Ukrainian army in Iraq: how it was in reality

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Ukrainian army in Iraq: how it was in reality


This article was published on the website www.legionetrangere.ru and concerns the 6-th separate mechanized brigade in Iraq. The site administration does not fully support the opinion of the author. The material is published with minor editing. The style of the author is preserved.

Everything written in this article is absolute truth, which I observed with my own eyes. In most of the situations described below, I took part personally. Therefore, I do not share the numerous euphoric statements of our politicians about how well Ukrainian peacekeepers have shown themselves in Iraq. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the true state of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so that at least someone at the top can understand that we are rolling into a pit where nothing good awaits us. And if you do not immediately engage in the transformation of our armed forces and the change of the program of combat training, we will generally remain without an army with a crowd of janitors and builders in camouflage. The main problem of our army is fraud. To begin to deal with flaws, you first need to see and recognize them. And not to hide them, as we have done, and calmer for the officer's career. In war, these disadvantages that had become a system ended tragically.

Comrades from my platoon, such officers as Dolph, Walker, Berkut, who have not forgotten why they wear officer shoulder straps, as well as the blessed memory of those killed through the fault of the stupid command ...

Ukrainian army in Iraq: how it was in reality

All the names and call signs listed here are genuine, these people recognize themselves.

The decision to go to war has matured with me for a long time. In civilian terms, I pined out of boredom, working as a security guard at a private firm, and recalled the delay with some nostalgia. I had already started collecting manatki to Chechnya (just passed the law), but then in the highest political circles of Ukraine, the decision was made about the need to send a military contingent to Iraq to participate in the "Stabilization Operation". I signed the contract without thinking, in the hope that in Iraq I would come across a real job for a soldier, about which they had long forgotten in the armed forces of a non-warring country.

Prepare

Like many others, I had to complete a three-month refresher course on the basis of the A0501 military unit (Bashkirovka, Chuguevskiy district), where the 61-separate 6 battalion of the brigade was formed, which was to go to Iraq in February 2004. The story about our training could take several pages, but I would like to highlight the essence.

The structure of the battalion: 3 company of five platoons. 17 man on two armored personnel carriers - platoon. In a platoon two grenade throwers, two snipers, 4 PG-25, 1 RPK and 1 PKM. Separately, a communications platoon, a technical support platoon and a battalion control. Total about 370 people.

For the first time I felt that they were trying to prepare us properly, but immediately the mindset of our servicemen caught my eye. Approximately both soldiers and officers completely inadequately evaluated the situation in Iraq, they categorically refused to admit that they were going to war. Therefore, classes periodically shied. There were also "fans" who were serious about the upcoming mission. As I later became convinced, only such people can be counted on when performing a combat mission.

Pros: Normal conditions for training. No economic or construction work, even in the outfit of the company subsequently put conscripts, so that we do not distract from the classes.

Acceptable landfill and "peacekeeping town" for practicing the tasks of patrolling, serving at roadblocks, checkpoints, guarding important objects. Six plywood houses, arranged in the correct order, very remotely resembled the real locality, but allowed to work out the most elementary tasks: moving a patrol down the street, interacting assault groups, entering a room, passing doorways, etc.

Cons: There is a term in our army that most accurately and clearly designates all the shortcomings of our system. His name is "Army dolboebizm". This infection, penetrating through the armed forces, and there is no salvation from it. And it originated from another major problem of our army - the name of which is “passion for eyewash”. The further it became, the more obvious was the fact that too many of our bosses, instead of making the training as capacious and full as possible, tried to create the VISIBILITY of such training for their higher bosses by hook or by crook. Independent tactics classes were often fought by both soldiers and officers.

At the lessons on "peacekeeping tactics", several basic exercises were worked out.
1.Another patrol as part of a platoon, detachment with the detention of an armed person, actions when ambushed, in the event of an accidental clash or shelling from a long distance, retreat under fire.
2.Patrol on the technique. With possible shelling or ambush attack.
3. Protection of particularly important objects.
4.Cleaning or patrol in the village.
5. Maintenance service at the checkpoint.
Everything else was worked through in the framework of a combined arms combat training program.

Not to say that everything was down the drain. Many of the nuances that we worked out later came in handy. But, as it turned out later, all 80% of what we did turned out to be in practice inapplicable, and we had to do it quite differently. In Iraq, more had to learn again. We didn’t have ONE instructor who wasn’t that earlier in the battle, or at least in the combat zone, but at least participated in the peacekeeping mission, which, by the way, is quite a lot on the account of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Elementary questions put our commanders to a standstill. For example: foot patrols in the squad. In practice, it looked like this. The whole "patrol" distance was approximately one hundred meters. The squad moves along the road in two stakes in a staggered manner the distance between the military personnel of the 15-20 meters. At the end of the route, someone who played the role of an evil guy showed up on the road with weapons in hand. His face was laid on the ground and searched. Further several options. Calm arrest. Or a shootout with friends of the "evil guy". As a rule, "our" attackers acted from the head of the column and began firing. What does the Battle Regulations say about this situation? The squad must turn into battle order in a line facing the enemy, spread 100 meters across the front, at least 15 meters from each other, etc. (BU land forces, branch in the defense of paragraph 61). It is in the field. There is nothing said about such a situation in the city. (But it says in the mass of other manuals and manuals, you just need to find and read). But our instructors persistently drove us into the head: Do not go on the road! Around Mina! But without turning around, only two of the front can fire. The rest of the first two in the sector of fire.



How to be? I come up with such a question to Major Burlakov's zamkombat (the platoon commander did not answer anything intelligible to me) and immediately see that I was driven into a dead end. And in general his face is as if he does not need it. In general, no one can answer! This situation is a little crazy. But is the answer so complex? First, you need to adequately assess the situation. I do not argue, min must be afraid. But there is no front line as such. Iraq is a country of deserts. Where are there fighting? In cities! And not in cities such as the Great Patriotic War, which runs the front line. In the cities, people live, go to work, to the market, sometimes through the crowds, you run through the crowd, the children run, they play football. What the hell are mines on the sidelines? And in general, in narrow city streets you will not turn into a line, a completely different tactic is needed, and it is described (YN Yakovlev, B.N. "Intelligence in the City", Simonyan R.G., Eremenko F.I. "Tactical Intelligence", I.Haymont . "Tactical intelligence in modern war", you can find information in military magazines "Soldier of Fortune", "Brother" and so on). In short, there would be a desire. Or at least a sense of responsibility for the people you take to war! All the reading should be comprehended on the subject of whether it fits your situation. You go to patrol on an unfamiliar route - take an interest in the mine situation around. But I'm not talking about tactics now, but about the approach to the matter.

Especially clumsily always held classes in the training village. When advancing to the locality we were constantly striving to send the enemy directly in the forehead, and without any special installations there. Although the back walls of all houses were deaf, without windows, and extending from there would have been associated with a much lower risk of running into a bullet. I only saw several times how the company commander showed the fighters how to firing from around the corner of the house correctly, without hesitating, and from which side it is better to go around the building. But does a company commander have to do this? This should be the level of the average sergeant. The way the classes were conducted showed flagrant lack of professionalism and lack of basic military knowledge. It is even right to stand by the window, and not everyone can. One episode was vividly remembered, when one of the fourth platoon ran to one of the houses and suddenly, right out of the door a "thriller" appeared with a PKM machine gun, and from four meters it was planted by a queue with single cartridges right in the stomach. From surprise that fell on the ass. "Killed" it is very natural, I have already got a cold on the skin. But why? Yes, because he was moving right in front of the door, not even trying to step aside. And no one explained to him that this is not worth doing. There are thousands of such blunders, and no one tried to fight them, carry out some kind of analysis, or change anything in tactics.

I knew a couple of people from Special Forces "A" and wanted to offer them a couple of demonstration sessions on the subject of fighting in the city, but my idea did not find a response from our superiors. The overwhelming majority of classes were held on the principle of “Do everything effectively, in order to please the superiors.” Practical expediency, and simply elementary common sense somewhere in the tenth place. TV arrives - here and blank cartridges will be given nemeryannom, and smoke and rockets, but as no one, it is good if the top ten for the brother, or even suck a fig.

Fire training

I was a grenade launcher. I want to immediately say a big thank you to my instructors, Senior Lieutenants Dyagterev and Podgorny, who taught our courses. They taught us everything they knew, and now I can say that I own RPG-7 quite well.

