September 11, 1999 intelligence officers Marine Corps The Black Sea Fleet under the overall command of then Major Vadim Klimenko arrived in the area immediately adjacent to the borders of Ichkeria, free from all laws - both human and state. The Black Sea troops, first of all, were given three weeks for additional training, replenishment and exchange of combat experience with other special forces.

There a real war began for them. Chechnya has fought hundreds of thousands of people in uniform. The Russian military has acquired the skills of a large-scale anti-terrorist operation. It’s another matter when, due to the obvious unpreparedness of the “linear” units of the mother infantry, internal troops it was necessary to throw reconnaissance and special forces into battle, which were clearly not intended for military operations.

Even during the first Chechen war, in Grozny, the late General Rokhlin used his reconnaissance battalion as mobile and as his best reserve. But is it a good life for specialists in the field of military intelligence during the years of the first and second Chechen campaigns, they formed the core of the assault groups, and went into violent attacks themselves? And why did scouts, special forces, motorized riflemen and paratroopers capable of fighting literally have to be collected drop by drop throughout our huge army. There is no doubt that the current reforms of the Armed Forces are at least 10-15 years late. The idea of ​​forming the Armed Forces only in units of constant combat readiness is not new in itself. And, unfortunately, for the truth proven in thousands of examples - “fight not with numbers, but with skill” - the Russian Soldier again had to pay a high price.

They themselves talk about how the Black Sea, “black-beret” scouts fought.

Along the “Gyurza” trail

From the memoirs of Hero of Russia Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Karpushenko and Major Denis Ermishko.

The first thing that pleasantly surprised the “black berets” in the fall of 1999 in the burning Northern Caucasus was the attitude of the command, officers, warrant officers and soldiers from other branches of the military towards them. The Marine Corps has been valued since the time of the first Chechen campaign, and among the Russian soldiers who underwent baptism of fire in Dagestan and Chechnya there was not even a hint of any kind of bravado - they say, you, the Black Sea people, haven’t even smelled gunpowder yet, but here we are! On the contrary, the general opinion was something like this: we received excellent reinforcements, excellent fighters who would never let us down.

The Black Sea soldiers found acquaintances among the special forces. Captain Oleg Kremenchutsky fought in Chechnya during the first campaign. He has a special opinion about the enemy:

The enemy is experienced, cautious, well prepared, acts smartly and cunningly. There is one peculiarity - “spirits” will never start a battle if they do not have an escape route. Their tactics are as follows: using ambush actions to inflict the greatest damage and escape with minimal losses. By the way, their intelligence work is excellent. Any Chechen is essentially their agent.

Three weeks passed in a tense rhythm. Before lunch there was combat training, after which equipment maintenance took place until late in the evening.

The scouts eagerly absorbed any information about the enemy, about the strengths and weaknesses of our units, about the capabilities of our aviation and artillery. After all, success, and sometimes your life, depends on interaction with brothers in arms.

And then Denis Ermishko, commander of the second platoon with the call sign "Gyurza", did not leave the battles with his scouts for seven months. Detachments of field commanders Raduev, Basayev, Khattab acted against the Black Sea people... The scouts had to deal with. a well-trained, experienced, cruel and dangerous opponent:

We had to fight with Arabs, Afghans, and mercenaries of Slavic origin. Among them we did not meet amateurs. There were neither fools nor fanatics among them. By and large, we fought with militants trained according to all the rules of modern Russian military school, often trained by our former officers, armed with the same weapons as us.

Long months of fighting passed at the limit of human strength. On the map, an ordinary reconnaissance exit was easily and simply indicated by a pencil line, covering only 10-15 kilometers. But the paper kilometers were multiplied tenfold by countless combing of the green stuff, endless ascents and descents in ravines, hills, gorges, crossing rapid mountain streams and rivers. And all - under the vigilant surveillance of hostile eyes, under the sights of machine guns, grenade launchers, sniper rifles, under fire from a difficult-to-detect enemy.

Later, when the company returned from Chechnya, the command asked the intelligence officers for data on military clashes with “spirits.” The Marines thought and suddenly realized one simple thing: in Chechnya, not only did they not have time, it never even occurred to them to count the number of battles. The Marines were just doing their job. But in order not to violate the established order and reporting, captain Vladimir Karpushenko counted the number of the most memorable military skirmishes with the enemy. There were about thirty of them. Every day, reconnaissance groups of Black Sea residents went out on missions. And so all 210 days of the Chechen epic of the Marines.

The "spirits" carefully prepared an ambush for the scouts. Radio interception showed that the intensity of enemy negotiations had increased sharply. Captain Karpushenko literally felt the danger with his skin and even pointed with his hand - look, there, in the fishing line, is an ideal place for an ambush. At that very second, it was from there that the bandits opened fire.

Junior Sergeant Nurulla Nigmatulin from Bashkiria received a bullet as soon as he jumped from the armor of the armored vehicle... He was the first of seven Black Sea reconnaissance soldiers to die. A cheerful fellow who got along well with everyone in the company, an excellent machine gunner - he was destined by fate to die for Russia in the mountains of Chechnya, far from his homeland. Sergeant Alexey Anisimov, the radio operator, immediately picked up Nurulla’s machine gun. And, I want to believe, he was able to avenge his dead brother.

Alexey, by the way, later served business card Marines. For communications, he was sent to one of the special forces units of the airborne troops. Then the landing commander asked Denis Ermishko in surprise: “Are all of you such rex-wolfhounds?” This caused considerable surprise. Alexey Anisimov is, of course, an excellent radio operator, a good intelligence officer, courageous, reliable and cold-blooded. But with all this, it is far from the “universal combat vehicle” that it seemed to the special forces.

The first death of a subordinate seemed to divide the life of Denis-Gyurza. He realized with all his being what actually stood behind the phrase he had heard more than once: the commander dies every time his soldiers die, and the commander, saving the lives of his subordinates, also saves his own life. For fate sometimes gives them, regardless of shoulder straps, the same fate for all.

Captain Alexei Milashevich's company from the Northern Fleet Marine Battalion went to the mountains to carry out a combat mission. The Black Sea Marines, to ensure that the northerners went on a mission, sent their detachment group: senior lieutenant I. Sharashkin, senior sailor G. Kerimov and sailor S. Pavlikhin.

On December 30, 1999, the Marines saddled Hill 1407, already nicknamed ominous. This name of the unnamed height was explained very simply - from its top fire was constantly fired at our troops. And by all indications, it was there that the militants had something like a base with a developed defense system. Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Belezeko uttered a non-statutory phrase on air in the evening:

Lekha, get away from the hill.

Milasevic replied:

- "Cube", I'm "Carbine", Everything is fine. Night. let's hold on...

Perhaps no one will ever know what Captain Milosevic’s mistake was. And was there even a miscalculation? But at about 8.30 am the “polar bears” were surrounded by “spirits”. The fierce battle lasted an hour and a half. The scouts saw perfectly well how their fellow Marines were crushed by bandits with fire, knocking the “black berets” one after another beyond the brink of life. Even the day before, the Black Sea men took up a position on the top of a neighboring hill. The battlefield is only two kilometers away in a straight line. But where can you get wings to fly and help your friends? It takes eight hours to get along the slopes and through the forests to the place of the bloody battle. And only if you’re in a hurry and don’t particularly pay attention to ambushes and shelling. The Marines' hearts were torn from pain, impotent hatred, and anger.

The soul of the detachment went to heaven drop by drop, and each one was the life of one of the twelve warriors of the “black infantry”.

When the first group of Black Sea soldiers reached the battlefield, the officer reported on the radio:

- "Cube", "Cube", all - "two hundredths".

The company commander of the northerners lay facing the enemy. He fired until his last breath. And not a single “black beret” even tried to utter a word about mercy. The seriously wounded senior lieutenant Igor Sharashkin ordered the few surviving Marines to leave him and retreat. He lay bleeding. The bullets set fire to a nearby haystack. The officer was burning, unable to crawl away from the stack. The bandits stood nearby and laughed, they say; Don’t rely on mercy, we won’t finish you off...

On that hill, “Gyurza” lost his college classmate, senior lieutenant Yuri Kuragin.

Since then, the height has been called Matrosskaya.

What is special about our soldier and how much has he changed over the years? last years? - Denis Ermishko repeats my question, - What a Russian soldier was like before, I know only from books, films and stories of veterans. How is he fighting now?

“Gyurza” speaks sparingly, his assessments are devoid of any verbal heaps. In the depths of his soul, the Russian man has retained his eternal kindness. But as soon as a Russian, as they say, has only once been punched in the teeth, washed with blood, seen the death of friends, heard the screams of wounded comrades, he is transformed. In battle, our soldier is cold-blooded, merciless, cunning and cautious, capable of outplaying the most skilled enemy, has an excellent command of weapons, and is constantly learning to fight even better.

On the next mission to the mountains, one of the Marines was seriously wounded. It was not possible to bring him to his location. The fighting friends bandaged the wounded man, took him to a relatively quiet place, and covered him with fallen leaves. And then they held a defense around him until help arrived. Not one of them even had the thought of leaving their comrade, moving away so as not to risk their lives.

Preparing to go on a mission, the scouts, instead of dry rations, tried to take as much ammunition and grenades as possible. Food was limited, only the bare minimum. It happened that the exit was delayed. And the reconnaissance groups ate pasture in the forest for two or three days. But the next time out, everything repeated itself. Ammunition came first, food was taken with us last. In battle, the life of a soldier and the success of the combat mission depend on the number of cartridges.

