One of Biletskyi’s corps brigades sent officers to infantry: commanders must know cost of wrong decisions. VIDEO
Commanders are responsible for their people’s lives and must understand the cost of wrong decisions.
This is how the commander of the Third Army Corps, Brigadier General Andrii Biletsky, commented on the decision of the new commander of the 125th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade (SHMB) to transfer incompetent officers to the infantry, according to Censor.NET.
What is known?
Several months ago, relatives of servicemembers from the 125th SHMB reported dozens missing in action in fighting in the Zaporizhzhia direction; there were also reports that untrained troops had been sent to frontline positions.
Biletskyi appointed a new brigade commander, Volodymyr Fokin, who previously commanded one of the assault battalions of the 3rd Assault Brigade. On December 19, Fokin reported on the first reforms: systematic engagement with servicemembers’ families, the launch of a hotline, and a knowledge assessment of the officer corps.
"Over the course of a month, officers had the opportunity to demonstrate their professional level. I gave them practical tasks and monitored discipline, initiative, and willingness to work on themselves. At the end of this period, we conducted a second assessment to see the real progress. The results varied. Some officers showed a high level of training and responsibility, but there were also those who treated their service carelessly, did not seek to improve, and failed to perform their duties properly," the brigade commander said.
Those officers were formed into officer patrol teams and sent to the Kupiansk area, where additional reinforcement was needed due to the difficult situation, low troop morale, and the need to properly organize the defense.
Blogger Naumovych called this case a practical implementation of the reforms Biletskyi emphasized in an article for The Economist. Among them was the need to replace ineffective "paper generals" with capable young officers with combat experience.
"Maybe [the 125th SHMB`s personnel] saw fairness and accountability in their brigade for the first time. If you can’t handle an officer’s post, don’t want to learn, and demand things from soldiers that you don’t even understand, you go to the infantry and show how it’s done. A very good idea! How else can you grasp practice if you’re only a theorist? How else can you connect theory and practice? Perfect!" Naumovych wrote.
He called the decision a precedent for the Ukrainian army, arguing there should be no untouchable Soviet-mold officers — only effective, intellectually capable, and proactive ones. "Doing the same at the general-officer level is elementary. All it takes is the will to replace old idlers and fools with capable young people," the blogger added.
