Area Handbook for Romania Part 25

The military establishment consists of ground, naval, air and air defense, and frontier forces. They are administered by a defense ministry, which in turn is responsible to the chief of state. At topmost policy levels, party leaders are interwoven into the controlling group.

Political education throughout the forces is supervised by a directorate of the ministry, but the directorate is responsible to the Romanian Communist Party.

Military service has become a national tradition, although the tradition is based largely on the continuing existence of sizable armed forces.

The people accept the military establishment willingly enough even though conscription removes a great part of the young male population from the labor force for periods of from sixteen to twenty-four months.

The military services are not an overwhelming financial burden and, in local terms, the forces undoubtedly have value to the regime. They support it and give it an appearance of power. Also, the discipline and political indoctrination given the conscripts during their military service is considered beneficial to them and to the country.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The armed forces have been dependent on some major power for arms supply during most of the country's independent history. Equipment and a.s.sistance were furnished by Germany between 1870 and 1916. During that time, although the country's population was hardly more than 10 million, with German help it was able to support a large army. It fielded about 500,000 men against Bulgaria in 1913 during the Second Balkan War, for example. In 1916 Romania joined the World War I Allies, but its forces were defeated within a few months and were idled until a few days before the armistice in November 1918. From then until just before World War II they were a.s.sisted by France and, to a lesser degree by Great Britain (see ch. 2).

Because of the political situation at the time, Romania was unable to offer resistance when the Soviet Union, by terms of its agreement with Germany in 1939, annexed Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. In June 1941, however when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Romania joined the Germans. Its forces fought the Soviets until 1944 but, after the battle for Stalingrad in 1943, they became too war weary to perform at their best. In 1944, as the Germans were being pushed westward, Romania was overrun by Soviet armies and joined them against Germany.

Nearly all of the military tradition cited by communist regimes since World War II starts at this point. On occasions honoring the forces they are reminded that they mobilized more than 500,000 men for this campaign, suffered 170,000 casualties, and liberated 3,800 localities while helping to push the German armies about 600 miles from central Romania.

A postwar buildup of Romania's forces began in 1947. Since then all major weapons and heavy equipment have been of Soviet design, and organization and training largely followed the Soviet model.

When the Warsaw Pact was formed in 1955 its members were given alliance responsibilities, and new procedures were introduced to enable them to perform as an integrated force. More modern equipment was furnished, basic units were brought closer to authorized combat strengths, and training was undertaken on a larger and more exacting scale. Romania's forces were expanded to nearly the maximum that could be readily sustained by universal conscription. Strengths were greatest before 1964, especially during the Berlin and Cuban crises of the early 1960s.

Reduction of the tour of duty in 1964 to sixteen months for most conscripts necessitated a slight reduction in the overall size of the forces.

GOVERNMENTAL AND PARTY CONTROL OVER THE ARMED FORCES

The Ministry of the Armed Forces is the governmental agency that administers the military forces, but policymaking is a prerogative of the party hierarchy. Top ministry officials are always party members and often concurrently hold important party posts. In 1971 Nicolae Ceausescu--as president and chief of state, supreme commander of the armed forces, and chairman of the Defense Council--was, in each case, the immediate superior of the minister of the armed forces. At the same time, the minister of the armed forces was an alternate member of the executive committee of the party and, as such, not only was an important party leader but was again responsible to Ceausescu, this time in the latter's capacity as the party's general secretary.

One of the deputy ministers of the armed forces is secretary of the Higher Political Council. Although administered within the ministry, this council is responsible to the party's Central Committee. It is in charge of political education in the military establishment and has an organization paralleling, and collocated with, that of the regular services. It penetrates into the lower service units to monitor the content and effectiveness of political training in troop units.

The Union of Communist Youth (Uniunea Tineretului Comunist--UTC), the junior affiliate of the Romanian Communist Party, has responsibility for premilitary training and for active political work among the troops in their duty organizations. The UTC's premilitary programs prepare youth for military duty by introducing them to basic training and technical skills in addition to political indoctrination. Within the military organization, UTC work includes political educational programs conducted on duty and sports, cultural, and recreational activities conducted off duty (see ch. 12).