In the photographs, no matter how hard you try, you will not see scouts in bulletproof vests. Undoubtedly, more reliable individual protection for an infantryman from shrapnel and bullets than a bulletproof vest has not yet been invented. But the scouts thought differently. The strength and success of reconnaissance group warriors lies in their maneuverability, their ability to quickly move over rough terrain. And if you carry a heavy and uncomfortable armored vehicle for more than one, not two - tens of kilometers in the mountains, then how mobile and maneuverable will the reconnaissance officer be in a short-lived combat encounter, where speed of action decides everything?

Denis Ermishko, having gone through the war, was personally convinced that all textbooks, manuals, instructions, combat documents on intelligence training were truly written in blood, absorbing the experience of generations.

But the Russian soldier, it seems, remained the same, as if woven from the best fighting and human qualities.

Major Ermishko belongs to that generation of young officers who did not experience any special “peacekeeping” illusions regarding the role and place Russian army on modern stage development of the Fatherland.

The year he entered the school, 1994, coincided with the beginning of the first Chechen campaign. The shame of August 1996, when Grozny, abundantly watered with Russian blood, was abandoned without a single shot, was deeply felt by all the cadets. The school battalion commander, an experienced Afghan combat officer, said then:

We will not leave Chechnya so easily. Get ready to fight, guys. Combat is an officer's element.

Denis was preparing himself for a real war. A red diploma of graduation from college is only one detail reflecting this preparation. First class in boxing, excellent command of hand-to-hand combat techniques, Full time job over himself, training his already tenacious memory, exercising in the art of tactics... In a word, he did not allow himself to relax.

Time flew by unnoticed in the conversation. In parting, I asked the last question to the reconnaissance company commander, awarded the order Courage and a medal "For Courage" - if he had a choice, could he return to another hot spot?

To be honest, I’m fed up with the war and up to my throat. And I know how dirty and dangerous it is. But if necessary, I will fulfill my duty to the end.

Not a hero of Russia

From the memoirs of Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Klimenko.

The merits of a warrior are recognized not only by orders. The stern plowmen of any war, without error and more accurately than all the “jewelers” from higher headquarters, will determine to the granular extent everything truly precious, by blood, the contents of any award. After all, warriors do not measure the honorable value of any award in gold and silver. And the modest medal “For Courage” from the “forties, fatal” ones, according to the unspoken front-line hierarchy, is sometimes listed as much more significant than other “post-war” orders on the invisible scales of valor.

Three times during the fighting in the unrecognized war in the Chechen Republic, the commander of the tactical group of the Black Sea Fleet, Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Klimenko, was nominated for the high rank of Hero of Russia. “Black Berets” under his command covered the warehouses of “spirits” with weapons. In one of these caches a tank and a self-propelled artillery mount were waiting in the wings. “Striped devils” from intelligence participated in the capture of the camp for training Khattab’s militants. Dozens of times the Black Sea people fought to the death with an experienced and superbly trained enemy. Thousands of kilometers have been walked and traveled along mountain paths and roads, slimy from soldiers’ blood, during THAT undeclared, but already almost ten-year war.

Is it about the reward? After all, you survived and were not even wounded. There, on the passes of the mountainous republic, he found friendship tested in the face of death. A friend and fighting brother, Major Vladimir Karpushenko, became a Hero of Russia - for them all, both living and dead.

For Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Klimenko, as a scout, the moment of supreme happiness was the meager words of recognition after the battle of the special forces elite from Vympel - and among the “ordinary” troops there are professionals equal to us. People like you, Vadim and your scouts.

The true greatness of the Russian soldier, no matter how sophisticated the Goebbel-Udugov propaganda at all times, is in his human heart. The piercing incident will forever be etched in Vadim’s memory of that war. In the frosty January of 2000, late in the evening, the reconnaissance group was returning from a search. The cold and fatigue seemed unbearable. All I wanted was to sleep and grab something from a long-forgotten hot meal.

At the pass, the scouts saw a stalled tractor, in the trailer of which were Chechens - women, old people, children - sitting. It soon became clear: refugees were returning home from Ingushetia. The special officer, he was with the Black Sea men at the exit, suggested to Klimenko - let’s help, take them home. Wherever we take them, there are plenty of our own inside the combat vehicle. And if you put them on the “armor,” you can freeze the children. And it can fit ten or twelve people. We decided not to guess, but to ask the Chechens themselves. The old man with a long beard, white as a harrier, agreed, because rather than wait for help from nowhere, it was better to go with the Russian soldiers. While the busy mothers were moving with their little boys onto the armored vehicle, Vadim went up to one old woman and helped throw a sack of things onto the top of the armored personnel carrier. Suddenly, he heard a little boy about four years old literally burst into hysterical crying.

The commander decided to calm the crying boy by “using” a remedy universal for all times and peoples - chocolate. He literally pushed away the outstretched hand with a tile of a delicacy unheard of for ordinary Chechen children. The elder politely and calmly told Vadim - don’t be surprised, Russian. In the fall, during the bombing, your attack aircraft scared the child so much that he experiences an animal fear of the Russian military.

A lump of bitterness and sympathy for the small man who had already experienced so much rolled up in Vadim’s throat. The elder noticed his condition and said, “You, commander, probably have one just like him growing at home.”

That evening, exhausted from fatigue, the scouts made a fifteen-kilometer detour while they took everyone home. The last to get to her home, as if glued to a high rock, was a mother of about seventeen, but with already three children. The Marines tried to help her bring her things and “heirs” to the doorstep. But she flatly refused. Relatives will not “understand” if they find out that the Russians helped her.

In war, the first thing you encounter is a feeling of fear for your life and that of your comrades. Only the insane are not afraid. Then, suddenly you realize how much this very fear “gets” you, how it interferes with your life. Little by little, day after day, by force of will, you convince yourself - stop feeling afraid, it’s time to get used to danger, treat it more calmly. Then, after the first losses, embitterment appears, a desire to avenge the death of friends and comrades. And here you try not to give free rein to your feelings. In battle, they are the worst adviser. But your mind carefully evaluates everything that happens around you. When the wave of emotions subsides, you begin to wonder about the meaning of the war... And you understand that it is unlikely that any other path than the current one is possible: destroy the gangs and build a peaceful life, no matter how impossible it may seem.

About the enemy... There, in Serzhen-Yurt, in the Khattab camps, they fell into teaching aids Arab instructors. The simplicity and clarity of the instructions and all kinds of instructions made it possible, within a short period of time, to train even a young child as a demolitionist, marksman, or grenade launcher. The entire training system was based on one thing - to overcome, no matter what the risk, your fear, your pain, your weakness. The “spirits” do not even know about such a well-known concept to all Russian commanders as the safety of military service. The main thing for them was and remains to prepare a real warrior at any cost. And they perceive injuries and mutilations in the classroom as nothing more than an indispensable attribute of learning, where there cannot be even a hint of conventionality. But is it not in the laconic wisdom of our regulations and instructions that the combat experience of millions of soldiers and officers of the Great Patriotic War, Afghanistan, and countless local conflicts is contained?

"Czechs", especially Arab mercenaries, with courage, worthy of respect, pulled out their dead and wounded from under the very heavy fire. One day, in the fog, the reconnaissance group came upon unsuspecting “spirits”. The sniper took out two people with two shots - the first one on the spot, the second one wounded in the neck. Then, desperately, in front of a tenfold superior enemy, they fought off their dead and wounded. The courage of the mercenaries has an explanation. If a Muslim killed in battle is not buried on the same day, then his comrades will have to answer to his teip, clan, and family. But, unlike the feds, you won’t be able to escape their revenge.

The “Black Berets” did not abandon their own under any circumstances. Only they went into the fire driven not by the fear of blood feud, but by the great feeling of Russian military brotherhood.

From the memoirs of officer Pavel Klimenko

The period of three months “cut” at headquarters for the Black Sea marines of the second “Chechen” wave ended in June 2000. The “Northern” battalion, with attached Black Sea reconnaissance soldiers, left the passes and mountain forests of the republic, still smoldering with the fire of battles, drenched in their own and enemy blood. Ahead, in an armored personnel carrier bearing his lucky number 013, the column of “black berets” was led by the reconnaissance platoon commander, senior lieutenant Pavel Klimenko. There, high in the mountains, there was still snow. And on the plain the summer heat was already beginning.

A year before, if someone had predicted to the platoon commander that you would know first-hand the pain of losing your people, you would tramp hundreds and hundreds of kilometers until exhaustion on reconnaissance exits, each of which could be your last, then Pavel simply did not believe it. Although, in his native St. Petersburg Higher Military Combined Arms Command School, platoon commander Senior Lieutenant Rogozhenkov repeated to the cadets almost every day like a prayer, get ready to fight in the Caucasus. He knew that you don’t have to be a seer to see where the independent Russian laws Ichkeria. For the first Chechen campaign, the platoon commander was awarded two Orders of Courage. As part of the combined regiment of “polar bears,” the lieutenant took the building of the Council of Ministers and Dudayev’s palace, which were filled to capacity with firing points. I wonder what the platoon commander would say if he found out now that it was he, Pavel Klimenko, in the vanguard of the “Chechen” battalion of his native 61st Kerkenes, a hundred times famous, brigade?

However, the brotherhood of the amphibious assault is not distributed among the fleets. It must have been such a coincidence, but in Chechnya, among the “polar bears,” I met an acquaintance from an internship during my final year at school. The company sergeant major, senior warrant officer Bagryantsev, greeted him as if he were his own, and both were delighted. But the old servant did not fail to remind him how much he had suffered with Pavel. He was a cadet, undoubtedly a good one, but, as they say, with character, with his own “special” opinion on any life and work issue. And the sergeant major, with his experience, in the opinion of the valiant Marine Corps officer, attached “too much” importance to “little things” to the detriment of real combat training.

Time will later put all the emphasis in its place. The senior warrant officer, with his pedantry and pickiness, will be right. In battle he will prove himself to be by no means a coward; later he will be deservedly rewarded. And the foreman was concerned with the everyday life of his subordinates 24 hours a day, without reference to field conditions. Pavel is still largely grateful to him for the science he taught, which was not written down in any textbook, the name of which is experience.

