The big gold star on the shoulder straps of the Minister of Defense makes many think that the military rank of Shoigu is a marshal (this is a tradition brought up by the long "one-starryness" of Soviet marshals in newsreels, feature films, military photo albums). In fact, the head of the power department since 2003 has been in the rank of army general. President Putin defined his marshal’s star on the shoulder straps of the military at this level not long ago - in 2013.
Shoulder straps of the Marshal of the Russian Federation and the army general - what is the difference?
The second symbol, located closer to the collar of the tunic, a red star in a wreath, testifies to the military rank of army general. This is followed by the same gold, apparently Marshall, it has a diameter of forty millimeters. The same is embroidered on epaulettes of the fleet admiral. The Marshal of the Russian Federation with the same size of the only big star above it is the emblem of the Russian Federation, a double-headed eagle.
Stars on epaulets of the lower generality have a half diameter - 20 millimeters. Earlier, until February 2013, the military rank of Shoigu allowed him to wear four of these stars. Three to this day are decorated with shoulder straps of the Colonel General, two - Lieutenant General, one - Major General.
Flickering Marshall Stars
The four-star epaulette of the army general was legalized in 1943. For the same military rank in a thirty-three year period, starting in 1974, a large Marshall star was provided. That is how it was perceived by the national consciousness brought up on the newsreels of the Great Victory. Then, in 1993, the abolition of the military rank of military marshal followed, and in 1997 Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin signed a decree on the return of the wartime tradition to place four stars on the uniform of the army general.
The title of Marshal of the Russian Federation by the 1997 reform was not abolished. However, from then to this day, it has never been assigned to anyone (like the Stalinist Generalissimo, listed in the charters until 1993, but not inherited by anyone).
The military rank of Shoigu is now higher than that of the President of the Russian Federation and the English Queen!
President Putin, dressed in uniform, wears the modest shoulder straps of the colonel (the rank in which he was sacked from the KGB, now the FSB). So formally the military rank of Shoigu is higher than that of the president. But the post of commander in chief of the armed forces of the Russian Federation is a priority.
Recall that Emperor Nicholas II also led the state with the rank of colonel. All the active monarchs of Great Britain bear the same title (not excluding the imposing Elizabeth II, "assigned" to the Horse Guards regiment).
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is also a reserve colonel. With regard to mutual "honor", the prime minister and the president have an absolutely equal tandem. They can greet each other on occasion as equal in rank.
The unprecedented career of Sergei Kuzhugetovich
To obtain the current rank for seniority, according to the Regulation on the procedure for military service (Article 22), you must remain in the army ranks (joining them as ordinary) for at least 30 years. From receiving the lieutenant (military rank of Minister of Defense Shoigu, in which he went to the reserve in 1977) - at least 26 years. That is exactly what went on the calendar until 2003, when on May 7 he became army general.
The amazing thing is that Major General Sergei Kuzhugetovich became April 26, 1993, while at that time, according to the existing order, he was relying only on epaulettes … a senior lieutenant, at best a captain (he again entered the military service in 1991 year). If an officer continuously and as successfully as possible ascended the army hierarchy, by this time he could have reached the rank of colonel. Either Boris Yeltsin “mixed up” the titles, or the merits to the country are so great, however, many military ranks of Shoigu “slipped in transit.”
Segey Kuzhugetovich received the rank of lieutenant at the end of the military department of the Krasnoyarsk Polytechnic. All sergeant steps associated with military service, he safely passed. Thus, the military ranks of Shoigu are put together in a dizzying short chain of only five links - from lieutenant to successive generals ranks.
General steps
In this part of the climb up the ranks, the recommendations of the Army Regulations were formally observed: two years later, on May 5, 1995, Shoigu became major general, and three and a half years later, on December 8, 1998, he became colonel general. Since May 7, 2003, until now, the military ranks of Shoigu have “stalled” at the high level of the army general. Actually, it would be illogical to assign a higher Marshall rank to the head of the ministry under the "colonel" of the president himself.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin eschews the army pomp that Joseph Stalin did not neglect at the time. Rumors of conferring the President of the Russian Federation the marshal title were premature. Moreover, the rank of generalissimo or field marshal (both perceived purely as belonging to history) is unlikely to be revived in Russia. Therefore, the current situation is likely to hold out at least until the end of the presidency of the current head of state.
