Social resources of the Primorsky krai for service under the contract in armed forces of Russia

Introduction. The topic of military reform in Russia in the late XX - early XXI centuries is part of the fundamental problem of relations between Russian society and the army. The literature traces different approaches in her research. One of the important areas is the study of the transition to a professional army, which actualizes the problem of the social resources of such a transition, taking into account the characteristics of specific territories. The proposed article discusses the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of social resources of the Primorsky Krai for the formation of contract troops, including the demographic dynamics of the respective age cohorts, attitudes towards this type of professional activity from those who have not yet served youth (for example, students) and those who have experience contract military service. Methods. The empirical basis of the article consists of official documents, statistical data on demographic dynamics, materials of opinion polls of 2017. The study used factor and comparative analysis; in the study of demographic resources - the method of compiling tables, longitudinal and transverse analysis. Conclusions are also obtained on the basis of the application of the questionnaire method. Results. Over the past 10 years after the end of hostilities in Chechnya, a new social and professional group has emerged in the country - peacetime contract servicemen; elements of increased expectations of positive changes in the Russian army are actively forming in Russian society. Nevertheless, the Primorsky Krai remains a territory with a reduced social resource for recruiting young people under contract, which is important to take into account in Russia's domestic policy. In the foreseeable 20-year term, the reduction in the number of male population suitable for contract service will continue. On the other hand, in Primorye, a low degree of orientation among students towards military service as a form of social mobility remains. Conclusions. Despite the good implementation of recruitment plans for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation under the contract in recent years, the degree of physical and moral readiness of young people for it was insufficient, which entailed a high “turnover” of contract soldiers in the army, the predominance of insufficiently experienced personnel among them. The policy of increasing the prestige of the social and professional status of a contractor, along with measures of material interest, must be supported by in-depth (and not just “parade”) patriotic education and preliminary moral and psychological training for young people. It is the qualitative characteristics that can increase the importance of a social recruitment resource for a contract service and, to a certain extent, compensate for the demographic restrictions in the territories.