The CSTO Joint Staff turned 16 years old

On April 28, 2003, in Dushanbe, the Collective Security Council of the CSTO guided by the need to establish a military staff body responsible for the implementation of the tasks of the military component of the Collective Security Treaty in accordance with Article 13 of the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization decided to establish a permanent working body of the CSTO and the Council of Defense Ministers of the CSTO - the CSTO Joint Staff.

The Joint Staff, which is now headed by Colonel-General Anatoly Sidorov, is charged with tasks related to the formation, functioning and use of Collective forces, training and conducting jointly with the ministries of defense (general staffs of the armed forces) of the member States of the Organization of joint activities of operational and combat training, military-technical cooperation, coordination of joint training of personnel and specialists for the armed forces of the member States, as well as with the organization of the functioning of the of the CSTO Crisis Response Center.

The activity of the multinational collective of the Joint Staff is closely connected with the history of formation and development of the CSTO Collective Security System. With the organizational and coordinating role of the Joint Staff in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Collective Rapid Reaction Force, a Peacekeeping Force and a Collective Aviation Force were formed. Decisions have been made to establish a management system and the procedure for the formation and training of the respective commands. Plans for the rapid deployment of the Collective Rapid Reaction Force and the Collective Rapid Deployment Force of the Central Asian region are being developed and refined annually. The issues of peacekeeping in the CSTO format are being improved. Work continues on the establishment of joint military systems by type of support.

Currently more than 2,500 military personnel are being trained on gratuitous or concessional terms as part of joint training of personnel and specialists in the interests of the armed forces of the CSTO Member States. 

The Joint Sstaff continues purposeful work on further improvement of the CSTO Collective Security Forces and means. Every year, taking into account the current challenges and threats, strategic command and staff training, joint trainings with the Collective Rapid Response Forces, Collective Peacekeeping Forces and the CSTO Collective Aviation Forces are held within the framework of the joint operational and strategic exercise "Combat brotherhood". Last year, the number of operational groups, military contingents and formations of special forces involved in the exercises (training) within the framework of the joint operational and strategic exercise "Combat brotherhood – 2018" amounted to more than 11,500 people, military and special equipment – about 1330 units, including aircraft and UAVs.

According to the military and political leadership of the CSTO Member States, the complex of these measures allows to ensure the readiness of the collective security forces and means to perform the tasks intended.

The well-coordinated and organized work of the officers of the Joint Staff has made it possible to successfully solve the complex tasks of developing the military component of the CSTO over all these years