For some reason, fate tests the young officer with its inscrutable “tests.” After all, now he is very close to his native place, to the village of Ozek-Suat, where his father and mother live, by local standards - just a stone’s throw away. Before the war, many friends and relatives studied and lived in Grozny. It’s a pity that we weren’t able to visit the city we knew from childhood. Although, what is it possible to find out there now after several years of war. Pavel considers himself lucky. He was not wounded in the war, he did not even receive a scratch. Quite easily, without nightmares, nervous breakdowns, post-combat syndromes, he returned to peaceful life. When you are 22 years old, the danger is not felt as acutely as when you are older. His wife “helped” in many ways, giving birth to a son, Nikita, almost immediately upon his return to Sevastopol. When at home Small child, desired son, then all other experiences always go somewhere aside. Senior Lieutenant Klimenko received a promotion and took command of a company. So, there was simply no time for “perestroika” from a military to a peaceful way.

Soon after the end of hostilities, the brave “black berets” experienced a previously unknown feeling of fear. The train with equipment and personnel on the way to Novorossiysk had to travel eight hours through the territory of Chechnya. By that time, the Marines, with the exception of eight traveling guards, had surrendered their weapons. For the first time in hostile territory, they found themselves without Kalashnikovs, machine guns, and sniper rifles. The machine gun was an integral part of Marine uniforms for several months. They didn’t leave him for a second. And, when going to bed, they placed the AK so that instantly, only by removing the safety, they could open fire.

The price of a soldier’s life in war is calculated in a special “currency” that is little understood in peaceful life. Ammo in critical moment battles mean more to you than all the gold in the world. And a working machine gun that hits without missing a beat is more valuable than super-sophisticated audio-video equipment. However, even the seasoned "Beteer" there in the mountains, none of the "striped devils" would exchange for the newest Mercedes, which captivates connoisseurs with the shape of its lines.

For eight hours the paratroopers in the train were painfully silent. Here, on a land that had been at war for many years, a person could not be both unarmed and calm for his life; only a machine gun gave him the right to meet the morning of the coming day. The border of Chechnya was crossed by the black beret infantry on time. Not a single shot was fired from the hostile steppes. Although the field commanders, with their well-functioning reconnaissance, probably knew which echelon was with whom and where it was going. The formidable fame of excellent warriors played the role of a psychological “body armor.” And even the most desperate militants did not dare to get involved even in the end with the “polar bears” together with the “Black Sea devils”. It's more valuable to yourself.

Combat experience will prove to be a measure of many values ​​in service for Klimenko. However, as with everything, he will be critical of many things. After all, it’s not the job of the amphibious assault to “saddle” the peaks, sea ​​soldiers intended for other purposes. But, most importantly, it became clear that in our time of high technology, the role of infantry is only increasing. Like in that movie - “And private infantry Vanya will be the first to sign at the Reichstag.” When the terrorist threat literally spreads like poisonous gas through all sorts of “cracks” and “secrets,” when the enemy is not marked by a clear front line, it is the soldier—call him a special forces soldier, a reconnaissance officer, a fighter in an anti-terrorist unit—who finds himself at the forefront of the attack. And from him personal training, being equipped with modern weapons depends on success in the secret war that has been going on for many years.

And the fact that the Marines today had to solve largely unusual tasks is why they are professionals, in order to carry out orders. A soldier, if he is real, does not discuss the order, but thinks about how best to carry it out.

From the memoirs of a company sergeant Vladimir Bagryantsev:

This story happened at the end of February 2000. The battalion was then located not far from settlement Serzhen-Yurt. A large group of Marines was awarded orders and medals, some were awarded the next one ahead of schedule military ranks. Is it possible to receive an award and, according to a well-known tradition, not “wash” it? Without “fanaticism” of course.

In the evening they “washed” the stars, medals, and orders. They remembered the fallen, and in their honor they decided to give a salute... They asked for the go-ahead, warned their friends and...

...At first everything was quiet, but after some time a battle broke out among the neighbors, at the checkpoint of the internal troops... Somehow no one even thought of linking this with the past “festival”.

However, in the morning, a delegation from units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived at the company position with an “unofficial friendly visit”. The guys congratulated them on their awards, wished them good luck and expressed their sincere gratitude:

Guys, well done!.. Well, you gave it to them yesterday!..

The “Black Berets” looked at the guests with bewilderment. All that remained was to remain silent and wait for an explanation. Where, what and to whom they “gave” the day before, no one could understand at first, much less explain.

As it turned out, a fairly large group of militants accidentally or deliberately entered the position of the North Sea battalion just at the moment when the 1st company was giving a salute.

Having assessed the power of the fireworks salvo, the bandits most likely thought that they had not just been discovered, but rather had run into a well-prepared, pre-planned ambush. The smartest thing they could do in that situation was to hastily retreat and try to avoid persecution. That's what they did.

The “spirits” rushed away, and in the darkness they very successfully entered... a minefield placed on the approach to the checkpoint of the internal troops. After the first explosions, the militants, naturally, were discovered by soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs units and almost all were destroyed...

The Marines were modestly silent, listening to the enthusiastic story of their neighbors. Why dissuade them? After all, everything ended in the best possible way. For us...

From the memoirs of reserve lieutenant colonel Vyacheslav Krivoy.

During the four “Chechen” months, Vyacheslav was both the “incarnation” of the group’s intelligence chief and headed its headquarters, reporting directly to Major General Alexander Ivanovich Otrakovsky. The status and position of lieutenant colonel made it quite possible to “sit out” somewhere in the headquarters tent. But that’s not his character! “Palych” was on all the main and most dangerous reconnaissance missions. He was in those searches when the warehouses of the “Czechs” were discovered; with his courage and the highest commander’s ability to fight, he earned the respect of his subordinates. The Order “For Courage” is more eloquent than all words. He doesn’t like to remember those battles. The pain for the eight dead Black Sea residents does not go away from the heart. And somewhere, latently, in the soul, notes of a funeral march sound - I didn’t save... After all, he entered the war as a mature man, the father of two almost adult children, having learned the great joy of raising both a son and a daughter. But all his soldiers who lay down on the mountain passes remained forever young. And we didn’t manage to do so much in life, it’s impossible to tell. That’s why Vyacheslav hates all talk about war. There was too much of her, damned, in his life, he had to experience too much, experience too much, not as an outside observer, but see with his mature gaze.

Life continued even under gunfire. “Maestro,” as the Marines’ slang called the chief of artillery, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Strebkov, set off a fireworks display on Black Sea Fleet Day, May 13, seriously frightening some of the staff.

Once, in one village, they got into conversation with local women. It’s clear that Vyacheslav is from Odessa at heart and did not miss the opportunity to joke around here. The ladies of “free Ichkeria” also did not refuse the opportunity to laugh. The fun stopped the second one of the Marines quite accidentally said, “Hey, Doctor, Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service Shevchuk is with us.” By the way, he recently defended his doctoral dissertation. One Chechen woman said, “We haven’t had a doctor for a hundred years.” Here, once upon a time,
wrote out a prescription in Latin. You can't read anything. Would the military help?

The news that the doctor had arrived spread throughout the village with lightning speed. Five minutes later, many dozens of people lined up. We had to organize an appointment and wait until everyone in need received medical care, so rare in these parts.

From the memoirs of senior warrant officer Bakit Aimukhambetov.

In the fall of 2000, then still a sergeant - a contract soldier of the Marine Corps, Aimukhambetov would come on his first vacation. Relatives will gather in the house. The mother will begin to reproach him - they say, son, why haven’t he written for three months. He started to make excuses, saying that he was at a training exercise, and the postal service at the training ground is working very poorly. Cousin Azat cut him off softly:

Don't deceive your mother, now it no longer makes sense. You, Bakit, were there, beyond the Terek, in Chechnya. I know there are no trainings for three months. And he himself also didn’t tell his loved ones when he fought in the first Chechen war in reconnaissance of the brigade of internal troops.

Mom, of course, is in tears. They contain belated experiences, joy, the son is alive.

In September 1999, Bakit Aimukhambetov, like hundreds of his comrades, wrote a report - I wish to participate in the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. Youth is full of enthusiasm, there is a delightful recklessness in it. In September, the war seemed like a game of heroes. On December 14, 1999, everything turned upside down in his mind. At the regimental formation, it was announced that “Sergeant Nurulla Nigmatulin died a heroic death in battle with Chechen separatists" Just a few weeks ago they shared equally the hardships and joys of life and naval service. And today “the same forest, the same air and the same water. Only he didn’t return from the battle.”

The second batch went to Chechnya after the new year, 2000. The soldier does not ask where he should fight for his Motherland, his job is to carry out the order. Junior Sergeant Aimukhambetov did not ask unnecessary questions when he was not on the list to replace scouts exhausted in battles and patrols. But in the spring, when the next candidates for war were checked for suitability to perform a combat mission, the doctors put down their firm summary - you, Comrade Junior Sergeant, cannot fight. What to do if his friend Ilya Kirillov is sent to a place where risk and mortal danger literally feed the soldiers’ breath. The doctor himself suggested the solution:

Boy, I will not give my consent to send you to war as a conscript. This is how it works in the navy and army; the commander is primarily responsible for the “conscript”, and not himself. But the contract worker has benefits and the right to at will go to a “hot spot”.

The contract with the command of the unit was signed together with my friend Ilya.

