The conscript army is a bygone period of the construction of the armed forces for Bulgaria, and not only for Bulgaria. This is what he told Radio "Focus" the military historian colonel o.z. Prof. Stancho Stanchev.
According to him, there have always been supporters of the idea that the conscript army is necessary for our country, and even before the years of the Transition the army enjoyed a large percentage of support from the Bulgarians, since almost everyone had a relative in the ranks of the Bulgarian Army.
"But looking historically, we don't have the tradition of a professional army. Even after the Neue Treaty, when it was imposed on us, it turned out that the Bulgarian Ministry of War at that time was not able to fill even the minimum number of 20,000 people that was allowed to us.
During the Warsaw Pact, the size of the army was determined purely mathematically, said Col. Assoc. Stancho Stanchev.
The bloc opposition predetermines the enemies in the face of our southern neighbors Greece and Turkey, and the allies – Romania, like Yugoslavia, had to maintain neutrality in a complex situation that would arise in this part of Europe.
"And from this point of view, the operational and tactical directions that the Bulgarian army must block and advance along were studied. On this basis, the size of the Bulgarian army was also determined: how many divisions and regiments should we have in order for this army to fulfill its constitutional obligations", he explained and added that in the current realities it is difficult to say what kind of army is needed, to be able to fulfill its obligations. We now refer to Art. 5 of the NATO Washington Treaty on the collective defense of the members of the Alliance.
According to the military historian, the future is in some form of barracks, of the National Guard type, which on the territory of Bulgaria would organize the activities that would protect the civilian population. According to him, this is a very important issue that must be paid attention to.
The idea of military training for people from the state administration and high government posts is quite old and is done in various places around the world. According to Col. Associate Professor Stancho Stanchev, the implementation of the idea would help fill the shortage of military personnel in our army.
"But we must be aware that in order to fill the army with a quality composition, we must ensure the material well-being of those who will put on the uniforms,", he is categorical.