But you will overcome the FIG system. The first two weeks of shooting was not at all. That grenade is not in stock, then we come to the landfill, and the field is not covered. A couple of times shot PUSami, but from this shooting sense. Then, in the battalion, checks from the higher headquarters were made frequent. I liked the approach of the generals. The first question they asked was how many times did it shoot and what exercises? They carved everyone into the tail and into the mane and we finally got grenades. We shot strictly as it should be according to the instruction - on a white square of gauze on a wooden frame. First, from the distance 300 m. In short, such shooting does not even remotely resemble a real battle. But what the hell is that the target was useless. As soon as we learned to hit, the first few shots collapsed her to hell, and the other shooters either burned grenades "somewhere to there" or waited for the target to be repaired. If during the day it was still possible to somehow take aim, at night it was just a translation of shots. The shooting team does not have time to repair this target, and indeed the repair is a long thing, and it is freezing in the yard, winter. The boys jump from one foot to the other, all have snot to the waist, and one thought would be to shoot back faster and to the barracks. It’s good that the bosses aren’t looking, but things are moving fast. And if with the authorities, yes, all by the rules? Oh, then this is generally a circus. What are the authorities looking at? Training places "at least five." The flags are red, white, God forbid, to forget - there will be no shooting, a notebook on security measures - God forbid who didn’t sign, but most importantly - officers' armbands and notes. That's what comes first. Such shooting "according to the regulations" is stretched three times longer than usual and everyone has time to shoot from the strength of one exercise. And how could one do? The group is large - break in two and do not shoot twice a week, but four. On the street - minus 20, all questions (reconciliation, disassembly-assembly, production, theory), not related to the practice of practical shooting, work out in the classroom - not dick people to freeze, not in the Arctic are preparing. They came to the landfill, shot out - left. The next day, swapped groups. The target is falling apart - in FIG her, and in its place is the skeleton of some old BTR or BMP. You can shoot at him with inert grenades for years and not a fig for him. Yes, where there! There is a schedule of classes approved by the battalion commander, not a step from him. Once the lesson indicates a firing lesson, a place - a range - means there and disassemble your grenade launchers and train there too. And all the equipment that was written off and, in general, all the pieces of iron were stolen long ago and were sold for scrap. Yes, the command of young officers is itself driven into such a framework that the whole point of combat training is often lost. They swear, but you can't overrun the butt.

While there were charges of the grenade launchers, there was no time spent on the exercises with the AKS-74, and later the specialists (a sniper, KPVT machine gunners fired from the AKS was not enough). During the preparation, automatic rifles were not attached to us, and we also had to carry grenade launchers to tactical classes, although I did not see the point in that then, and all the more I do not see now, after Iraq. Looking ahead, I’ll say that I never shot an RPG once in my entire service in Iraq, but I had to use Kalash more than once. In war, you always have a gun with you. You sleep with him, eat, go to the building, and you have to shoot from it in the first place, in order to protect yourself and your comrades, and only then, if you live, maybe you will find yourself a target for an RPG. On tactics, I always tried to take the ACN and "bachelor" with him at every opportunity. Later it came in handy for me.

The second sore point is the shooting of machine guns. Unfortunately, we were not given the opportunity to shoot down our weapons, either during preparation or when we were in Iraq. I will keep silence about the effectiveness, and therefore the feasibility of training in firing from a machine gun, which strikes aside with a deviation of half a meter.

Nevertheless, three-month training allowed the individual level of training of soldiers to be raised to an acceptable level, which allowed later to cope with most of the tasks. For example, our sniper Cupcake and Max unmistakably got into a dime from a hundred meters, and into a head target from five hundred. The driver skated almost around the clock, the KPVT machine-gunners also quite confidently owned their cars, and the grenade throwers could hit the target, if not from the first, then from the second shot, even in strong winds. But in combat coordination and tactics of subunits, most of the problems were not so resolved.

War

14 February 2004 of the year. Sending In Iraq, battalion control and company commanders have taken over the affairs of our predecessors. Landing at the airport near the city of Talil. Two "Apache" cover landing.

Overboard + 17. Right on the take-off field, we received body armor, helmets and weapons - AK-47 and AKM assault rifles of Iraqi production and two horns for each brother. With this weapon, we had to get to the main base of the Ukrainian army in Iraq located in the city of Al-Kut. There we passed it and in return received a staff one.

What caught your eye in the first minutes of your stay in Iraq? It seemed to me then - everything is completely different. The soil is mainly sand and clay, stony in the north. Other air, much drier and smells of dust, other colors dominate - yellow, orange, yellow-gray bloom even has foliage - all-pervasive dust and trees sit on everything - mostly date palms, as well as sparse bushes and a camel thorn, although in some places there are pines or some of their varieties. The houses - one two-storied in places of stone - of unfired bricks, also yellow, in places of clay. Poverty, everywhere is full of rubbish, along the routes of the columns, ragged children run around screaming "Mister give me Pepsi, give me water". Indeterminate age of a woman in veils, hypocritical smiles or frankly embittered looks of young men, these are the first impressions on the way from Talil to Al Kut.

And still remember the demob - the soldiers of the 5 brigade. I first saw them at the airport. They sat astride BTRs, preparing to accompany our convoy. All dusty, with the same dusty weapon in their hands, a battered, burnt form, sunburned faces, confident eyes with a slight echidtse. It all looked so "cine-like" that it was not even perceived as reality.

An evening at the base of "Delta" (Al Kut) Absolute shock from visiting the dining room. The menu is like in a restaurant: meat, salads, fresh fruits, juices, ice cream, cakes all in an assortment and just to the heap - I don’t want to take it. After the mud we were fed during the preparation, it was just a holiday (20 bucks a day were allocated for food per soldier of the coalition) The coalition itself is fed !!!

We received weapons at RAW. I got an RPG-7H, 1PN-58, 4 ammo horn and an AKS-74U submachine gun. After three weeks, I changed it to ACS.

The batteries for the nightlights died for the king of peas, they did not give out new ones, I tried to adapt the crowns stored in the house, but the dimensions of these devices and the specifics of our actions predetermined their rightful place under the bed in the barracks. We used American night glasses.

The body armor "Corsair M3", despite its good protective properties (Kevlar holds a PM bullet, holds an armor-piercing bullet from the SVD in the projection of steel plates), is still too heavy. When you put unloading with ammunition on top of it, you take grenades, and VOGi become immobile, every time you jump off an armored troop-carrier, you think how to break your legs. Quickly fall, roll, forget - cripple. The 4 ammunition horn is clearly not sufficient for combat, so everyone was eager to get hold of additional shops, grenades, etc. And if junior officers were approving of this, then the top bosses would grumble at the tail and mane, and regularly arrange recounts of ammunition seeking Understand how many left-handed cartridges are with soldiers.

In the morning we went to the base of "Charlie" in the city of Al-Hai, where they were to serve. Tasks - control of the situation in the city, demonstration of presence, patrols, assistance to the local police and the ICDC company to ensure the security of the columns in our area of ​​responsibility, the seizure of illegal weapons, etc. The number of personnel 60 people.

The base in the city of Al-Hai was located in the building of the sports school on the outskirts of the city and was surrounded by a low, around the perimeter of the building, a brick-built man. It was surrounded on all sides by traditional mainly two-story buildings, from the roofs of which it was viewed, and, accordingly, almost the entire territory of our base was swept through. The school building itself was fairly durable, but not very suitable for defense, the windows were low, effectively sweeping through the nearby streets and the houses around us were hampered by a fence. We could conduct a less effective fire from the roof, but it was very poorly protected. Only two enemy machine guns on the roofs of nearby buildings from the front and flank would undoubtedly make the position for shooters on the roof very difficult, if not fatal. To top it all, it was possible to get on the roof through a single door, which could also be shot by the enemy from the front. I don’t know what the command of the fifth brigade was guided by, picking up such a building for the base in the right in the city, perhaps the militants suggested that it would be easier to attack us. In general, much had to do something to strengthen it. And yet we were very glad that we did not have to fight there. Dolph (company) immediately took steps to strengthen the base’s defenses, but I got the impression that the command was not particularly eager to help him with this, since even the elementary requests for an extra camouflage net and barbed wire were not heard. But during our two-month stay in Al-Hai, we increased the stone side around the perimeter of the roof with sandbags, folded hastily out of the shelter bags for posts on the roof, replaced good-quality concrete turtles, which provided reliable protection and a wide range of shelling, and strengthened the entrance to the base by earthen bastions Hesko, and along the fence they built signal mines.

The first days in Al-Hai were remembered for the most vivid impressions: Great red sun, indescribable shades of sunsets, singing of muezzin, mosques, local people in national clothes, date palms, Arabic speech - all this created the spirit of an incredible exotic adventure, which I can hardly describe. ever be able to pick the right words.