Soldiers' bread in war is not sweet. That is why they valued the joys of simple life. They dug a longer trench in the clayey soil, creating an open-air dining room. The second pit became a kind of bathhouse, where you could wash yourself without fear of a sniper’s bullet cold water. In the dugout, when it’s warm and the roof doesn’t leak, after a stressful day you feel like you’re in a luxury hotel with a view of the mountains. The imported water in barrels reeked of hydrogen sulfide, neither quenching thirst nor cooking food. So, first of all, they asked the scouts to notice thin strings of fontanels and streams. Then, with all precautions, they cleared the source of clean water and checked whether it was poisoned, because everything happened here. The company sergeant major, senior warrant officer Alexander Kashirov, ran the household in an exemplary manner, a bathhouse, soap, clean linen, hot food - everything was on time, and he could also get something tastier from the warehouse for rations. Man, what do you need?

Somehow there was a puncture, the sentry did not notice the officer and let him through to the dugout. So that the Marines would not relax, because in war, those who sleep a lot live little, threw a smoke bomb into the doorway. The “sleepy” kingdom instantly found itself in a trench in the fresh air. While they were judging and sorting, they came to their senses and were counted, recounted, but one was not found. Then, it turned out that Alexey Gribanov showed miracles of soldierly resourcefulness, put on a gas mask and continued to sleep in that incredible smoke. There was enough laughter and conversation for two weeks.

The arrangement was simple. The amphibious assault “sits” on the strong point, the company and battery of artillerymen maintain the height. Everything is without pathos and very simple. You just need to follow orders. It used to be that the Black Sea Marines were taken out on missions in his Ural by the driver Lyokha, a cool guy. Was. When the time came for Alyosha to resign, he was happy. The last time I got into the car, it seemed like no happier person. Like, I’ll go for the last time, I’ll be home in two days. And a landmine had already been planted on his road...

Two and a half months during the war passed in some special dimension. Late in the evening, when we returned to Sevastopol, the incredible spiritual tension subsided inside. That's it, we're home, alive, safe, unharmed. Suvorov's medal, awarded a few minutes before the line of comrades, surprised even him. Yes, he was in Chechnya, together with everyone else he honestly did his military work. Only, everything was done without exploits, they didn’t think about heroism. A soldier in war has only one thought in his head: don’t step on a mine, don’t get caught by a sniper, don’t fall asleep at your post, don’t let your comrade down, stay alive, return home.

Everyone has their own path in life. A year later, Bakit met a Sevastopol girl named Natasha. We got married. Soon their daughter Diana was born. Friend Ilya Kirillov also found a life partner in the white-stone city. He just left the service. Now he works on the oil rigs of Tyumen, and his “southern” wife, disdaining comfort, went with him to Western Siberia. Family is when everyone is together. It’s a pity, I don’t get to see my military friends who retired very often. And you will never be able to sit at the table with someone again. Fellow soldier Sergei Zyablov in hometown in the cafe he tried to rein in the “brothers” who were partying beyond measure. For which he received a knife in the heart.

I feel sorry for him to the point of madness, because how many times he could have laid his head on the slimy Caucasian paths, and lost his life so absurdly.

Each generation of Russian Soldiers has its own passes, battlefields, and heights. Today's lieutenants, sergeants, privates, and sailors outwardly bear little resemblance to their predecessors, those who walked the roads of defeats and victories of the Great Patriotic War, who performed their duty in Afghanistan and other “hot spots”. But in the bloody August of last year, in South Ossetia, the new generation managed, in a matter of days, to completely defeat an army created according to the best Western models, nurtured over the years by “foreign” instructors with experience from the Iraqi campaign. For the first time since the Great Patriotic War, our army was again faced with the concept of “oncoming tank battle.” And again the Russian tanker turned out to be unbending.

There is the main thing, that Russian spirit is unshakable, that military science of winning, that incredible core of courage and bravery, thanks to which the enemy said about our warrior: “It is not enough to kill a Russian marine, he must be pinned to the ground with a bayonet. Then there is a possibility that it will not rise.”

Airborne troops are one of the strongest components of the army Russian Federation. In recent years, due to the tense international situation, the importance of the Airborne Forces has been increasing. The size of the territory of the Russian Federation, its landscape diversity, as well as borders with almost all conflict states, indicate that it is necessary to have a large supply of special groups of troops that can provide the necessary protection in all directions, which is what the air force is.

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Because structure air forces is vast, the question often arises of the Airborne Forces and the Airborne Battalion, are they the same troops? The article examines the differences between them, the history, goals and military training of both organizations, composition.

Differences between troops

The differences lie in the names themselves. The DSB is an air assault brigade, organized and specialized in attacks close to the enemy rear in the event of large-scale military operations. Air assault brigades subordinate to the Airborne Forces - airborne troops, as one of their units and specialize only in assault captures.

Airborne Forces are airborne troops, whose tasks are the capture of the enemy, as well as the capture and destruction of enemy weapons and other air operations. The functionality of the Airborne Forces is much broader - reconnaissance, sabotage, assault. For a better understanding of the differences, let's consider the history of the creation of the Airborne Forces and the Airborne Shock Battalion separately.

History of the Airborne Forces

The Airborne Forces began its history in 1930, when an operation was carried out near the city of Voronezh on August 2, where 12 people parachuted from the air as part of a special unit. This operation then opened the eyes of the leadership to new opportunities for paratroopers. Next year, at the base Leningrad Military District, a detachment is formed, which received a long name - airborne and numbered about 150 people.

The effectiveness of the paratroopers was obvious and the Revolutionary Military Council decided to expand it by creating airborne troops. The order was issued at the end of 1932. At the same time, in Leningrad, instructors were trained, and later they were distributed to districts according to special-purpose aviation battalions.

In 1935, the Kyiv military district demonstrated to foreign delegations the full power of the Airborne Forces by staging an impressive landing of 1,200 paratroopers, who quickly captured the airfield. Later, similar exercises were held in Belarus, as a result of which the German delegation, impressed by the landing of 1,800 people, decided to organize its own airborne detachment, and then a regiment. Thus, The Soviet Union is rightfully the birthplace of the Airborne Forces.

In 1939, our airborne troops there is an opportunity to show yourself in action. In Japan, the 212th brigade was landed on the Khalkin-Gol River, and a year later the 201, 204 and 214 brigades were involved in the war with Finland. Knowing that the Second World War would not pass us by, 5 air corps of 10 thousand people each were formed and the Airborne Forces acquired a new status - guards troops.

1942 marked the largest airborne operation during the years of the war that took place near Moscow, where about 10 thousand paratroopers were dropped into the German rear. After the war, it was decided to annex the Airborne Forces to the Supreme High Command and appoint the commander of the Airborne Forces of the USSR Ground Forces, this honor falls to Colonel General V.V. Glagolev.

Big innovations in airborne the troops came with “Uncle Vasya”. In 1954 V.V. Glagolev is replaced by V.F. Margelov and held the position of commander of the Airborne Forces until 1979. Under Margelov, the Airborne Forces are supplied with new military equipment, including artillery installations, combat vehicles, and special attention is paid to working under conditions of a surprise attack with nuclear weapons.

Airborne troops took part in all the most significant conflicts - the events of Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Nagorno-Karabakh, North and South Ossetia. Several of our battalions carried out UN peacekeeping missions on the territory of Yugoslavia.

Nowadays, the ranks of the Airborne Forces include about 40 thousand fighters; during special operations, paratroopers form its basis, since the Airborne Forces are a highly qualified component of our army.

History of the formation of the DSB

Air assault brigades began their history after it was decided to rework the tactics of the Airborne Forces in the context of the outbreak of large-scale military operations. The purpose of such ASBs was to disorganize opponents through mass landings close to the enemy; such operations were most often carried out from helicopters in small groups.

Towards the end of the 60s in the Far East, it was decided to form 11 and 13 brigades with helicopter regiments. These regiments were deployed primarily in hard-to-reach areas; the first landing attempts took place in northern cities Magdachi and Zavitinsk. Therefore, in order to become a paratrooper of this brigade, strength and special endurance were needed, since weather were practically unpredictable, for example, in winter the temperature reached -40 degrees, and in summer there was abnormal heat.

Place of deployment of the first airborne gunships The Far East was chosen for a reason. It was time difficult relationships with China, which escalated further after a clash of interests on the island of Damascus. The brigades were ordered to prepare to repel an attack from China, which could attack at any time.

High level and importance of DSB was demonstrated during exercises in the late 80s on the island of Iturup, where 2 battalions and artillery landed on MI-6 and MI-8 helicopters. The garrison, due to weather conditions, was not warned about the exercise, as a result of which fire was opened on those who landed, but thanks to the highly qualified training of the paratroopers, none of the participants in the operation were injured.

In those same years, the DSB consisted of 2 regiments, 14 brigades, and about 20 battalions. One brigade at a time were attached to one military district, but only to those that had access to the border by land. Kyiv also had its own brigade, 2 more brigades were given to our units located abroad. Each brigade had an artillery division, logistics and combat units.

After the USSR ceased to exist, the country’s budget did not allow the massive maintenance of the army, so there was nothing else to do but disband some units of the Airborne Forces and Airborne Forces. The beginning of the 90s was marked by the removal of the DSB from subordination Far East and transfer to full subordination to Moscow. The air assault brigades are being transformed into separate airborne brigades - 13 Airborne Brigade. In the mid-90s, the airborne reduction plan disbanded the 13th Airborne Forces Brigade.

Thus, from the above it is clear that the DShB was created as one of the structural divisions of the Airborne Forces.

Composition of the Airborne Forces

The composition of the Airborne Forces includes the following units:

• airborne;
• air assault;
• mountain (which operate exclusively at mountainous heights).

These are the three main components of the Airborne Forces. In addition, they consist of a division (76.98, 7, 106 Guards Air Assault), brigade and regiment (45, 56, 31, 11, 83, 38 Guards Airborne). A brigade was created in Voronezh in 2013, receiving the number 345.

