The Group of Inspectors General of the Soviet Ministry of Defence was established on 12 February 1958 under order No.

This was intended to establish "for use in In the Armed Forces, the accumulated knowledge and experience of marshals, admirals, army generals, colonel generals and some lieutenant generals and vice admirals who have reached such an age when, for health reasons and the prospects for their further use, cannot continue to work with a full load ..."[1] By the late Soviet period it had become a sinecure position for senior officers.

Its numbers were reduced by Defence Minister Dmitry Yazov in 1988, and it was abolished during the 1992 reforms of Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov.

[1] This envisaged the creation of the Service of Inspectors General, the main task of which was "to promote the organization of combat and operational training of troops, the construction and further development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the development of the theory and history of military art, and the education of personnel.

[1] The office is located in the Apraksin House [ru] at 19 Znamenka, the ministry's administrative building.