And still constant, random shooting around the base. In the first minutes you think that they are sure to shoot at you, and you are looking for a goal to close up with a queue in return, but you get used to it in a couple of days. Shooting in Iraqi cities is national entertainment. Weapons in every home. Arabs shoot over and without him. Ishak was born - shoot, fucked a girl - shoot, if your favorite team scored a goal in a football match - then the whole sky in the tracer. It is not uncommon with the help of an automaton that family disputes and conflicts are resolved, and of course this is the first argument in criminal squabbles. This is so to the word about aspects not related to the war itself, which is being waged by partisan formations against coalition forces and the local police and ICDS (Iraqi Corps of Gradzhan Defense or the National Guard of Iraq). Of all the cities in which happened to later visit the Al-Khai was shot most often. I think because of this, we didn’t, in fact, react to it. In the cities of Americans patrolled by the Arabs, the Arabs behaved much more restrained, since they could immediately catch up on the rash queue in response from an automatic grenade launcher MARK-19 or a Browning M-50 (M-2) machine gun.

Days of service raced rapidly. Day in a base guard outfit, on the next convoy for groceries at Delta base, in the evening and in the morning of the next day, patrol around the city. Each departure was perceived as a new adventure.

First departure. Night patrol. Moved by three armored personnel carriers on armor. Demob show a city. Automatic burst of dark alley. Shoot - do not shoot? I can't see a damn thing ... They skipped over.

... Weapons from local people is not measured. At the first exit at the entrance to the city, a Kalash was confiscated, and a few minutes later a Colt 1911 pistol. And went running. What is not leaving, then one two seized trunk. Beretta, Makarov, TT, Browning HP, and of course AK-47 and AKM Iraqi production. They took away the trunks only from those who had no permission.

Gradually, the true attitude of the command of our battalion and the 6 brigade, in particular, to the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the Ukrainian contingent began to emerge. I would say that they were poher. How to explain the fact that we did not have established samples of documents, such as permission to carry weapons from the coalition forces, or the same police ID? There was no orientation, no photos of especially wanted terrorists ...

A typical situation is to stop the car, we find an automatic during the search, "Forces of cards aku?" (Do you have a weapon permit?) - you ask the driver, "Aku, Aku" (Yes, there is! ..). And pokes you some piece of paper written by hand and with a black and white photocopy of the stamp. Say this permission is.
- You go ... with this permission, - an automatic in an armored troop-carrier, the driver of Good Bye should not arrest everyone. We found out what the current resolution looks like three months after we moved to Al Kut. As a rule, only those with heavy weapons of the RPG-7 type, or several trunks, were dragged to the police station. One "Kalash" by the standards of Iraq is not serious.

Complete mess - 18-th century. Police science and criminology at zero. Out of habit, we thought that we would be presented with laminated IDs with a color photo, and print, holographic protection, etc. As if not so. Even police certificates issued by the Al-Kut city hall are small cards of ordinary printer paper, in a case of transparent plastic. Yes, and print such as if they were printed on the same printer. Half of these ksiv are probably fake, which allows armed bandits to move freely throughout the country. Yes, and the local police do not have the opportunity to check the detainees and establish their identity. Therefore, as a rule, the bandits got off with the loss of personal weapons.

Sighting

Once in Iraq, we got the weapons that the fifth brigade used before. Of course, he needed to be targeted. But, paradoxically, this issue of paramount importance in the war was ignored. Weeks went by, and we continued to go on trips with non-shot weapons. All day long shooting around us. Every day intelligence information is read about the increasing activity of militants, attacks on coalition forces, and growing losses among coalition soldiers, and the battalion command still behaves as if we had arrived at the resort. EVEN AT THE SNIPPERS, the rifles remained unadjusted. Looking ahead, I will say that WE WERE GOING INTO FIGHTING WITH UN-EMPLOYED WEAPONS. Later I found out the reason for this. Our battalion commander did not like and was afraid of shooting, because he did not trust the soldiers. He was so calmer.

After almost a month of our stay, Dolph was able to "push" the sighting. We took everything needed for this, from clean targets to the gun-driver. But the shooting under the direction of the battalion commander turned into a circus: Firstly, he caught up with a lot of people, having decided, apparently at one time, to end this unpleasant procedure. Hang clean targets did not give. We gave out 10 cartridges, we shot them in a waltz pace in one series, and then we approached the targets. I look at my own - there are two dozen unmarked holes in the target, which of them can I guess. The rest is about the same picture. What are there a series of four shots, a careful and monotonous aiming, and other shooting assumptions known to every sergeant! What is the definition of STF!

Psihanuv, I shot my machine gun right on the base by placing a box of water near the fence. And the duty officer reported that the locals fired. We have repeatedly resorted to such "tricks".

But then in early April, after the number of the 6 battle that became famous in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, I witnessed the following situation. We leave with the dining room after lunch, and next to us was the General of the Cathedral, the deputy commander Center-South, who for some reason decided to talk to the soldiers. A crowd of impressive size naturally gathered, among which there were many bosses and our battalion commander was right there. Looks at all the eyes burns, so that no one would not blurted out anything extra. During the conversation, the general throws the phrase "Make sure that everyone has a gun shot." - And then turning to our battalion commander, "342, did you have a gun at you?"
- So, exactly, comrade general, of course it is shot.

I have already cracked my cheekbones from rabies. The force of the battalion is two dozen machine guns shot down, sent people into battle with non-shot guns and at least the grass does not grow. This is our whole army.

Strike

In the meantime, the situation in the country was heating up. The number of attacks on coalition forces grew. Italians, Poles, Americans, all occasionally engaged in clashes with partisan groups. Increasingly, there were reports of explosions on the landings of convoys and patrols, and only Ukrainians, with the exception of several minor shooting incidents, the war avoided. But it was clear sooner or later she would touch us.

The first time, the 11 march 2004 of the year smelled seriously when the rally initiated by supporters of the Mahdi gradually turned into civil unrest. Furious and armed with stones, the crowd rushed to the storming of the city hall. We received contradictory teams, we prepared for departure to the scene, but received a “hang-back”, and we went back and sat in the cabin in full combat. The mayor allegedly asked for help but the command in Al-Kut did not give consent for our participation. A logical question asked itself, why the hell are we doing here at all? When the rumors finally came that the mayor was about to burst right on the mayor’s balcony, we finally drove off.

An Arab translator who worked with us was squeezed into the landing next to me. These Arabs, many of whom had previously studied in the Soviet Union, did not arouse much confidence in us or among our commanders. They lived between two fires, risking that representatives of the Mahdi army could visit them every night and hang him and his entire family for certain parts of the body in retaliation for cooperating with the infidels. I think the only thing that could save such an interpreter from the legitimate and ruthless revenge of his fellow tribesmen is that he could merge intelligence information about our activities. Fortunately, they didn’t get out of the base, often traveled with us to the field, and they knew our rules thoroughly.

At the entrance to the City Hall, I cursed the command that had driven us inside the cars instead of dismounting and moving under their cover. Imagination drew the results of a grenade launcher on an armored troop-carrier and the cries of people burning down alive in a crowded landing bay. Over the shoulder of Kota (drove), a street full of smoke is visible, tires are burning ahead, shouts of a raging crowd are heard, and chaos in general and nothing can be understood. Feelings are the strongest, excitement, manjaj, and the finger itches on the hook. A translator next shakes and laments:
- You just do not shoot, just do not shoot! - than only adds fuel to the fire.
- Well, come out then, calm your own!
- What do you mean, they'll kill me there !!!
- Well then shut up and do not bother.

We didn’t get to seventy meters when deafening impacts on armor made us shrink, but these were not bullets. A hail of stones crashed into a car from the fence of a nearby school. Shooting immediately began. Hearing how the "eagle-owls" started shooting, Paramon, our PKK machine gunner, swearing at Vitalik who is hindering him, is trying to get inside the armored personnel carrier and there is no nichrome place, we packed into the landing party with a full complement of four men on each side. Through the loophole I see DOLF (company) armored personnel carrier passing by, and pounding into the air from all trunks. KPVT rumbles deafeningly, and the locals seem to have fled a little. But not for long.

Seeing that we were not going to shoot to kill, the crowd began to gather again. (In this situation, we would not be prevented by non-lethal ammunition, tear gas, and a pair of fire engines). Nobody ever threw stones at us. We maneuvered along the street for a few minutes, then rolled away away, one BTR, entangled in a thorn, in short, full of magnum-p.

I still do not understand why the local did not burn our whole company then. But despite this, our presence made them behave a little more modest. Half an hour after the rebellion actually ended and the parties seemed to sit down at the negotiating table, as if the mockery finally received permission from the headquarters in Al-Kut. "Make some warning shots from KPVT." And two hours later, when we were already tired of hanging around on this street, it became clear to everyone that today the “war” was over and it was time to go home, the battalion drove the remnants of the battalion and the reconnaissance team assigned to the brigade command to help us from Al-Kut. And the mayor, who had survived only thanks to the decisive actions of the company, was a nit, and then by the way went to the brigade command to complain to us in Al-Kut, saying that no one called us, we cornered ourselves and arranged there the useless firing.