Airborne Forces personnel prepared in educational institutions military reserve of Ryazan, Novosibirsk, Kamenets-Podolsk, in Kolomenskoye. Training was carried out in the areas of parachute landing (air assault) platoon and commanders of reconnaissance platoons.

The school produced about three hundred graduates annually - this was not enough to satisfy the personnel requirements of the airborne troops. Consequently, it was possible to become a member of the Airborne Forces by graduating from airborne departments in special areas of schools such as general arms and military departments.

Preparation

The command staff of the airborne battalion was most often selected from the airborne forces, and battalion commanders, deputy battalion commanders, and company commanders were selected from the nearest military districts. In the 70s, due to the fact that the leadership decided to repeat their experience - to create and staff the DSB, the planned recruitment is expanding educational establishments , who trained future airborne officers. The mid-80s were marked by the fact that officers were released for service in the DShV, having been trained in educational program for the Airborne Forces. Also during these years, a complete reshuffle of officers was carried out; it was decided to replace almost all of them in the DShV. At the same time, excellent students went to serve mainly in the Airborne Forces.

To join the Airborne Forces, as in the DSB, it is necessary to meet specific criteria:

• height 173 and above;
• average physical development;
• secondary education;
• without medical restrictions.

If everything matches, then the future fighter begins training.

Particular attention is paid, of course, to the physical training of airborne paratroopers, which is carried out constantly, starting with a daily rise at 6 am, hand-to-hand combat (a special training program) and ending with long forced marches of 30–50 km. Therefore, every fighter has enormous endurance and endurance, besides, children who have been involved in any sport that develops that same endurance are selected into their ranks. To test it, they take an endurance test - in 12 minutes a fighter must run 2.4-2.8 km, otherwise there is no point in serving in the Airborne Forces.

It is worth noting that it is not for nothing that they are called universal fighters. These people can operate in various areas in any weather conditions absolutely silently, can camouflage themselves, own all types of weapons, both their own and the enemy’s, control any type of transport and means of communication. In addition to excellent physical preparation, psychological preparation is also required, since fighters have to overcome not only long distances, but also “work with their heads” to get ahead of the enemy throughout the entire operation.

Intellectual aptitude is determined using tests compiled by experts. Psychological compatibility in the team is necessarily taken into account; the guys are included in a certain detachment for 2-3 days, after which the senior officers evaluate their behavior.

Psychophysical preparation is carried out, which implies tasks with increased risk, where there is both physical and mental stress. Such tasks are aimed at overcoming fear. At the same time, if it turns out that the future paratrooper does not experience a feeling of fear at all, then he is not accepted for further training, since he is quite naturally taught to control this feeling, and is not completely eradicated. Airborne Forces training gives our country a huge advantage in terms of fighters over any enemy. Most VDVeshnikov already lead a familiar lifestyle even after retirement.

Armament of the Airborne Forces

As for technical equipment, the Airborne Forces use combined arms equipment and equipment specially designed for the nature of this type of troops. Some of the samples were created during the USSR, but the bulk were developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

To the cars Soviet period relate:

• amphibious combat vehicle - 1 (the number reaches 100 units);
• BMD-2M (approximately 1 thousand units), they are used in both ground and parachute landing methods.

These techniques have been tested for many years and took part in multiple armed conflicts that took place on the territory of our country and abroad. Nowadays, in conditions of rapid progress, these models are outdated both morally and physically. A little later, the BMD-3 model was released and today the number of such equipment is only 10 units, since production has ceased, they plan to gradually replace it with the BMD-4.

The Airborne Forces are also armed with armored personnel carriers BTR-82A, BTR-82AM and BTR-80 and the most numerous tracked armored personnel carrier - 700 units, and it is also the most outdated (mid-70s), it is gradually being replaced by an armored personnel carrier - MDM "Rakushka". There are also 2S25 Sprut-SD anti-tank guns, an armored personnel carrier - RD "Robot", and ATGMs: "Konkurs", "Metis", "Fagot", and "Cornet". Air defense represented by missile systems, but a special place is given to a new product that recently appeared on airborne weapons- MANPADS "Verba".

Not long ago new models of equipment appeared:

• armored car "Tiger";
• Snowmobile A-1;
• Kamaz truck - 43501.

As for communication systems, they are represented by locally developed electronic warfare systems “Leer-2 and 3”, Infauna, system control is represented by air defense “Barnaul”, “Andromeda” and “Polet-K” - automation of command and control.

Weapon represented by samples, for example, the Yarygin pistol, PMM and the PSS silent pistol. The Soviet Ak-74 assault rifle is still the personal weapon of paratroopers, but is gradually being replaced by the newest AK-74M, and the silent Val assault rifle is also used in special operations. There are parachute systems of both Soviet and post-Soviet types, which can parachute large parties of soldiers and all of the above military equipment. Heavier equipment includes automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 “Plamya” and AGS-30, SPG-9.

Armament of the DShB

The DShB had transport and helicopter regiments, which numbered:

• about twenty mi-24, forty mi-8 and forty mi-6;
• the anti-tank battery was armed with a 9 MD mounted anti-tank grenade launcher;
• the mortar battery included eight 82-mm BM-37s;
• the anti-aircraft missile platoon had nine Strela-2M MANPADS;
• it also included several BMD-1s, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers for each airborne assault battalion.

The armament of the brigade artillery group consisted of GD-30 howitzers, PM-38 mortars, GP 2A2 cannons, the Malyutka anti-tank missile system, SPG-9MD, and ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun.

Heavier equipment includes automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 “Flame” and AGS-30, SPG-9 “Spear”. Aerial reconnaissance is carried out using the domestic Orlan-10 drone.

One interesting fact took place in the history of the Airborne Forces, for quite a long time, thanks to erroneous media information, special forces (Special Forces) soldiers were not rightfully called paratroopers. The thing is, what in Air Force our country in the Soviet Union, as in the post-Soviet Union, there were and do not exist Special Forces troops, but there are divisions and units of the Special Forces of the GRU of the General Staff, which arose in the 50s. Until the 80s, the command was forced to completely deny their existence in our country. Therefore, those who were appointed to these troops learned about them only after being accepted into service. For the media they were disguised as motorized rifle battalions.

Airborne Forces Day

Paratroopers celebrate the birthday of the Airborne Forces, like the DShB since August 2, 2006. This kind of gratitude for the efficiency of air units, the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation was signed in May of the same year. Despite the fact that the holiday was declared by our government, the birthday is celebrated not only in our country, but also in Belarus, Ukraine and most CIS countries.

Every year, airborne veterans and active soldiers meet in the so-called “meeting place”, each city has its own, for example, in Astrakhan “Brotherly Garden”, in Kazan “Victory Square”, in Kiev “Hydropark”, in Moscow “Poklonnaya Gora”, Novosibirsk "Central Park". IN major cities organize demonstrations, concerts and fairs.

Elite of the Russian Army

Victory Day, like other major holidays, in Sevastopol is difficult to imagine without the participation of soldiers of the reconnaissance airborne company. During the celebrations, it is they who demonstrate hand-to-hand combat on a specially installed pontoon, which is watched by thousands of Sevastopol residents and guests of the city.

Tall, strong, in camouflage, with camouflage paint on their faces, the scouts receive a storm of well-deserved applause from grateful spectators. They are used to judge the preparation and training of the “black berets” of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. They are the face and elite of the Marine brigade.

Special unit

During the reconstruction of the assault on Sapun Mountain on the eve of Victory Day on steep slopes and observation deck Thousands of Sevastopol and Black Sea residents gather. And when the battle with the participation of uniformists ends, people’s eyes are directed precisely to the marines of the Black Sea Fleet. At demonstration performances, one pair replaces the other. One-on-two fights are common. Dizzying throws, rapid hand-to-hand combat techniques, including the use of edged weapons, cannot but arouse admiration among numerous spectators. Behind the precision and meticulousness of the Marines’ actions is enormous daily work, hard training, and the will to win.

All this action is closely monitored by the commander of the reconnaissance landing company (RDR), Captain Sergei Bordov. The tenacious gaze of an experienced officer captures rough edges and mistakes in the work of the soldiers. At the same time, he is slightly worried that the guys, when they get into a rage, do not go beyond what is permitted and follow the rules of the game. After all, the commander is responsible for the safety and health of each of them. Everything should be injury-free.

On the ground, Sapun Mountain is not the most difficult test. The fall here is softer than on the parade ground, the scouts admit. But they traditionally, year after year, perform them on the parade ground, in full view of the fleet commander, members of the military council, distinguished guests, and during demonstration performances. This is the “trick” of the whole holiday. And it’s not ordinary spectators who watch the hand-to-hand combat, but professionals, meticulously evaluating every throw, every technique.

Now let’s talk in more detail about the elite unit of the “black berets”. Reconnaissance and landing company - special unit Marine brigade, under the command of Hero of Russia Colonel Vladimir Belyavsky. Special due to the tasks being solved. These people must be able to act in isolation from the main forces, day and night, in any terrain conditions, be it mountains, rocks, forest, field, seashore or steppe. They need to have strength, excellent physical fitness, endurance, and the ability to different types weapons, navigate in a complex and rapidly changing environment. Scouts must be observant, collect information, analyze the situation, draw general conclusions, be super mobile and be on alert in a matter of minutes. Jump onto the airfield, and you are already in the air, flying to a given area, so that you can then land at the desired point and complete the assigned task. Each of the company's soldiers is universally trained. One of the main tasks of the unit is anti-terrorism. And only strong and well-trained specialists can successfully counter terrorists. This was not said for the sake of words.

Characters - in full growth...

There are long-standing traditions of high-quality training of fighters here. More than once I have had the opportunity to write about Captain Anatoly Gromysh, who, before the current commander, commanded this elite unit for many years. He has completed more than 260 parachute jumps. For comparison: the commander of an air assault battalion will not have even fifty of them. This is not to say that the latter is not a professional. It’s just that airborne training in a company is one of its core areas; it cannot be any other way.