ORGANIZATION AND MISSION

The regular forces, which include the frontier troops, are under administrative and tactical control of the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

The minister has a number of deputies, including the chiefs of the main directorates for training, political affairs, and rear services (logistics) and the chief of the general staff. The heads of operational or major tactical commands are also immediately subordinate to the minister. The highest level of the tactical organization includes the headquarters of the naval and air forces, the frontier troops, and the military regions (see fig. 10).

Area organization includes two military regions, with headquarters at Cluj and Iasi, and the Bucharest garrison. Regional headquarters, which are simultaneously corps headquarters of the ground forces, control support facilities for all services.

[Ill.u.s.tration: President Defense Council Council of Ministers Ministry of the Armed Forces ---------------------------+--------------------------- General Staff Directorate for Directorate for Directorate of Political Affairs Rear Services Training (Logistics) ---------------------------+--------------------------- Air and Ground Forces Naval Forces Air Defense Frontier Troops Forces ------------------------+--------------------- Bucharest Garrison Cluj Military Region Iasi Military Region

_Figure 10. Romania, Organization of the Armed Forces, 1972._]

All commanders and force personnel subordinate to the minister are part of the regular military establishment, although appointments to the higher commands may be determined in varying degrees by political considerations. The minister is a political appointee but, whether or not he has had a military background, he a.s.sumes a senior military rank.

The Romanian practice deviates from the usual in such situations, however, where the minister is expected to have an actual or honorary rank superior to any officer in his forces. The minister of the armed forces in 1971, for example, was appointed in 1966. He was promoted from colonel general to army general after about four years in his position and, during the early period, was technically subordinate in rank to an army general who commanded the General Military Academy in Bucharest.

In 1972 there were about 200,000 men in the regular forces. About 75 percent were in ground force or in support units common to all services.

About 5 percent were naval; 10 percent, air force; and the remainder, frontier troops. The air force percentage included air defense forces.

When the mission of the armed forces is being described in relation to the Warsaw Pact, it is pointed out that the forces are structured and trained for major operations in concert with their allies against a common enemy. Because organized Romanian forces have not been involved in a major conflict except as junior partners in an alliance force, this experience makes the concept of partic.i.p.ation in the Warsaw Pact mission easy to accept. Since about 1960, however, leaders have expressed ambitions to act somewhat independently of the Warsaw Pact. In this context the pact mission is occasionally downgraded or pa.s.sed over in nonspecific terms. The forces' mission is then described as defense of the country only, and their use is said to be allowable only to resist aggression against Romania.

Ground Forces

The ground forces are commonly referred to as the army, although the Romanian People's Army comprises all of the regular armed forces administered by the Ministry of the Armed Forces. The ground forces proper have two tank and seven motorized-rifle divisions and a few other smaller combat units, including mountain, airborne, and artillery outfits of varying sizes. Combat units are thought to be kept at about 90 percent of their full authorized strengths. Most of the support agencies that provide services needed by all service organizations are manned by ground force personnel. Strength of the ground forces in 1972 was estimated at between 130,000 and 170,000.

Divisions are organized on the same pattern as those in the other Warsaw Pact countries. Tank divisions have one artillery, one motorized-rifle, and three tank regiments. Motorized-rifle divisions have one tank, one artillery, and three motorized-rifle regiments.

The division is the basic combat unit, and all of them have their own essential service and support outfits. They are, however, subordinate to corps headquarters of the military regions rather than directly to the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

Air and Air Defense Forces

The commander of the air and air defense forces occupies a position parallel to that of the commanders of the military districts and the naval and frontier forces. His immediate superior is the minister of the armed forces. His tactical units include about twenty fighter-bomber and fighter-interceptor squadrons and a squadron each of transports, reconnaissance aircraft, and helicopters. These units have a total of about 250 aircraft; there are about the same number of trainers and light utility planes.

Of the combat aircraft, MiG-17s would be used in the ground support role; MiG-19s and MiG-21s are interceptors that would be used in air-to-air combat. The reconnaissance squadron has Il-28 twin jet-engine light bombers. These airplanes are obsolescent, if not obsolete, and their crews are trained for reconnaissance only. A limited transport capability is provided by about a dozen twin-engine, piston-type transports. They are old and slow but are adequate for the short-distance work required of them. The helicopter squadron is equipped for air evacuation, for delivery of supplies to inaccessible areas, and for short-range reconnaissance.