Bad chase

"A flock of sheep headed by a lion is lions, and a flock of lions headed by a sheep is sheep!" - Roman proverb

A few days later. Again night patrol. We sat on armored personnel carriers, I am an "eagle owl" on the right, Paramon on the left. Suitable platoon leader:
- Plans are changing. The local police received a signal that a group of people armed with automatic weapons is robbing cars passing by a bridge in the area of ​​a brick factory. We are going to the place to catch them.
- Well.

Left on the track and forth. The cat presses on the gas so that the body of the armored personnel carrier vibrates, the wind strives to rip the helmet along with its head, on the American night-light I see how the desert landscape flashes in its green light. Owl on the left was driving Paramon.

At the entrance to the plant we see to the right, in front of the burning feet of stopped cars. Before reaching a few hundred meters, we turned off the lights, dismounted and hiding behind the armored personnel carrier began to move forward. Having noticed us, several people in the form of local police separated from standing cars and went to us. From their words and lively gestures, we realized that the bandits had gone in the direction of Al-Kut on a white car. We jumped into armored personnel carriers and rushed in pursuit. We are driving, we are driving on the highway no one, even oncoming cars do not come across. We drove away quite a decent distance from Al-Hai, and already Al-Kut and not far met no one. On the left side there are some fields, then gardens, and a small village of ten houses is visible in the night light. They decided to stop further pursuit of futility, and to avoid returning empty-handed, they decided to put a check-point and stop a couple of cars, perhaps some trunk would be lucky to take it. After a minute, we stop the minibus. Vetal took charge of the Chmont, I stand behind the side, fearing, from the left side, Paramon watches the village in the nightlight. A skirmish flares up right in the field, from the side of Paramon. Clearly visible flames escaping from the trunks of machine guns. They were shooting from a light-colored car standing in a field, from two or three trunks towards the village, from where they also snapped bursts. At the very first shot, I literally “teleported” for the armor and with my barrel stuck out, I aimed at the spot where the lights of the shots flashed. A second later, Vetal and Sanya Konovalov joined me. Seeing our actions, the platoon immediately shouted "Do not shoot!". It was generally his favorite team that we had heard from him in an extreme situation. Paramon hesitated a little, running over to our side. We sent passengers to the bus stopped by us on our way back.

It was clear that we were looking for those in front of us. They, apparently, thrust into the village, and there they were repulsed. The exchange of fire lasted for about two minutes, after which the car with extinguished headlights moved along the field road towards the highway. Excitement swept us! This is truly a catcher and the beast is running! They had to go to the track about three hundred meters ahead of us. But in the desert bare as a table, we could not go unnoticed for a long time, so we had to act decisively.

We proposed a plan: drive them to 100-150 while they did not see us (personnel behind the armor and up behind the gunner’s tower in case the enemy attempted to use a grenade launcher), dazzle the headlight mounted on the barrel of the turret machine gun, cut into the right-to-left pair queues from KPVT, that would not rock the roof and force them to surrender. In the case of resistance, a platoon on two armored personnel carriers with full armament, grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns would simply cut this car in half. No matter how wrong!

Our command in the person of the platoon commander and chief of staff clearly was not eager to get involved in a skirmish even with overwhelming superiority in strength. Therefore, instead of an order to move forward, the chief of staff threw down the phrase which later became an anecdote: "We stand, we stand, they will come to us now!". What happened was to be expected. Before reaching ten meters to the exit of the track, they noticed us and began to unfold. We rushed to the chase. The situation was complicated by the fact that our BTR was facing a different face and we had to turn around. And the BTR of the second branch, commanded by the NSH, managed to slip the turning point onto the field road and rush along the highway four hundred meters ahead. The car of bandits managed to drive off already about two hundred meters back into the field. In the night light it was perfectly visible how with the headlights extinguished on the same dimensions, it slowly moves forward.

Seeing that our BTR too accelerated and about to slip a turn, I began to shout about this to Kotu, but he did not immediately hear me. Turning to the field road, we began to slowly reduce the distance. I saw the car get up, apparently stuck about three hundred meters ahead. Aryk flowed to our left, someone's garden to the right. It was necessary to push, but our KV gave the command to stop.
- Further, we will not go there is no way, - he lied insolently, not wanting to continue the pursuit. Furious, I tear into the hatch so that he would not hear my mats. Sanya Konovalov, who was sitting next to him, diagnosed:
- Zassali!

We spent about ten minutes while the Cat was reversing to get on the track. In the night light I perfectly saw a car parked in the field with extinguished headlights. Probably, the thugs threw her and fled on foot. Sad thoughts about the outcome of this chase were added gloomy thoughts about how we will fight under the command of people who are not able to cope even with an elementary combat situation.

But our adventures this time are not over. My friend Dima Zabirov has a twisted stomach. He complained of pain all day and did not go to leave. Towards evening he became worse, and a company medical orderly suspecting an attack of acute appendicitis contacted the base and called in a medical helicopter. We had to go back and provide him with a safe place. The site was right on the waste ground next to the base, that is, in the city, which meant that, by definition, it could not be safe. We formed a perimeter and blocked the streets leading to a wasteland. A few minutes later, an American "Black Hawk" flew in like a ghost with the lights off. On the approach of the helicopter, we launched a couple of signal flares, and threw a couple of signal lights at the landing site. As it turned out later, the Americans should not have done this exclusively with night-vision devices, they knew where to look for us and they saw us perfectly well without rockets, on the contrary, we blinded them for a while, and they turned on the searchlight for a second. Immediately, without any turns and circles over the platform, a spinner of the village, a covering group jumped out of the landing compartment, taking up positions around the helicopter. Dimona sat in the turntable and she left after being on the site of evacuation no more than a minute. The rage with which all this was done in pitch darkness surprised me. It was the first time I watched their helicopter pilots in action.

And the diagnosis was false. Dimon just overeat American grub, and rolled for free.

A week later, when, during the crackdown on gas stations, local people from the crowd shot the platoon leader 3, Valerka Mitin, nicknamed “Beaver”, they flew again. Pumped up with painkillers Valery joked when he was loaded into the turntable, this time in broad daylight, in the presence of a crowd of local people. These were our first combat losses.

From fire to flame

By the end of March, the situation in the country was greatly aggravated. Increasingly, we were forbidden to leave the territory of the base, and we occupied a state of siege there. Then rumors began about the subsequent withdrawal of our unit from Al-Hai to the main base in the city of Al-Kut. The last days in Al-Hai were especially tense. All our forces were abandoned to guard the base, all our activities outside its territory were curtailed. In early April, information came about a major attack by militants of the Mahdi Army on the base of either the Spanish or the Italian contingent (I don’t remember exactly). And then the officers who came to Al-Kut, reported that the attacked allies asked for help from the Ukrainian contingent, but our command refused. These were just rumors, but hearing them was extremely unpleasant. But further developments unfortunately showed that this could well be true.

Our withdrawal from Al-Haya was scheduled for 5 April. Despite the aggravated situation, we were not particularly happy about it. In Al-Hae commanded Dolph, he did not draw personnel to useless constructions, checks, and other garbage. There was only work to which he was very demanding, in his spare time nobody touched us, the only thing that sometimes had to be done additionally was to work on strengthening the base’s defense capability and increasing the survivability of the armored personnel carriers. In Al-Kut, the rules of the battalion commanded everything, which left its mark on life on the basis of Delta. He adored various constructions, hourly roll calls, campaigns, fees, sticking of tags, and other delights of our armed forces, after which there is no time left for combat training. Most of all, we were annoyed that all these "pens" flourished against the background of his complete lack of training and the ability to manage people in war.

All the local people by that time already knew that we were leaving the city. ICDC company fighters asked us about it almost every day. Recently, we have stepped into the outfit to protect the base with them, trained. The constant presence of armed Arabs behind our backs made us nervous. There was no certainty that during the attack they would not stab us in the back. If this happened our unit would be destroyed in a matter of minutes.

On the morning of April 5, I stood at the post on the Rooftop-2. At about seven o'clock in the morning, we heard a voice amplified by a loudspeaker from a car spinning around the area. From the stream of continuous Arabic speech it was possible to make out only the word "Yukraia" which meant Ukrainian. It became clear that we are talking about us. Opposite of us there were two schools - male and female, and I noticed that schoolchildren do not go to school at the usual time for this. These were clear signs of an impending threat. Half an hour after the appearance of the car in front of the base, a crowd began to gather, shouting angrily. The first stones flew towards the base. Rounded broken glass. We did not shoot. The command has forbidden to do anything.

To support our withdrawal from the Delta base, reinforcements arrived, led by Zamombriga Colonel Khmelev, and several officers from the brigade headquarters. Of course our battalion arrived. But even the arrival of numerous reinforcements did not chill the roar of the crowd. Stone hail was growing. The low fence could not protect against it. After a few minutes on the base there was not a single whole glass. On an 129 BTR, a stone damaged a machine gun sight. Having loaded our things under the stone rain, we began to prepare for departure. In the crowd were clearly visible leaders leading the process. At the end of the street some buses appeared, apparently intending to block our way.