Of course, there is also a personal factor - the commander's initiative. It’s just that Captain Gromysh believed: you can fully demand from your subordinates when you yourself are competent and several orders of magnitude higher in professional training than them.

If we talk about authority, Captain Gromysh had it unquestioned. In the Black Sea Fleet, besides him, there was no officer who twice took part in the All-Army Conference of Young Officers. And, as you know, the best are sent there. And he never boasted about it, did not flaunt it, but modestly and to the maximum did his military work.

And here it is difficult to overestimate the role of the commander, the officer level of the company.

It’s unusual for me to write about Gromysh as a company commander in the past tense. Unfortunately, he completed it not long ago military service, health turned out to be not unlimited. But he left behind a good memory and a galaxy of highly trained specialists. An ode could be written about Anatoly’s boundless love and devotion to the Marine Corps. Having completed his military service here, he decided to become an officer and after graduating from the Higher Naval School he ended up in his native Black Sea Fleet. And not just anywhere, but to an elite brigade of missile boats, in which many people dream of serving. And everything would be fine. He just became unbearably bored with his previous place of service. And very soon he wrote a report asking to be transferred from an elite missile boat brigade to a Marine regiment.

They didn’t want to let the smart officer go. Then he wrote a new report, but it also went to waste...

“I’ll still be in the Marine Corps!” — the officer said firmly and unequivocally.

After several reports and a long conversation with the brigade commander, Anatoly was transferred to the Marine Corps. Probably, the coolest units of the “black berets” rely on such fans. Here everything was familiar and familiar to him. A daily routine that is strict to the limit, service from dawn to dusk, enormous physical exertion and great responsibility for subordinates. Gromysh was not afraid of difficulties. They build strong character and unite the team. Weak people, we repeat, do not stay here... I was convinced of this when I met Sergei Bordov, at that time deputy company commander. He was also deputy for airborne training. From the iron handshake of this tall, broad-shouldered officer during our acquaintance, my fingers crunched treacherously. A candidate for master of sports in boxing, a first-class hand-to-hand combat athlete, he, like Anatoly Gromysh, began his military service in the brigade’s reconnaissance battalion. And both captains still remember the science of winning and the school of their first commanders Alexander Groshev and Pavel Tursukov.

Sergei had two years of emergency service under his belt when he was offered to stay for an extra term. Since then he has come a long and thorny path. Sergeant, senior sergeant, warrant officer, senior warrant officer, position of company technician... Then he completed the courses junior lieutenants, became an officer, commanded a platoon for several years, received a higher education in absentia, became deputy company commander... This is a man who knew the service from the inside, became a professional in the highest sense of the word. Today he successfully commands a reconnaissance and landing company, continuing the traditions of his experienced predecessor Gromash...

So much happened during this time. How many times has he participated in various peacekeeping operations and general naval exercises? For example, while still in military service, when Russian peacekeepers embarked on the path to ending the bloodshed between Georgia and Abkhazia. And what was the cost of the operation to rescue our peacekeepers on the Zubr, an air-cushion landing ship, in which Colonel Vladimir Belyavsky, a senior lieutenant and now the commander of a marine brigade, Hero of Russia, participated at that time! This operation has become somewhat textbook. Sergei Bordov was a direct participant. The end of summer and the entire autumn of 1993 were very hot. From month to month there was an accumulation of combat experience, which cannot be bought for any money and which is especially valuable in the Marine family...

In his famous company, Captain Sergei Bordov is the number 1 parachutist; he has more than 300 jumps from a Mi-8 helicopter, An-2, An-26, and Il-76 aircraft. And he made the first one back in 1992 and since then he has kindly remembered the head of the airborne service of the brigade, Major Gennady Meleshkevich, his first teacher and mentor. Now Bordov is a parachute all-around athlete, he is a member of the Black Sea Fleet team in this sport and has perfectly mastered such types of parachutes as the D-6 series “4” (landing), D-10, D-1-5U, UT-15 (sports class), PO-16 (gliding shell), PO-17. And it seems that he knows everything about parachuting, and performs jumps with great desire and enthusiasm. And most importantly, it thoroughly prepares the warriors, because any jump is an extremely responsible matter. Judge for yourself: landing on a regular dome with an area of ​​83 square meters when the rate of descent is 5 meters per second, it’s the same as jumping without a parachute from the second floor. What can we say about more complex jumps, when the paratrooper is loaded to capacity: with weapons, ammunition, equipment?!

Airborne training is a whole science that does not tolerate amateurism and cowardice. A parachute is the destiny of strong people who are in love with the sky. However, in general, the training of intelligence officers is a matter for the best of the best officers, such as the former and current commanders of this company...

Traditions never go away

The commander's personal example comes first here. Sergei Bordov, together with his entire company, regularly runs 6-7 km cross-country races in the area Chersonesos lighthouse. Scouts also run to the site of tactical and fire training in order to get additional training and gain training time.

It must be said that company officers stand out for their professionalism, experience, ability to shoot perfectly from all types of standard weapons, quickly hit targets, control a parachute in the sky, win in hand-to-hand combat, grasp information on the fly, analyze it, and draw the right conclusions.

Here we cannot help but recall the highly respected company sergeant major, senior warrant officer Alexander Dontsu, who went through the crucible of Chechnya and was awarded two medals “For Courage.” In age, he is older than all the officers of the company, and behind his back, the Marines lovingly called Alexander Mikhailovich “father of the company.” He really is fit to be a father to young people. And with his strength, skill and combat experience, one is worth three. Even now, after his recent transfer to the reserve, he often appears in his native company. His experience and advice are always in demand.

It is on people like Gromysh, Bordov, Dontsu that the victorious spirit of the reconnaissance airborne company, its unshakable authority, glorious traditions, and high achievements rests.

The officers in the company, under conditions of intense combat training, grow professionally quickly, some are promoted. Senior Lieutenant Evgeny Dandanov, for example, during his four years of service in the RDR, he firmly found his feet, made more than 30 parachute jumps, participated in exercises several times, and gained considerable command experience.

It was not for nothing that it was Evgeniy Dandanov who was subsequently appointed to the position of commander of the flamethrower company, which appeared in the brigade during the process of bringing it to a new look. And Lieutenant Alexander Kopylov was appointed to replace Dandanov. After graduating from the Far Eastern Higher Military command school named after Marshal Soviet Union K. Rokossovsky, he became a platoon commander in the marine battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Igor Samoilenko. Here he proved himself, gained experience and was assigned to a reconnaissance and landing company.

Another platoon commander, Senior Lieutenant Anatoly Tashkin, who graduated from the same school, before the RDR managed to serve in the marine battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Shurygin, whose subordinates traveled thousands of nautical miles on ships and vessels of the fleet.

Foreman Sergei Konyashkin rightfully became the officer's right-hand man. And Tashkin’s platoon is no less athletic than Kopylov’s platoon. Junior Sergeant Yegor Fisun, a master of sports in boxing, sailor Dmitry Alekseev, a candidate master of sports in Thai boxing, and sailor Yakov Cherkasskikh, a candidate master of sports in freestyle wrestling and a discharger in hand-to-hand combat, are well remembered here. For many months they were the sporting glory of the platoon. Their baton was continued by other black berets. For example, the squad commander, senior sailor Vitaly Magdin, is a master of sports in boxing and others.

It should be noted that Captain Bordov’s company in terms of the number of dischargers, especially in martial arts, is in no way inferior to the whole battalion. Of course, there is a hand-to-hand combat instructor here - first-class senior sailor Vyacheslav Daineko. He professionally prepares his comrades for battles with the enemy.

So Bordov’s company wins not by numbers, but by quality and skill. And this applies not only to athletes in the category, but also to children with higher education. In Lieutenant Kopylov’s platoon, this is, for example, senior contract service sailor Igor Dmitriev, who has a higher legal education. I also remember more the contract service junior sergeant Sergei Chekanov. He graduated from Moscow Suvorov School and studied for three and a half years at a military university, where, in addition to other disciplines, he successfully studied Greek and English languages. Fate made a sharp zigzag, and he left the university. True, he did not give up the desire to finish his studies and become an officer. And this desire arose for him right here, in the RDR.

...The reconnaissance and landing company is the personification of mobility and professionalism. After the alarm signal, not even half an hour passes before the Marines, with full ammunition and “armor,” proceed to the loading area, to the air garrison. The runway, the compartment of a transport aircraft, the usual steady hum of engines. Time to parachute. According to a well-established pattern, the Marines leave the plane and take to the skies. They must appear where the enemy is not waiting for them in order to forestall him. Capture and hold an important objective until the main forces arrive. From the sky - into battle. While the main forces advance from the sea after landing on an unequipped coast.

However, an airborne landing behind enemy lines is only one of the tasks being worked out. And there are also ambushes, raids, searches and other purely specific tasks that require special knowledge and special training. This is one of the main naval anti-terror units. And only people who are endlessly devoted to their difficult profession, a task to which they devote themselves entirely, without reserve, can master these tasks.

Vladimir PASIAKIN

In the pictures: captain Sergei Bordov and his subordinates.

Today is Military Intelligence Day in Russia. Happy holiday friends, good luck and health to you! You need all this in your profession - military intelligence officer.

