OREANDA-NEWS.  February 22, 2012. Transcript: Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends, officers. We are meeting on the eve of the national holiday – February 23, the Defender of the Fatherland Day. This holiday has embraced the centuries-old traditions of Russian warriors and has become a symbol of a special attitude that exists towards the army, navy and all military personnel.

In this country practically every family has a link to the army – some people served themselves, some had relatives in the army, and family members of others fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Many families sustained losses – some of their members fought in hot spots. Therefore, such dates as June 22, May 9 and February 23 are special in our lives and history.

Each of us chooses our own way in life, destiny and profession, but the duty of every man is to defend his Fatherland, his family and loved ones. This has always been the case in Russia and I’m sure this will be the same in the future.

The armed forces have always been the true backbone of this country, and the army has always been strong thanks to its officer corps. Division and brigade commanders are present in this hall today. You are shouldering tremendous responsibility – you must set a model of professionalism and integrity and act as a real moral authority for your subordinates. The life of a military unit, the quality of army training and the mastery of new equipment that is being supplied to the troops on an increasingly large scale commits all of us to upgrade our own skills and knowledge. I’m confident that you will always conform to the high status of a Russian officer.

I’d like to make a few points. In drafting plans for the development of the armed forces and setting requirements for new weapons systems we must largely rely – as we have done in the past and will do in the future – on your knowledge and experience, because it is impossible to resolve these issues without professionals. The success of reforms directly depends on how they are accepted and interpreted in the army. And one more thing – I’m deeply convinced that to improve the army we must love it and be sensitive to its needs – this is an essential condition.

The formation of powerful and effective armed forces is our absolute priority. This is an absolute priority for our state and our national task for many years ahead, at least a decade. In this respect, everything is important – new equipment, modern principles of recruiting and manning and decent social guarantees for army personnel. In our army today, much is changing right before our eyes, with your participation and assistance. New units have been deployed – fully staffed and equipped brigades; missile submarines and strategic aviation have resumed permanent combat patrol. The army is again engaged in intensive military exercises – ships go on ocean voyages and large units of ground troops and aviation practice coordinated actions. The government has implemented a decision to create Air and Space Defence Forces, thereby making it possible to pool the efforts of air and missile defence, missile early warning and space control systems.

The Defence Ministry is building a modern network of higher educational institutions and has developed a multi-level system of personnel training for soldiers, sergeants and officers.

The government has fundamentally upgraded the system of social guarantees. We know, and you know this better than anyone else that starting January 1, 2012, salaries of service personnel tripled. We started basic pay reform in 2007. We made a decision on it in early 2007.