In the
Soviet and the
Russian Armed Forces the term used for TO&E since the 1930s is
"Shtatnoe raspisanie" (
Штатное расписание literally translated as Shtat Prescription). It originates from the term "Shtat" (
:ru:штат) which literally means "assignment" and in a secondary meaning as the synonym for TO&E itself. Note that in the Soviet Union and modern day Russia the term
"Shtatnoe raspisanie" applied not only to military unit, but also to state organizations such as ministries, agencies, universities, hospitals etc. and even to the corporate structure of private companies. Many of the Red Army's rifle divisions at the beginning of
Operation Barbarossa were operating on Shtat 04/400 of 5 April 1941. This Shtat stipulated that an infantry division should consist of three infantry regiments, a light and a howitzer artillery regiment, other artillery units, a reconnaissance battalion, a
combat engineer battalion, signals, chemical company (decontamination/flamethrower), transport, medical, and logistics train units, an aviation flight, and a division staff seemingly consisting of the division commander (1/0/0), division staff (70, including 12 horses and 13 vehicles), a
quartermaster section of five officers (5/0/0), a military tribunal (
military justice) of two officers, and a political section of 11 officers. Soviet rifle divisions were often forced to operate at far below their authorised strengths. For example, in the middle of the fighting on the
Eastern Front, on July 20, 1942, a report on the
284th Rifle Division lamented: The commissar, Tkachenko, went on to urgently request vehicles (including ambulances, of which there were none), small arms and support weapons, draught horses, and a closer supply base. After the first day of fighting he further reported that the lack of high-explosive shells forced the artillery to fire armor-piercing rounds at enemy firing points and troops; there were no cartridges for the submachine guns; many of the men's uniforms and footwear were worn out; and it was impossible to commit the replacements into the fighting because of the lack of weapons. The actual personnel (field ration) strength of Red Army units and formations during the first 30 months of the
Second World War seldom if ever met the specified
shtat totals. Manpower shortages were routine if not endemic. When
Operation Barbarossa began, the average strength of divisions facing the Germans was about 67%; with enormous variations, the average totals began to rise before offensives as Stavka refilled the divisions in advance of operations, and then formations were ground down in battle. Several instances of divisions continuing to operate with only hundreds of men are recorded. On main attack axes in mid-1943, average personnel strengths reached 75-80% of the required
shtat. After the Second World War, formations were held at a series of descending levels of strength, ("A," "Б," "
В," "Г,") corresponding to the first four letters of the Russian
Cyrillic alphabet. The reason for the creation of reduced-strength (cadre) units and formations in the USSR Armed Forces was the need to reduce the Armed Forces while simultaneously maintaining officer personnel, stocks of military equipment, weapons and materiel. For example, in the 191st Motor Rifle Regiment of the "framed" (reduced-strength)
201st Motor Rifle Division at the beginning of December 1979, there were 12 (twelve) people (the regiment was held at a state “G” strength). In connection with the deployment of the regiment to Afghanistan, in January 1980, the regiment's personnel were quickly increased to 2,200 people. ==United States==