Below is a friend's report about them, about the guys from intelligence. A couple of my remarks.
First, I don’t understand why tank reconnaissance officers need parachute jumps? For this purpose there are specialists, airborne forces and special forces. It would be better if they learned to crawl more on earth. And even the norms of jumps per year are higher than those of the landing force.
Secondly, what caught my eye was the violation of the senior driver’s uniform: a paratroop vest under an unbuttoned collar.
Third - on questions. The author of the report is outraged that year after year the same questions are asked about the life of soldiers. To this I want to say that everything comes from the top. They start the day and, making up their minds, talk about it? Foot wraps, berets, irons and washing machines for the barracks. And the press picks up all this. People are just interested.
Something like this. However, read the report

Original taken from army_reporter in Cocky, angry and stupid

A group of reconnaissance officers awaiting a command to capture the command and staff vehicle of a mock enemy

It so happens that professional holidays and memorial days established in our armed forces mostly fall in the fall. Next significant date November 5 became the day of military intelligence. Many sources on the Internet claim that this date was not chosen by chance. It was on this day in 1918 that the Registration Directorate was formed to coordinate the efforts of all intelligence agencies of the Red Army. The initiator of this innovation was Leon Trotsky, at that time the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council.

Whatever one may say, this year the warriors of the invisible front are celebrating the 95th anniversary of their legendary profession. This is a long time and this circumstance forces me to return to the army again. I didn’t have to go far: the nearest Moscow region - the city of Naro-Fominsk - 4th Guards Tank Division - 137th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion.

Officers of the 137th separate reconnaissance battalion explain to young soldiers the procedure for assembling the D-6 parachute

At the agreed time I arrived at the division parade ground. Soldiers and officers were already bustling around here with all their might - parachute packing classes were underway. Imagine, tank crews (reconnaissance battalion) are preparing for jumps and learning how to fold parachutes. My first question sounded quite adequate: For what? In response, I received an equally adequate, short and succinct answer: the number of tasks has increased! It turns out that since 2010, military reconnaissance soldiers have been making parachute jumps. Every scout must now land from the air. Starting this year, by order of the command, the number of jumps during the year was doubled: there were 6, they were made 12. This is now the order in the tank forces.

Officers of the 137th separate reconnaissance battalion demonstrate to young soldiers the procedure for assembling a D-6 parachute

Then there were demonstration performances in hand-to-hand combat. As always, it’s spectacular, beautiful and harmonious here. From the unusual: recently fighters began to use some elements from Kyokushin karate. I don’t know how much this will affect the combat effectiveness of the reconnaissance officers, but it sounds somehow menacing and this, I hope, will have an effect on the potential enemy.

Soldiers of the reconnaissance company of the 13th Tank Regiment demonstrate their skills in Kyokushin karate

Soldiers of the reconnaissance company of the 13th tank regiment demonstrate techniques with weapons

Soldiers of the reconnaissance company of the 13th tank regiment demonstrate hand-to-hand combat techniques

After hand-to-hand combat, we went to a well-known place near the village of Golovenki - the division’s training ground. At the training ground we were promised to demonstrate known methods for obtaining the necessary information about the enemy and some of the skills and tasks of modern military reconnaissance officers. While we were driving to the training ground, I managed to look through my mail in anticipation of questions about the announcement of my trip to the legendary tank division.

These are the typical questions I received from one of the readers:
Are there showers in the barracks? What quality are they? Do their father-commanders allow their personnel to approach them? Or are they just for show? Have washing machines been installed? Is there a buffet and afternoon nap? And what qualitative impact does all this have on combat training? What are conscripts wearing? What do they wear on guard duty, especially in winter? And, to be honest, are they involved in solving the economic problems of the unit? Well, it’s like sweeping, digging cables, etc.

I don’t quite understand why nothing changes from year to year, and readers ask the same questions. To be honest, I'm tired of it! When going into the army, I first try to sniff out everything about the combat training and fortitude of the soldiers, and not the smell of their armpits and the degree of rancidity of their socks. My personal opinion: every young soldier should be mentally prepared to serve in the army. And he should not be afraid of such inconveniences in the army as cold water, lack of sleep during the afternoon quiet hour and some chores. Despite this, I will continue to monitor the living and material conditions of service of all categories of military personnel!

In answering questions from a specific reader, I report what I learned and saw on my own:

There are showers, two per location. No one forbids washing in the showers. I didn’t have time to find out about the washing machines. The buffet is planned to be launched in the near future. I didn’t specify about the dream. They were shod in ankle boots - I saw them myself. I don’t know about all the chores, but during my stay in the unit, on October 31, a group of people in civilian clothes were clearing leaves from the trees. Currently, the division's reconnaissance battalion is in the process of formation. Perhaps the reader will be somewhat reassured by the fact that conscripts are returning to the battalion, but on a contract basis.

Senior driver of the 137th separate reconnaissance battalion Artem Panteleev (right) explains to a young soldier how to prevent gasoline from leaking from a car’s gas tank

I managed to meet one of them - Muscovite Artem Panteleev, senior driver of the reconnaissance battalion. He served conscript service in 2003-2005. I signed a contract in June of this year. When asked why he returned to the army, he answered that he missed the adrenaline of the army. At a survival course for contract soldiers, Artem managed to meet a girl soldier. She is also a contract soldier - a paramedic in the 12th tank regiment. Cash allowance - 33 thousand satisfied. They are planning to get married next spring and are already expecting a child. Somehow this is how the guy settled down. I think that he has found his place in life and will definitely not disappear in the army!

Operator N is preparing to launch an unmanned aerial vehicle

Returning to the demonstration exercises at the training ground, I report that we were demonstrated the basic skills, knowledge and abilities of military reconnaissance officers of the Kantemirovsk tank division: shooting from various types weapons, launching unmanned aerial vehicles, capturing a command and control vehicle, mine-hunting activities, training two snipers, and the most exciting thing for me was the obstacle course. And here special thanks go to the soldiers and officers of the reconnaissance company of the 13th Tank Regiment. They smoked, made a lot of noise, shot a lot, effectively and beautifully. In order to somehow feel the atmosphere of combat training and the fortitude of some of the scouts of the legendary tank division, I invite all readers of my magazine to look at my photographs from the scene.

Two snipers very slowly perform the necessary actions before shooting

Airborne troops. History of the Russian landing Alekhin Roman Viktorovich

DEEP RECOVERY (RECOUNTING AND LANDING COMPANIES)

Back in the mid-70s, reconnaissance units were created in separate reconnaissance battalions of motorized rifle and tank divisions. landing companies, which in the first years of their existence were called “deep reconnaissance companies.” Since they were usually third in the linear ranking of battalions, they were unofficially called simply “third companies,” and whoever was aware knew what they were talking about we're talking about. The servicemen of these reconnaissance and airborne companies wore the uniform of their divisions, but they were given a jump uniform for jumping. Often, soldiers and commanders in these companies wore blue berets. These companies did not have their own numbers, since they were not separate units.

Having been thrown behind enemy lines in the offensive zone of their division, these companies, as part of their activities in the front line, essentially carried out tasks similar to those assigned special intelligence. With their own forces, the reconnaissance groups of the “third companies” behind enemy lines could organize the destruction of almost any rear object that they encountered along the way, and in any case they had to destroy the enemy’s nuclear weapons.

The training of personnel for these companies was mainly carried out by the 597th separate reconnaissance battalion, located in the village. Peschanny village, in the Leningrad Military District. There were also several more training battalions scattered throughout the vast country.

I will try to list these reconnaissance and landing companies as of the mid-80s, when Soviet military power was at its peak.

Group Soviet troops in Germany (Western Group of Forces):

RDR 5th Orb (military unit 60495) 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Halle;

RDR 6th Orb (military unit 83059) 207th Motorized Rifle Division, Stendal;

rdr 7th orb (military unit 47250) 47th guards TD, Burg;

rdr 9th orb (military unit 47596) 11th guards TD, Dresden;

rdr 10th orb (military unit 83083) 79th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Jena;

rdr 11th Orb (military unit 86881) 39th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Meiningen.

By the way, this division had one very interesting regiment - the 120th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, which was formed on the basis of the 201st airborne brigade back during the Great Patriotic War, thus being the heir to the very first airborne unit, the 3rd airborne brigade and the airborne detachment of the Leningrad Military District. During the period of defeat of the remnants of the former Soviet power, in 1993, this regiment will be ingloriously disbanded;

RDR 12th Orb (military unit 83068) 94th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Schwerin;

rdr 13th orb 9th TD, Zeithain;

rdr 17th orb (military unit 35018) 16th TD, Neustrelitz;

RDR 17th Guards Orb (military unit 34161) 32nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Uteborg;

rdr 18th orb (military unit 60491) 12th TD, Manwinkel;

rdr 30th orb (military unit 60549) 90th TD, Bernau;

rdr 34th orb (military unit 58593) 21st motorized rifle division, Perleberg;

rdr 40th orb (military unit 47368) 7th TD, Quedlinburg;

rdr 53rd orb (military unit 34810) 25th TD, Vogelsand;

rdr 59th orb (military unit 58545) 35th motorized rifle division, Olympics Dorf;

RDR 68th Guards Orb (military unit 23562) 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Plauen;

RDR 107th Guards Orb (military unit 58447) 32nd Guards TD, Uteborg;

RDR 112th Guards Orb (military unit 35094) 10th Guards TD, Halberstadt;

RDR 113th Orb (military unit 60544) 57th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Rudolstadt.

Central group of troops:

RDR 20th Guards Orb 30th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Riečki;

RDR 31st Orb 48th Motorized Rifle Division Visoko Mito;

RDR 45th Guards Orb (military unit 67001) 18th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Decin;

rdr 81st Guards Orb (military unit 34965) 15th Guards TD, Milovice;

rdr 84th orb 31st TD Bruntal.

Northern Group of Forces:

RDR 96th Guards Orb (military unit 28348) 20th Guards TD, Svetoshchuv;

RDR 126th Guards Orb (military unit 74256) 6th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Bialogard.

