Impact strategic nr.6-7 - Centrul de Studii Strategice de Apărare şi ...

ACTUALITATEA POLITICO-MILITARĂ
The Romania’s Armed Forces Professionalization
in the Context of NATO Admission
General PhD Mircea MUREŞAN,
Deputy-Chief of the General Staff
1. General considerations
Nowadays world is in a completely different position
than the one during the Cold War on types of threats
on the national security, regional and global and on the
geopolitical context of international relations. The Soviet
Union disappearance together with the massive threat
it was representing was replaced with a chaotic world
marked on the one hand by the dominance of a sole super
power and on the other hand by a burst of violence in different
geographical areas. In addition, globalization, the
information revolution, as a consequence of a real technological
mutation and the effects of a more interdependent
European construct raise questions of national identity in
new terms. In these conditions, military action losses its
previous references: the threats against the national territory
are less perceivable. Same thing happens with the
confrontation between developed democratic countries.
Moreover, war – in the historical dimension of the world
and having a devastating character due to the destroying
power of modern weapons seems to give place to crisis.
These have multiple forms and different intensity levels,
sometimes without a clear identified enemy. Therefore,
the external interventions are increasing- imposing and
peacekeeping operations, humanitarian operations, fighting
against international terrorism – not often in coalitions
or multinational organizations. The legitimity of these
missions consists in the fact they are carried out with a
UN agreement. Generally speaking, outside the country
it is working for protecting and promoting the human
rights. Therefore, it is obvious the need of passing from
an army based on conscription to a professional one,
able to handle the actual type of missions. The process of
making professional armies is finished in some countries
(U.S., England, France) and in some is in work (Germany,
Belgium, and Netherlands).
At present, according to the criteria referring to ways
of recruiting military personnel, armies may be divided in
the following categories: mass army (based on conscription,
as a way of recruiting the larger part of soldiers);
professional army (the whole army is recruited on a volunteer
basis); mixed army (combines the two mentioned
recruiting ways).
The Romanian society as well as the army, as a
part of it, confronts with all these external challenges.
Moreover, some internal challenges are added due to
the complex process of reform and restructure of all the
sectors. Romania and its armed force have connected to
these requirements making efforts to answer properly to
all these challenges.
In this context, a serious challenge for the Romanian
army represents the active involvement in carrying out
some missions outside the national territory: imposing
and keeping peace in different world areas; humanitarian
missions; fighting against international terrorism. Our
country’s responsibilities are increasing if we take into
account Romania’s invitation to join NATO. Assuming
this type of mission imposed an assimilation of norms,
vales, principles and regulations referring to organization,
training, recruiting. These are specific to the North-
Atlantic Alliance and they had to be put in practice fast
and efficiently by the Romania’s Armed Forces. For
achieving them, there is a need of a profound, ongoing,
multi-dimensional reform of the military body. An essential
dimension of the reform is the human one and inside
of it an important variable is represented by recruiting
process of military personnel according to the transition
from conscription to volunteer. The programmes we have
achieved or we are achieving give us the right to assert
we are on the good way.
2. Determinations of professionalizing army
This is a process by which an organization or institutions
regulates and carries on following professional
rules and by professional people. This concept means
the ensemble of activities based on norms, principles
and regulations specific to that field. In this respect, the
professionalization of the army assumes a change system
IMPACT STRATEGIC nr. 1-2/2003
23