Talk:704th CBRN Protection Brigade (Ukraine)

Not Detached, but Separate

окремий in Ukrainian has the same meaning as the Russian отдельный and the Ukrainian military uses окремий in exactly the same way the Russian (and previously the Soviet) military uses отдельный. It is when a command echelon is "skipped". A platoon in general reports to a company, a company reports to battalion, a battalion reports to a regiment, a regiment reports to a division, a division reports to an army etc. So if a platoon skips the company echelon and reports directly to a battalion or higher, this is a separate platoon. Same goes for a company reporting directly to a regiment or higher and so forth. The distinction is very important, because:

• a separate unit is normally commanded by an officer one grade higher than a regular unit, because
• a separate unit is reinforced by heterogenous units - for example a separate motor rifle platoon could have an organic tank platoon and an anti-aircraft battery or a self-propelled mortar battery, an ATGM platoon and a combat engineer platoon. As such
• the Soviet and post-Soviet distinction between for example a [regular] battalion and a separate battalion is similar to the NATO distinction between a battalion and a battalion battlegroup, the main difference being that the separate battalion is a permanent organisation and the battalion battlegroup is ad-hoc.
• it is an important distinction also because the separate units are an intermediate echelon, so if a company commander is reassigned as a separate company commander or a battalion commander is reassigned as a separate battalion commander, this is still a career advancement, not just a reassignment.

I tried to make it right, especially in my edits of the Ukrainian Armed Forces pages, but I gave up after keyboard-toating know-it-all idiots follow my edits and f*** them up at their will by deleting crucial information such as this, just because they are convinced to be knowledgeable in thing they have absolutely no clue whatsoever and delete crucial information to keep things "tidy and neat" I suppose. Things are only going to get worse. The curse of social media is that people with zero understanding think they are entitled to contribute just as much as anyone else, because they feel like it.B.Velikov (talk) 21:22, 9 April 2022 (UTC)

B.Velikov I note your frustration here. Honestly I am confused about the use of "Separate" in regard to Russian motor rifle brigades. They're almost always referred to as "Separate," and they form part of combined-arms armies along with divisions in many cases. In what circumstances would a modern Russian MRB *not* be separate? Buckshot06 (talk) 06:16, 14 April 2022 (UTC)

My frustration was not directed at you. In the Soviet and subsequently the Russian military understanding the combat brigade is in general a "permanent task force", something extra-ordinary. The regular chain of subordination is battalion - regiment - division - army. Combat brigades are formed tailored to a particular area of operations, where a division does not have the space to manoeuver or is an overkill to the specific mission, therefore an extra-ordinary situation. So combat brigades are by default Separate. Exactly the same situation is seen with the army corps. They are formed, where an army does not have the space to manoeuver or when forming an army is an overkill, therefore also an extra-ordinary situation. The only example I can think of off the top of my head, when combat brigades had their "proper" place as part of divisions and lacked the "separate" designation is unfortunately from the Soviet Navy and the Border Guards' maritime service. The situation is different when it comes to support brigades. A logistical brigade (Бригада материально-технического обеспечения (or бригада МТО)) is supposed to be subordinated to an army according to the program document for the structure of an army of a particular type (Штатное расписание армии). So if a бригада МТО is subordinated to an army, it is not designated as "separate", because it is where it is supposed to be regarding the command chain. If it is subordinated to a higher echelon - front, strategic direction, the General Staff or the Ministry of Defence, then it is separate. I hope my explanation is clear. B.Velikov (talk) 07:26, 14 April 2022 (UTC)