In general, this chaos showing our "worthlessness" strongly hit by pride. Passing by a group of senior officers of the 6 Brigade, I heard one colonel say: “A platoon of riot police would come here,” but he forgot to add that such a platoon would first need officers capable of giving the command “Fas!”, And there we would they figured it out without riot police, the crowd was mostly teenagers about fourteen years old. Instead, they tried to send truce with a box of suhpais to appease the crowd. Arabs scornfully returned the cans to us along with the stones.

Then it became even more interesting. Wishing apparently to shine with discipline and order in the detachment in front of their superiors, the battalion commander announced the construction of a base of ALL personnel in the courtyard for briefing before the march. The fact that the instruction could be held inside the building with older machines, they did not even think. Let me remind you that from the roofs of nearby buildings to which it was where 100 where 200 meters the whole courtyard was clearly visible. They built us just like they were shot. The spirits apparently did not expect such a fool from us, otherwise they would have shot the entire battalion in this courtyard. In general, there are boys under a stone rain with their heads bent in helmets in the direction from where the stones fly and only quietly curse when they get on and listen as Colonel Khmelev brings the order of building the column, then the frequencies for negotiations, speed and distance on the march, etc. In general, everything is strictly and strictly under the Charter. Then he got standing on the right, but there were no serious injuries. When this gimp finally ended we ran into cars. We left the city under the hooting of the Arabs, without shooting, and the spirits filmed this story on video and later showed on Al-Jazeera entitled "How Ukrainian Peacemakers Are Turned Out of Al-Hai."

Omar's Tale

There should be a small digression, and tell about what happened next in Al-Hai, after we left the city. We learned about this from the story of our translator Omar, a resident of Al-Hai, who was met a couple of months later.

The gunmen came to town numbers 3-4. At that time there were about 200 people. They didn’t attack us, because we didn’t threaten them and in any case had already left the city. On the contrary, he made a beautiful “PR action” out of our care. When we left, they appeared at the base armed to the teeth and demanded the ICDC fighters to let them inside. They first tried to object, especially one sergeant, who even slapped one of the spirits in the face. But the militants said they would kill their own families and all their relatives, and as a result, having broken the will of the ICDC, they entered the base. They disarmed the soldiers of the ICDC and confiscated their entire arsenal, all they got about a hundred machine guns, several RPG-7 and a lot of ammunition. Some guardsmen went over to their side.

Above Al-Khai control was completely lost. The Americans could not send their unit there to restore order.

On April 4, fighting broke out in Najaf and Falluja, and after a few more days, the uprising spread to all major cities in southern Iraq. Al-Hai turned into a gangster enclave for several months, where militants came from all over the province of Wasit, held meetings there, healed wounds, and generally felt quite at ease. Armed groups unknowingly roamed the city, firing machine guns into the air, charged a “revolutionary tax” from shopkeepers and merchants, and sold weapons directly on the streets.

At the base of Delta, we got without incident. The battalion commander stated that we did not finish the service in Al-Hai and now we will go there on patrols from Al-Kut. This caused great doubt. If we could not act with a base in Al-Hai, where it was possible to hide in case of danger or, on the contrary, send assistance to the patrol in distress, evacuate the wounded, take up defense and somehow keep up until reinforcements arrive. But if you send two armored personnel carriers to patrol another city on 60 km away from the main forces, then they would be ambushed by the time aid arrived, only the fireballs would remain from the platoon.

Delta Base was located outside the city on the other side of the tributary of the Tigris River. But in the city itself, Vasit provincial administration guard service was conducted, as well as patrols by three platoons of the 3 companies under the command of Captain Semyonov (radio call sign Avalanche-100), a militarily competent officer, but mercilessly dragged the staff into the tail and into the mane . They stationed on the basis of CIMIC on the other side of the Tiger.

We didn’t have time to unload things from trucks as they started to receive information that armed people were walking around the city with grenade launchers. On the eve of Al-Kut, a Delta special forces jeep was allegedly fired upon, who was conducting reconnaissance in the city. It was decided to send our platoon to reinforce the three platoons of the 3 company. I have gotten the "Flies" and we are off.

From the entrance to the Delta base to the CIMIK base in a straight line there were only 700 meters, but to get there, you had to make a loop along the river and drive through three bridges. From the power of ten minutes away. Got no problem. There was a strong tension on CIMIKE. According to our guys, militants armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers walked along the river, even drawing themselves, making threatening gestures towards ours. But did not shoot. Our sniper kept some at gunpoint, but there was no command to open fire. Night we stood on the river bank. Everything was calm, but very cold, which made us periodically climb inside the BTR to warm up. Only once, on the opposite bank, did I see into the nightlight, as a group of armed men who had arrived in a pickup truck, dismounted and entered the gate of the mill, a tall gray building. In my report, the operational duty officer said that it could be the police and advised "Strengthen the observation."

In the morning, an officer of a third company looked into our APC (in the dark I could not make out who). Asking how many people we are, he said that to the right of us is the extreme post where his people and several ICDC guardsmen are on duty.
“There is no hope for the local people,” he said in an extremely serious tone, “today they have already fled from the post when the militants came,” will you not support them?

But at night nothing happened. Well, in the morning we were sent to the base of Delta for a meal. When we on two armored personnel carriers and the Urals loaded with food arrived at the first checkpoint in the city, the battle was already boiling, and we already had losses. The frequent explosions of RPGs and the roar of large-caliber machine guns were heard. The sounds of light weapons sank in the thunder of large-caliber weapons. At the entrance opposite the point of discharging the weapon was a reconnaissance armored vehicle of an armored troop-carrier grenade launcher. The shot of the grenade thrower fell into the front of the BTR in the port side. Despite the fact that the board was shielded with a wooden box to the ground, the defense turned out to be insufficient, the grenade touched the corner of the box, and burned a hole in the armor, as it seemed to me the size of a fist. As a result, machine gunner Ruslan Androshchuk received a mortal wound.

It is difficult to describe the feelings that we then felt. While our platoon commander consulted with the commanders, we turned on the anti-theft radio station, Seregi Bondarenko, tuned to the battalion frequency. There was a total chaos on the air. It was difficult to understand who spoke and to whom it was understood, because in half of the cases the call signs simply did not call it all intertwined into a solid cacophony of shots and breaks. Forever hit a few phrases in memory:
- They throw grenades at the goats !!! These fag us throw grenades !!!
- Right rocket launcher! X ... his ardor !!!
I already have three cripples here! What should I do?
- Yeah ... ah from there !!!
- Went to x ...!
- I understand you, but yeah ... from there!
- Where are your people? !!
-Look, they are through the reeds, through the reeds they pass !!!

It was obvious that some people had already panicked, while others, on the contrary, remained almost icy calm.

Despite the fact that we should take care of the batteries, we could not overcome the temptation and turn off the radio station. It was clear to everyone that they had to go, help ours, but only where? Simika is also fighting, and the bridge leading to them is supposedly mined, and the approaches to it are shot from the RPG. From the air, we realized that Dolph was blocked somewhere in the city hall with a small group of fighters. But where she was not represented. A minute later, another we finally received an order: "Go to the city help ours"! Throwing the Urals with products at the checkpoint, we began the promotion of two armored personnel carriers.
The war is in the teeth not for everyone ...
And then it began what everyone was so afraid of, but what was bound to happen inevitably under the command of our commander “Hawk”. He put everyone in, including the owls inside the armored personnel carrier and ordered all hatches to be closed. Fortunately, no one began to execute this order, because we knew that it would make the cumulative jet overpressure to us if it got out of the RPG.

We drove three hundred meters away from the base and were already approaching the entrance to the first dam when through the loophole I saw flashes on the roof of one of the buildings in the courtyard of which a large tree sprawled grew. Several bullets hit the sand fountains of our BTR, the following loudly hit the armor. From the bags that the board was shielded, the ground flew.
- We are fired! - I shouted - Firing Point - The third house down the street, from the roof next to a big tree! - I'd rather not do it, but the reflex worked.

The fire of small arms could not hurt us. No, that would increase the speed, the armored personnel carrier stood rooted to the ground in a completely open place. Further worse. Instead of ordering “FIRE!”, The platoon commander of the commander's surveillance device asked: “Where?”
This damned CPN has never been cleaned, and it’s so clogged with Iraqi dust. After the fight, I looked - it was not visible in him !!! In addition, the BTR was at such an angle that the device simply did not turn there. They continued to fire at us. This time, everyone who was seated on the starboard side saw it. Now they also fired from the roof of the corner building, as well as from under the standing fuel tanker. When on the armor the platoonman tinkled a few more times, for which then the whole platoon hated him. Instead of deciding for himself, contrary to common sense and all instructions on the use of force, according to which he was obliged to immediately give a command to open fire, he began to call the operational officer on duty for the battalion
- 695 th ...
- At the reception…
- 695, I am Hawk, came under fire, let me open fire?

