ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the supporting services and the special troops. The largest and most complex of these is the support service designated Troops of the Tyl. In 1975 the secretary of defense of the United States noted in his annual report to the Congress that current estimates of the military manpower strength of the Soviet Armed Forces showed an increase of approximately 700,000. The army tyl region began 100 kilometers from the border and extended back to 250 kilometers; the front tyl region extended from this point back to 500 kilometers. The troop tyl region was at permanent military installations. A Soviet account of the buildup of the Strategic Rocket Troops in 1960 illustrates some of the duties and problems of the tyl. Troop subunits and units and their equivalents also have deputy commanders for the tyl. The number of personnel assigned to each of the tyl components is unknown.