Interceptor squadrons are presumably integrated into the Warsaw Pact air defense network, which is designed to function as a unit over all of Eastern Europe. The small numbers of fighter-bombers are probably capable of providing no more than marginal support for Romania's own ground forces.

Air defenses include surface-to-air missiles, antiaircraft artillery, and early warning and aircraft control sites. Surface-to-air missiles and their launching equipment, larger antiaircraft guns, radars, and most of the complex communication equipment are furnished by the Soviet Union.

Air defenses in all of the Warsaw Pact countries are integrated into a common network. Romania's are important because the southwestern border with Yugoslavia is the point at which an attack from the western Mediterranean Sea could be first detected. Within the country, Bucharest and Ploiesti have point missile defenses.

Naval Forces

The naval organization includes headquarters, schools, a major base at Mangalia, a minor base at Constanta, and stations on the Danube River.

Mangalia is a Black Sea port about twenty-five miles south of Constanta and just north of the Bulgarian border. Naval personnel in 1972 numbered somewhat fewer than 10,000. The force has almost 200 vessels, but they are an a.s.sortment of old and miscellaneous ships that have little capability outside their local environment. None of them is designed to operate more than a few miles from the coast line and definitely not beyond the Black Sea.

Ships include minesweepers, escort vessels, patrol and torpedo boats, and a large a.s.sortment of small miscellaneous craft. Five of the patrol boats are of the modern Soviet Osa cla.s.s and carry a short-range surface-to-surface missile. A few of the torpedo boats are fast, although they are not the latest models. Minesweepers have limited offsh.o.r.e capability but, if protected, could clear the Danube River and essential parts of its delta.

Frontier Troops

Borders with Bulgaria and Yugoslavia have defenses and are guarded, and there is some effort to patrol the Black Sea coastline. Borders with the Soviet Union and Hungary are not controlled except at highway and rail crossing points. Because the Danube River forms the greater share of the controlled borders, much of the patrolling is done by boat.

During the 1950s and early 1960s frontier or border troops were subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and were difficult to distinguish, except in their deployment, from that ministry's security troops. During the latter part of the 1960s authority over the border forces pa.s.sed to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, but the move was apparently accomplished over a period of time, and the decree formalizing the transfer was not published until September 1971. The commander of the frontier troops is one of the major operational commanders under the minister of the armed forces and is on a level with the chiefs of the military regions, the air and air defense force, and naval forces.

Regulations defining border areas to be controlled and describing the authority of the forces were amended in late 1969. The border strip is a prohibited area, which is fenced in some places and often patrolled. On level, dry ground, it is sixty-five-feet wide but, where the borderline crosses marshy or rugged terrain, it may be widened enough to afford the troops easier access and control.

A border zone varies in width but extends into the country from the strip and includes towns and communes. Frontier troops have overall control within the zone. They are instructed not to interfere more than necessary with usual human activities in it and to cooperate with the local police, whom they do not supplant. Although they are paramount in the zone, they are not restricted to it and may work fifteen or twenty miles into the interior if necessary.

Troops are charged with controlling people, goods, and communications at the border and preventing unauthorized pa.s.sage and smuggling. The major port city of Constanta, on the Black Sea coast, is listed as an exception to most of the border control regulations. Its city territory does not have a border strip, nor is it within a border zone. The regulation is presumably intended to facilitate port and shipping operations and to keep the more stringent controls inland from the port so that they do not interfere with international trade or tourist traffic.

FOREIGN MILITARY RELATIONS

Romania is a member of the Warsaw Pact, having joined when the pact was created in 1955. It also has bilateral treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual a.s.sistance with each of the other pact nations.

Since each pact member has signed one of these treaties with all other members, all are bound to come to the a.s.sistance of any other that is attacked. In practical terms all are bound to the defense of any pact member in any conflict in which it might become involved since, no matter how it started, the other country would be branded the aggressor.