But 695 was apparently either not heard, because of the buzz on the air, or did not want to answer, reasoning sensibly that the commander on the spot should be more visible ...
- 695, reception? 695, I'm a hawk welcome, 695, do you allow fire? - continued straining into the HF radio. And for us:
- Misha (our machine gunner KPVT), do you see? I do not see a damn!

But we see that !!! Is this not enough? Here we were rescued by the Americans. The two Hummers, who were standing to the right of us, apparently seeing that we were in a binder, while we were not shooting a damn ourselves, slammed in from our large-caliber machine guns, and near the corner house the earth exploded with fountains of sand.

Misha saw where the Americans were beating, and apparently realizing that if you didn’t refract the situation right now, it could end in tears for everyone:
- I see!

Only after that Hawk gave birth to the team.

I remember a tremendous sense of relief, and joyous rage at that second when I pressed the trigger. I really did not want to be a helpless living target. We drove from the starboard to all places from which the fire was fired. Shooting was uncomfortable, we interfered with each other. At that moment, I thanked God for taking a risk to shoot the machine gun in secret from the authorities. Something black fell from the roof from the place where I first saw the firing point. Someone seems to be overwhelmed. The fire in our direction for the time subsided.

Right in front of us, units in the city were beaten by spiritual grenade launchers. The shooters themselves were not visible, but their positions were clearly visible through the rising clouds of dust and white smoke. If the platoon leader decided to stand here, then he should at least leave the road until one of them turned around and didn’t walk in on us. This allowed us to cover ourselves with an embankment and slightly reduce the silhouette of our BTR. Over the embankment could be landed and the infantry.

But the platoon apparently bridged and what was happening further did not climb into any gate at all. In response to this proposal, he stated:
- We can not brother there we get stuck. (There was a case in our company when pursuing some kind of car the armored personnel carrier flew off the road towards the river and almost half of it got stuck. The platoon officer apparently developed a phobia on this account).

Not believing my own ears, I opened the hatch and stared at the ground next to the road. Normal solid ground, dust visible traces of wheels of armored personnel carriers and armored personnel carriers. Moreover, a hundred meters to the right, hiding in an embankment, there are two American jeeps, even if a centimeter sunk. I immediately reported what I had seen to the commander, but he continued to insist on his own. Stuck and all! Moreover, for some reason he ordered to turn around and go back.

We drove about thirty meters and again stood in the middle of the road. Seeing our incomprehensible maneuvers, the spirits again opened fire in our direction. And again for an unforgivably long time, the commander did not allow shooting. Finally, with the concentrated fire of two CPT and small arms, we again forced the spirits to shut up. At this moment, Misha was cut off by a grenade thrower inopportunely jumped out from behind cover. A grenade fell out of the barrel of its grenade launcher. The powder charge caught fire, probably pierced by the tracer, and it began spinning, scattering sparks. After the whole landing bay began to shout at him, the commander finally agreed that it was better to get out of the way.

A little covering up the embankment, we felt more confident. The average distance to the nearest houses, from which we were fired, was 350-400 meters, that is, achievable for grenade launcher fire. Nevertheless, the platoon continued to marinate us in the car, which reduced our firepower since only the side currently facing the enemy could fire. Especially sucks was Max with his SVD, he just could not turn around inside. In addition, we poorly controlled the situation around us. At least it was good that the base was on the right, there were a few houses in the left behind on 500, but there was no enemy activity from that direction. That is, the rear could be more or less calm.

The armored personnel carrier of the second branch at this moment was left. The right flank was covered by the first checkpoint and two American Hummers of the Delta. The Americans had several shooters, two heavy machine guns and a sniper pair. These weapons were more than enough. We here in principle had nothing to do. After suppressing the firing points fired at us, we had to carry out the order and move on, but the commander had a different opinion on this account.

Judging by the intensity of shooting and radio communications, the battle in the city entered the most violent phase. Breaks RPG sounded one after another. Dukhovskie grenade throwers shelled ours who stood between the second and a large dam through the Tigris. The shooters themselves were not visible, (they were in a small pit), but their positions were clearly unmasked by clouds of white smoke, and a cloud of dust rising from the shots. Only the blind could not see them. They worked from a corner house near which a prominent landmark stuck out - three tall palm trees, and from a small garden to the right of the school building. From the air, too, were constantly heard targeting to the area.

We offered to fire them from RPGs and GP-25, since they could not reach them with small arms, apparently at that moment he screamed something that made my hair stand on end!
- Where are you going to shoot? Did you want to go to jail?

For a moment there was a pause. Between the lines, it was perceived as "Do you want me to go to jail because of you?" These words clearly showed that the commander had so far refused to understand the obvious - the games of "peacemaking" were over, the war began and the actions should be accordingly. "Will they ask me later for this?" - this thought was read in all his actions. It became clear that we would not go further to any city, and neither the command order, nor the feeling of responsibility, or even the fact that his friend Dolph was fighting in the city, would force our commander to move forward. Moreover, fearing that someone would hear his call sign on the air, he stopped communicating with the second machine, not to mention the connection with the higher command. In vain did Sashka, the commander of the second detachment, try to shout to him, trying to get at least some command. As if stuck to PN, he pretended not to hear the radio: “Hawk”, I am “hawk-2”, what should I do? ”Nor our mockery:“ What the fuck are we standing here? ”. As Sanya later told, - I just spat and realized that I would have to rely on myself.

What should a commander do first to make a decision? He should assess the situation. In order to evaluate it, it was necessary at least to look around, but how could you evaluate it, if you do not have the strength to stick your head out of the BTR, and you can't see the inside? We hinted to him that we should at least contact those who fought in the city, so that they would at least roughly orient him, where they stand, where the enemy is, in what direction the shelling is conducted. And where we better drive up to help them. Against the background of this mess, I was struck by how competently and calmly the second squad commander worked.

This 20-year-old boy, who signed the contract immediately from the deadline, could give odds to many officers. At least it was clear that the noggin he cooks five times faster and he is not afraid to command. Without waiting for intelligible commands from the platoon commander, he leaned out of the hatch, looked around, found an empty capon one hundred meters to the left of us, drove an armored troop-carrier there, hiding it almost halfway behind the embankment, landed the boys, I looked at how they hid — nice thing. Right BTR, left and front of the mound of caponier, well, a natural trench.

From the fire of our machine gun caught fire tanker parked at the beginning of the street. A pillar of black smoke rushed into the sky. In the house itself, too, the fire began. Visibility is much worse than the perfume did not fail to take advantage. The fire of their grenade launchers intensified. In our armored personnel carrier a riot was brewing. Max decided to climb up and, hiding behind the open hatch, began to observe. I must say that we were lucky with optics. In addition to Max with his SVD and Miha with his machine gun there were two more binoculars - one commanding and my personal one. This allowed us to significantly increase the effectiveness of observation of the battlefield. Soon Max finally saw his target and reported on it, but as long as the commander "thought," the target disappeared. Max made the conclusions and the next time immediately yelled "Fire !!!" and began to shoot, the fighter struck by him fell, but according to his target designation, the others opened fire. Added heat and the Americans. Three large-caliber machine guns and several machine guns, beating at one point ... In short, when the dust settled from the action movie nothing was left. But the team commander did not give. Only when the shooting stopped, he asked:
- Paramon, did you shoot?
- Yes…
- Well done.

This was the last result that our platoon gave in this battle. Later we opened fire several times, but on the whole our subsequent actions were ineffective. The spirits did not appear in sight, and they did not fire at us. We stood in the same place, occasionally moving to the right to the left and practically did not open fire.

After about two hours of battle, we had air support. At first, Polish helicopter pilots circled the city, a little later, two Apaches joined them, and high in the sky, an American attack aircraft was patrolling over with heat flares.

Not without curiosities. In the course of the battle, information repeatedly passed that the militants were using civilian vehicles to deliver ammunition, then Micha saw some men carrying something metal in their hands in the area of ​​a burning gas tank truck. Without hesitation, he pressed the trigger. It turned out that it was the firemen who came to put out the fuel truck. As he didn’t hit anyone then, I’m not going to let go. Bullets whipped as far as the fountains around them, but did not touch anyone. To the right, the Americans saw the fire truck from which they jumped out and shouted to us that we should stop the fire. But the firefighters, too, were "in the gun." How many days later, when Dolph was conducting a sweep of buildings from which we were bombarded from the building of the fire station, a whole arsenal was raked out.

As a result, we lost patience, we got out of the APC and hid behind his armor. The platoon continued to sit inside. Shooting inflamed several times, then faded again. Militants replenished ammunition, and it all began again.

