Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions refers to army troops whose names appear on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army officers or others. Soldiers may equally benefit from the corruption scheme by returning to their civilian occupation and routine while gaining marginal income. The practice, however, weakens the military and makes it susceptible to military offensives and major defeats since leaders ignore the true number of available troops at their disposal on various front-lines. Severe occurrences of ghost soldiers have been cited in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries with dramatic military, humanitarian and historic consequences.
Transnational
In a 2008 transnational analysis, Hudson and Jones found a negative correlation between the level of corruption of a country and the cost per soldiers, which makes sense when factoring in ghost soldiers, who imply lower maintenance costs.
Historic cases
South Vietnam
Some officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War retained soldiers who had been killed or deserted on their rolls as "ghost soldiers". As units were allocated a set amount of rice for each soldier monthly, this allowed the officers to sell the excess rice for their own profit. ARVN officers also sometimes stole the pay allocated to these non-existent soldiers. This corruption was sufficiently widespread that it led to a significant over-estimation of the size of the army.
Russia
During the First and Second Chechen War in the Caucasus and the era in between them, there were reports of Russian soldiers being listed on the payroll of the Army, who either did not exist or had deserted from their military duty while their commanding officers pocketed their pay. There were also reports of conscripts not being paid at all, being worked as slaves by their commanding officers while these same officers stole the soldiers' salaries.
During the 2010s-2020s Russian invasions of Ukraine, rampant personnel and materiel shortages limited Russian martial projection and performances. While efforts were made after the dissolution of the Soviet Union to reform the Russian Armed Forces and upgrade it into a smaller, modern, reliable force, those efforts were unsuccessful and corruption remained rampant. Recruiters routinely inflated their numbers to pocket the difference. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine plans and confidence stood upon false estimates, both in term of underestimating Ukraine's capabilities and overestimating Russia's human and material assets.
In the Kyiv campaign, Russian armored columns stopped kilometers away from the city, frozen by both the lack of foot soldiers protecting their flanks from anti-tanks projectiles and from lack of fuel. Available fuel was likely in lower quantity than planned for. The operation's human and materiel shortages were both linked to corruption and earlier misleading upward reporting. The secrecy of the operation also likely prevented the opportunity for field commanders to report honest states of their troops.
Uganda
Tangri and Mwenda (2006), in a study of Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF), estimate its ghost soldiers to 30% of its force. Efforts to launch anti-corruption investigations by the Inspector General of Government on the UPDF have not been permitted "because sizable amounts obtained from corrupt military procurement and the phenomenon of 'ghost' soldiers were available for building political support for President Yoweri Museveni".
Iraq
The presence of ghost soldiers and battalions has been cited as a key reason for the chain of rapid and disastrous collapses and defeats of the Iraqi army by ISIS in early 2013-2014 offensives. Cases of army officers and soldiers splitting the soldier's salary in exchange for not having to show to the military barracks, works, and training are documented. The soldiers are then free to return to their civilian profession and routine, but have to return periodically to renew various certificates under the protection of his officer. The practice also provided Iraqi soldiers the possibility to retire after 10 years of such ghost service.