Southern Group of Forces:

RDR 15th Guards Orb (military unit 75569) 254th Motorized Rifle Division, Szekesfehervar;

RDR 16th Guards Orb (military unit 64802) 93rd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Kecskemet;

RDR 56th Guards Orb (military unit 30248) 13th Guards TD, Veszprem;

rdr 99th Guards Orb (military unit 81154) 19th Guards TD, Esztergom.

Leningrad Military District:

RDR 597th training orb (military unit 54052) 56th Guards Training Center, Pesochny;

RDR 789th Guards Orb 45th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Kharitonovo;

rdr 790th orb (military unit 15745) 54th motorized rifle division, Alakurti;

rdr 792nd orb (military unit 40335) 64th motorized rifle division, Sapernoe;

RDR 794th Orb 77th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Arkhangelsk;

rdr 795th orb 111th motorized rifle division, Lahdenpokhya;

rdr 796th orb 131st motorized rifle division, Luostari.

Baltic Military District:

RDR 19th Guards Orb (military unit 14044) 1st Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Dolgorukovo;

rdr 79th orb (military unit 71677) 1st TD, Kornevo;

RDR 80th Guards Orb 40th Guards TD, Sovetsk;

RDR 86th Orb 3rd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Klaipeda;

RDR 148-ro Guards Orb (military unit 48853) 144th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Klooga;

rdr 640th orb 107th motorized rifle division, Vilnius;

rdr 45th Guards Orb 18th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Gusev;

RDR Guards Orb 26th Guards Motor Rifle Division, Sovetsk;

Urdr 381st training orb (military unit 10940) 54th training center, Dobele.

Belarusian Military District:

RDR 3rd Guards Orb 6th Guards TD, Grodno;

RDR 6th Guards Orb 8th Guards TD, Pukhovichi;

RDR 46th Guards Orb (military unit 43194) 120th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Uruchye;

rdr 50th orb 29th TD, Slutsk;

rdr 52nd orb 193rd TD, Bobruisk;

RDR 53rd Guards Orb 37th Guards TD, Borovukha;

rdr 56th orb 19th guards TD, Zaslonovo;

rdr 90th orb 50th motorized rifle division, Brest;

rdr 97th orb 28th TD, Slonim;

rdr 134th orb 34th TD, Borisov;

rdr orb (military unit 12344) 76th TD, Brest.

Moscow Military District:

RDR 136th Guards Orb (military unit 33755) 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Kalininets;

rdr 137th Guards Orb 4th Guards TD, Naro-Fominsk;

RDR 39th Guards Orb 32nd Guards MSD, Tver;

Odessa Military District:

rdr 95th Guards Orb 28th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Chernomorskoe;

rdr 102nd Guards Orb (military unit 48383) 59th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Tiraspol;

rdr 103rd orb 126th motorized rifle division, Simferopol;

rdr 129th orb 180th motorized rifle division, Belgorod-Dnestrovsky;

Kyiv Military District:

RDR 15th Orb 254th Motorized Rifle Division, Artemoven;

RDR 74th Guards Orb 17th Guards TD, Krivoy Rog;

RDR 117th Orb 72nd Motorized Rifle Division, Bila Tserkva;

RDR 130th Guards Orb (military unit 24066) 25th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Lubny;

RDR 1377th training orb (military unit 54057) 169th training center (former 48th guards department), Oster.

Carpathian Military District:

rdr 21st Guards Orb (military unit 15727) 51st Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Vladimir-Volynsky;

RDR 29th Orb 24th Motorized Rifle Division, Rava-Russkaya;

rdr 47th Guards Orb 128th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Mukachevo;

rdr 54th Guards Orb 30th Guards TD, Novograd-Volynsky;

rdr 83rd orb (military unit 22356) 23rd TD, Ovruch;

rdr 91st Guards Orb 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Ivano-Frankovsk;

rdr 92nd orb (military unit 15331) 161st motorized rifle division, Izyaslav;

RDR 93rd Orb 17th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Khmelnitsky;

rdr 94th Guards Orb 97th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Slavuta;

RDR 1262nd Training Guards Orb 110th Guards Training Center, Chernivtsi.

Transcaucasian Military District:

RDR 766th Orb 10th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Akhaltsikhe;

RDR 767th Orb 15th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Kirovakan;

RDR 768th Orb 23rd Motorized Rifle Division, Ganja;

rdr 769th orb 60th motorized rifle division, Lenkoran;

rdr 770th orb (military unit 15729) 75th motorized rifle division, Nakhichevan;

rdr 772nd orb (military unit 15732) 127th motorized rifle division, Leninakan;

rdr 773rd orb 45th motorized rifle division, Gonio;

rdr 774th orb 147th motorized rifle division, Akhalkalaki;

RDR 776th Orb 164th Motorized Rifle Division, Sovetashen;

RDR 777th Orb 295th Motorized Rifle Division, Baku.

North Caucasus Military District:

RDR 107th Orb 9th Motorized Rifle Division, Maykop;

RDR 249th orb (military unit 12356) 19th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Vladikavkaz;

rdr 417th orb (military unit 55034) 173rd training center, Grozny;

RDR 347th orb 14th TD, Novocherkassk.

Volga Military District:

RDR 1378th training orb 43rd military division, Chernorechye.

Ural Military District:

RDR 206th Orb 213th Motorized Rifle Division, Totskoye;

RDR 907th Orb (military unit 35652) 34th Motorized Rifle Division, Sverdlovsk.

Turkestan Military District:

RDR 650th Orb 5th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Afghanistan;

rdr 781st orb 108th motorized rifle division, Afghanistan;

RDR Orb 4th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Termez;

rdr orb (military unit 61205) 88th motorized rifle division, Kushka;

Central Asian Military District:

rdr 85th orb 78th TD, Ayaguz;

RDR 105th Orb 8th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Panfilov;

rdr 106th orb 58th motorized rifle division, Saryozek;

rdr 236th orb 155th motorized rifle division, Ust-Kamenogorsk;

RDR 783rd Orb 201st Motorized Rifle Division, Afghanistan;

RDR ORB 167th Motorized Rifle Division, Semipalatinsk;

RDR ORB 203rd Motorized Rifle Division, Karaganda.

Siberian Military District:

RDR 121st Orb 85th Motorized Rifle Division, Novosibirsk;

RDR 172nd Orb 242nd Motorized Rifle Division, Abakan;

rdr 1263rd orb 62nd motorized rifle division, Itatka;

RDR ORB 13th Motorized Rifle Division, Biysk.

Trans-Baikal Military District:

RDR 109th Guards Orb (military unit 15349) 11th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Mirnaya;

RDR 128th Guards Orb (military unit 21757) 122nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Dauria;

rdr 186th orb 2nd guards TD, Choibalsan;

rdr 192nd orb 245th motorized rifle division, Gusinoozersk;

RDR ORB 110th Motorized Rifle Division, Bratsk;

rdr 1914 orb 49th TD, Chita;

RDR Guards Orb 5th Guards TD, Kyakhta;

RDR ORB 52nd Motorized Rifle Division, Nizhneudinsk;

rdr 110th Guards Orb (military unit 59335) 38th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Sretensk;

rdr 132nd orb 12th motorized rifle division, Mongolia;

RDR ORB 41st Motorized Rifle Division, Choiren, Mongolia;

rdr orb 51st TD, Nalaikh, Mongolia;

rdr orb (military unit 96599) 149th motorized rifle division, Erdenet, Mongolia.

Far Eastern Military District:

RDR 27th Orb 277th Motorized Rifle Division, Sergeevka;

rdr 88th Guards Orb 21st Guards TD, Belogorsk;

rdr 115th orb 265th motorized rifle division, Ekaterinivka;

RDR 118th Guards Orb 81st Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Bikin;

rdr 127th Guards Orb 123rd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Barabash;

rdr 129th orb 121st motorized rifle division, Sibirtsevo;

rdr 131st orb 135th motorized rifle division, Grushevoye;

RDR 154th Orb 73rd Motorized Rifle Division, Komsomolsk-on-Amur;

RDR ORB 22nd Motorized Rifle Division, Yelizovo;

rdr orb 29th motorized rifle division, Kamen-Rybolov;

RDR ORB (military unit 20187) 33rd Motorized Rifle Division, Khomutovo;

RDR ORB 40th Motorized Rifle Division, Smolyaninovo;

RDR Orb 67th Motorized Rifle Division, Skovorodino;

RDR ORB 79th Motorized Rifle Division, Poronaysk;

RDR ORB 87th Motorized Rifle Division, Petropalovsk-Kamchatsky;

RDR ORB 192nd Motorized Rifle Division, Blagoveshchensk;

RDR Orb 199th Motorized Rifle Division, Krasny Kut;

rdr orb (military unit 48319) 262nd motorized rifle division, Vozzhaevka;

RDR ORB (military unit 04030) 266th Motorized Rifle Division, Raichikhinsk;

RDR orb 27th TD, Zavitinsk;

RDR ORB 270th MSD, Khabarovsk.

It is clear that this list is completely incomplete (and requires clarification), but even the companies listed are an impressive force. The vast majority of these companies existed in a cadre or folded state, but those that included personnel underwent full airborne training.

Usually, scouts went to jumps in units of the Airborne Forces or GRU special forces. Most of the “live” reconnaissance and landing companies in the second half of the 80s wore the uniform and symbols of the Airborne Forces.

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (VO) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GL) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (DE) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (OR) by the author TSB

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (PE) by the author TSB

From the book "Afghan" Lexicon. Veterans' military jargon Afghan war 1979-1989 author Boyko B L

From the book GRU Spetsnaz: the most complete encyclopedia author Kolpakidi Alexander Ivanovich

From the book Japanese Manual for the Training of Tank Units, 1935. author Ministry of Defense of the USSR

airborne airborne troops, airborne forces And the combat traditions of the airborne forces live on, and still every soldier, officer, general proudly says: “We serve in the airborne forces!” )