At about four o'clock in the evening meters from the 70 from the second armored personnel carrier there was a clap, a cloud of dust scattered like a circle from a stone thrown into the water. After a couple of seconds, another explosion. Meters on 30 closer. Mortar. Sanya at a pace changed position and more nothing came to us. Spirits brought fire to CIMIC.
An armored troop carrier of reconnaissance companies, a pair of “Bardakov” military police and an 6 BTR of our company drove past us to the base. Dolph finally got everyone together. Taking advantage of the pause, we dashed to the 1 PPC and replenished ammunition. At this time, representatives of the Mahdi Army arrived at the camp with a request to conduct negotiations. They proposed to “negotiate” in Al-Kut in the building of the police station near the large dam across the Tigris. Conversation with them was conducted by the General of the Cathedral, the Deputy Commander and Brigade Ostrovsky.
- Who gives security guarantees? The general asked.
“We give, we give,” the militants assured him.

This episode is well shown in the documentary Tsapliienko "In the line of fire". This is what we said about these guarantees then. I found someone to believe ... I understand the warlord would come to our base and said: put a belt with explosives on me and pick up the remote control from the detonator. If I break a word, click the button. Better yet, he would bring his family, daughters and wives - here is my family, if something happens to yours, cut off their heads - this is a guarantee, and even that is not one hundred percent.

I went to the Cathedral to negotiate. Accompanied his platoon of Berkut. Further briefly tell from his words:
- We left, a jeep general between two armored personnel carriers, in the first car I’m the eldest, on the second Cheetah (battalion control officer). I sit on top of a hiking. We pass by the elevator, I glanced into the courtyard for a moment, and oh ... ate. They are there 30 man and every third with an RPG, and on the streets, too, because of the corners peeking. Exactly thought
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  1. +20
    4 May 2012 07: 45
    Like any living testimony, the story (and this is precisely the story, sensibly edited) is interesting and indicative in terms of the fact that the Slavic brothers “do not burn in fire and do not drown in water”. I was glad for the courage of the guys and put a plus, and when I went to the source, I saw that there is still ...
    1. Aleksey67
      +18
      4 May 2012 09: 29
      The most nasty thing and this can be traced with the SA and inherited by all the armies of the post-Soviet republics, that the officers do not think about saving the lives of soldiers and completing the task, but about how their actions will be evaluated by the higher command. "No matter what happens" is our motto. Amer civilians are shot, for 2 months. they get their lips, they are covered by the commanders and the laws of the country, and ours know that they will be "surrendered" for the sake of political conjuncture at any moment and "blowing on the water." am
      1. YARY
        +8
        4 May 2012 10: 57
        In the passage which speaks of "permission to open fire", I badly recalled the first few hours of my stay in Syria.
        TIME THIS PRACTICE EVEN DO NOT CANCELED, AND FORBIDDEN !!!
        Shoot at you-fire from all means without reasoning!
        His lads are more expensive than strangers, and the commander himself could decide according to the situation or he is not a commander ruffing his copper !!! angry am
      2. beech
        +4
        4 May 2012 14: 46
        from the story it is clear that amers are also not made by finger, serious dudes.
        still noticeable lag in equipment at the Slav brothers
      3. Oleg0705
        0
        4 May 2012 22: 31
        Quote: Aleksey67
        "hand over" for the sake of political conjuncture at any time

        all right, it’s time to change the laws that have been debased and parliament to Kolyma
        damn Stalin needed am
    2. Cadet787
      +8
      4 May 2012 12: 11
      He talked with the officer who was the chief of staff of this brigade, according to him, they left Iraq without heavy losses, due to the fact that their Iraqis were associated with Russians (Soviet).
      1. Aleksey67
        +4
        4 May 2012 12: 15
        Quote: Cadet787
        According to him, they left Iraq without big losses.


        Here from wiki
        As a result, by March 2005, 18 soldiers and officers from the Ukrainian contingent were killed, over 40 were injured.
    3. +6
      4 May 2012 13: 02
      there are bloopers like this:

      And then began something that everyone was so afraid of, but that was bound to happen under the command of our commander, "Hawk". He put everyone, including the owls, inside the APC and ordered all hatches to be closed. Fortunately, no one began to carry out this order, since we knew what the overpressure of the cumulative jet would do to us in the event of a hit from an RPG.

      I don’t know how to relate now to all this creativity, since it has long been proven, including through numerous experiments, that the cumulative jet does not create any excess pressure in the bore space..
      staying on the armor or with open hatches, the soldiers created a threat of defeating the landing force and crew by the shock wave from any munition with explosives ...

      also raises questions about the description of the process of "collecting money in Chechnya" (I already started collecting money in Chechnya (just passed the law)), and the relevance in this regard of the glorification of the author as a "brother-Slav" ... as far as I understand it was the Russian soldiers - "brothers-Slavs" he was going to soak in Chechnya ... so I advise some to pick up snot and drool and more soberly evaluate the material ...
      1. welder
        +1
        4 May 2012 21: 59
        something too wrong seemed to me ...
    4. +10
      4 May 2012 13: 23
      Quote: esaul
      brothers-Slavs "do not burn in fire and do not drown in water." I was glad for the courage of the guys


      I would also be glad for the bravery of the guys, if the author of the article did not foolishly admit that he was originally going to go to Chechnya to kill other "Slavic brothers" ...
      1. Hans grohman
        +5
        4 May 2012 15: 44
        Krilion
        + 1

        Tooting!!!
  2. Igorboss16
    +4
    4 May 2012 08: 07
    fun however it was, it’s good that they remained alive
  3. +7
    4 May 2012 08: 14
    Wow, I barely mastered it. Good article, it’s only a pity that the soldiers are, as always, hostages of politicians. When it is the other way around, there will be a world, probably, or maybe not
  4. +6
    4 May 2012 08: 35
    Well, they managed to take some time, somehow they kept silent that they turned the APCs drunk and there were non-combat losses. Therefore, the entire command was on needles
  5. +4
    4 May 2012 08: 48
    The true story of a soldier about the war! And Army dolbyobizmu with crap reinsurance command!
    “The overwhelming majority of classes were held according to the principle“ To do everything effectively so that the authorities like it. ”Practical expediency, and just basic common sense, is somewhere in tenth place. Television arrives - here they will give unmeasured cartridges, and smoke and rockets, and how there is no one, then it's good if you have ten for your brother, or even suck a fig. "
  6. Pablomc
    +4
    4 May 2012 09: 31
    Out of habit, we thought that we would be presented with laminated certificates with a color photo, and print, holographic protection, etc. No matter how. Even police identification cards issued by Al-Qut mayor's office are small cards of plain printer paper in a case made of transparent plastic. And the prints are as if they were printed on the same printer.

    Oh ho ho ....
    Yes, this is completely normal in the Mediterranean region :)
    There, all the documents cause a shock and dumbness of the European :)
    Our soldiers would at least be taken on an excursion before "business trips" :)
    Or they themselves would at least fly to this region as a tourist ....
    It is incredible but true - tourists know more about these countries than soldiers :)
  7. Eraser
    +4
    4 May 2012 09: 45
    Well here again.
    1. Odessa
      -1
      4 May 2012 14: 23
      And this shaw, for a goat with a button accordion? laughing
      1. Eraser
        0
        4 May 2012 18: 21
        What article such and photo. wassat
  8. +6
    4 May 2012 09: 48
    I read the source. And I advise others! Bravo author !!! Bravo!!!
  9. +3
    4 May 2012 10: 02
    “I was about to start collecting money for Chechnya (the law was just passed),” I wonder what the law is and which side?
  10. +4
    4 May 2012 10: 06
    I read the same article in the magazine "Soldier of Fortune", a year that way, 2005. Even then I tried all the events described on myself and on Chechnya. Much was similar.
  11. +4
    4 May 2012 10: 32
    Quote: PabloMC
    Out of habit, we thought that we would be presented with laminated certificates with a color photo, and print, holographic protection, etc. No matter how. Even police identification cards issued by Al-Qut mayor's office are small cards of plain printer paper in a case made of transparent plastic. And the prints are as if they were printed on the same printer.

    Oh ho ho ....
    Yes, this is completely normal in the Mediterranean region :)
    There, all the documents cause a shock and dumbness of the European :)
    Our soldiers would at least be taken on an excursion before "business trips" :)

    Yeah ..... Chechnya 2000 - red peels (already crimson) right up to the club director (I saw it myself) and are presented with such an aplomb! No.
  12. PabloMsk
    0
    4 May 2012 10: 51
    Well, given everything written by the author, I would like to tell everyone again:

    God gave you life - a priceless Gift, I don’t think that anyone here will argue with this.
    So live your own mind and that life for which you will not be ashamed in old age and weakness ... and do not live "under the rams"!

