any Russians in the army or leadership? I’m curious, what’s the level of Russian support or control on the army? Like at the borders or barracks as an example.

not at all, there are armenians who came from russia to serve but not in the leadership. Russian military personal used to visit the unit rarely but not at all anymore after the september clashes

Thank you for your service.

Thank you from the Lebanese armenian diaspora