    Draw your own life conclusions .... get smarter .... achieve ..... and improve.
  13. snapshot
    +3
    4 May 2012 12: 03
    Thanks to the author for the story ... only in Chechnya did you want to go to which side? (rhetorical question)
    1. Aleksey67
      +5
      4 May 2012 12: 06
      Quote: snapshot
      Thanks to the author for the story ... only in Chechnya did you want to go to which side?


      As far as I know, only the citizens of Russia can go to the contract army as contract soldiers, so there’s also some confusion on this issue
      1. +6
        4 May 2012 12: 44
        In accordance with the Federal Law "On Military Duty and Military Service" dated 28.03.1998 N 53-FZ - foreign citizens aged 18 to 30, legally present on the territory of the Russian Federation and speaking Russian, may conclude the first contract on military service in military positions subject to replacement by soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies for a period of five years.
        1. Aleksey67
          +1
          4 May 2012 13: 06
          PSih2097, thanks for clarification, did not know. Only, it seems to me, such an innovation does not contribute to Russia's defense capability.
  14. Sniper 1968
    +1
    4 May 2012 12: 30
    It was interesting to read. Unlucky lads with a commander, a coward and a reinsurer ...
    1. Eraser
      +5
      4 May 2012 12: 57
      No luck with the president, who solved his problems in foreign policy in such an original way by sending our peacekeepers to Iraq.
  15. Odessa
    +2
    4 May 2012 13: 16
    I agree with many comments, but one of the most important topics has been missed, why do citizens of Ukraine disperse to hot spots? And one more aspect: Why do they save on what is vital and necessary? After all, a well-conducted briefing is a good part of a guarantee that right on the spot , the trained contingent will not be confused and, having given the correct assessment of the situation, they will work out 100%, and without losses. Is it really so hard to find an experienced instructor? Or "better headlong" rush to Iraq so that we would read such publications. I am sure that the author wrote after a decent time, and if he kept a diary and posted it on the network, some (especially impressionable) would have to be soldered with heart drops or something stronger. Conclusion-repudiation and piss-izm, an eternal problem, as they say in the East, it is better to solve the problem than the problem will solve you! request
  16. DERWISH
    +1
    4 May 2012 13: 23
    the very first thing you need to conclude from all this AMERIA CAN DO IT ALL YOURSELF !!! BUT TAKE UP OTHERS TO SAME UKRAINE OR ALL THOSE ALLIES THAT PARTICIPATE IN ALL OF THIS WERE ALREADY BASED ON AMERA !!! everything has been calculated by analysts of the American continent. ATTENTION THE SHOWING Shell IS TOTAL PEACEKEEPING! HUGE AUTHOR TO THE AUTHOR AND RESPECT FOR THE RESIDENTS OF IRAQ BECAUSE THERE DO NOT RETURN AND WILL FIGHT FOR ITS FREEDOM !!!!
  17. +5
    4 May 2012 13: 50
    NEAR DEATH

    We got to Baghdad thanks to the rotation. That is, the change of the group of Alpha employees, who served their six months at the guard of the Ukrainian Embassy in Iraq, by the new special forces. The current group, which has arrived instead of waning home, is the 12th in a row. What awaited her in the city is difficult for an ordinary citizen to imagine. In a nutshell - this is war.
    In Baghdad, explosions sound daily. Sometimes up to a dozen, and in different parts of the city. Shooting from an automatic weapon cannot be counted. The number of victims of bloody attacks goes to dozens. Suicide bombers direct cars filled with explosives into the crowd, in line at checkpoints - checkpoints.
    “Recently, the high-rise building of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry was blown up,” calmly, as about something ordinary, familiar, Roman says. - It was necessary to manage to smuggle two tons of explosives through 12 checkpoints and put them into operation where the mouse should not slip - such unprecedented precautions
    The Iraqi authorities urge the local media not to dramatize the already tense situation - this negatively affects the image of the country. Therefore, the press, television report only the most high-profile attacks that can not be hidden.
    Sometimes you do not need to leave home to become a target. In her dwelling, not far from our embassy, ​​a woman filled the bath and only lay down, as the queue completely pierced the wall ...
    A rather battered “Land Cruisers” were sent for us, who had been taken to the Alfovets embassy a couple of hours before. Things are thrown into the trunk. Jeeps are “fighting”, they have seen a lot in their lifetime. Not everyone has armored corps. Rubber has long been in need of replacement. Broken headlights stay on tape. Air conditioning does not work, and it is forbidden to open windows. Now it’s still bearable, in the afternoon about 20 degrees. But in the summer - under 60. Hell! Steam on wheels!
    The US military respectfully calls our "Crazy Ukrainians" - only stuntmen and kamikazes can afford to ride such "extreme" vehicles
    Leaving the territory of our embassy in Baghdad without heavy body armor and a protective helmet is strictly prohibited. Outfitting is mandatory for all, without exception, Ukrainian diplomats, maintenance staff and those who are responsible for their safety. When traveling by car in Baghdad as well. You put on the heaviest knightly armor weighing more than 20 kilograms, and at once you become clumsy, clumsy. Of course, this is out of habit. Guys, for whom the armor and helmet are as ordinary as weapons, look in some ways even elegant. But the load does not pass without a trace - over time, the back begins to ache, the vertebrae are disturbed ...
    At our feet lies a machine gun. God willing, not useful


    My webpage
  18. +3
    4 May 2012 14: 32
    I think the fucking thing ... zm stems from our common Soviet Army, in which I happened to serve. And therefore, he probably thrives in the Armed Forces of all the former republics of the Union. Although in different manifestations, fucking happens in all the armies of the world. Such is the military specifics. " Dig a trench from here until lunchtime ... "
  19. +2
    4 May 2012 14: 56
    Interesting article.
  20. +2
    4 May 2012 15: 42
    selbrat - "I think fucking ... zm stems from our common Soviet Army ..." - to me, with ROTNYI, that in training, that at the place of main service, that with retraining, apparently, much more fortunate than to you and From here I have an established opinion that fucking ... I got the minimum from the SA.
    drinks
    The author wrote off normally - my respect.
  21. +2
    4 May 2012 16: 26
    I read the article on the source to the end ... somehow the amers do not look like cowardly warriors .. (as most people think here).
    1. welder
      +1
      4 May 2012 22: 26
      rumpelischtizhen-and these are the children think so ... the enemy must be respected and learn from him in order to be stronger than him
  22. +2
    4 May 2012 16: 55
    He had in mind the UN mission in Chechnya (PEACEKEEPERS) In Chechnya, only the UNSOVS fought ..... and illegal mercenaries fought in the extreme
    1. Aleksey67
      0
      4 May 2012 16: 59
      Quote: aspirin02
      He meant the UN mission in Chechnya

      Since when did UN peacekeepers appear in Chechnya. Only human rights activists and humanitarian workers can be there, and Russia will never let peacekeepers go there.
  23. vaddy72
    -3
    4 May 2012 18: 45
    What the hell? NATO is unhappy. Otmazatsya clearly, why did he go there .. But in fact - to fight for America, for our fierce enemy. On occasion, tomorrow he will peacekeep in Russia. God forbid of course
    1. berdichev
      +2
      4 May 2012 19: 15
      They don’t go to fight for America - the government sends them there.
    2. Alexander Zlodeev
      0
      5 May 2012 19: 14
      sorry accidentally clicked on 1 and put the second against! In fact, it is !!!!!!!!!!! our peacekeepers are supervised by America for the common purposes of which the coalition forces were driven under the auspices of the UN! And the same America in its own interests, started the war unilaterally without an agreement in the UN resolution on Iraq for the war between Russia and China, thereby ignoring all sorts of regulatory acts of this organization that any country located in the UN should implement, after which it called into question the legal capacity of this organization (UN) in general or nakraynyak his stay at the UN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In order to ignore it was necessary or at least leave the UN !!
      PS What is most interesting (and I think everyone knows the fact) that the missiles from which America officially unleashed the war were never found !!!!!!!! And what kind of friends can we say, what is the UN ??? ? !!!!!!!! And if we trace over the past 20 years since the collapse of the union in the territory of how many "sub-union" states, military interventions were carried out by the United States independently and under the auspices of the UN !!!!!!!! Gaddafi's words - "There is no USSR, but Russia is weak and the US is doing what they want" !!!!!
  24. speedy
    +3
    4 May 2012 18: 56
    Talented, emotionally, figuratively ... But what were these guys doing in unhappy, torn apart Iraq - looking for adventure? After all, this is not an appeal to Afghanistan and not a business trip to Vietnam, and not even a French nat. legion (there, though for money, but under a false flag), these "soldiers of fortune" decided to poke around under NATO, which stuck into the country even without UN sanction, but NATO countries even harnessed for their interest, and these ... truly jackals. and they are also offended that the commanders are not what they were worth. they had such. I remember meeting with a then young director in 2005. he spent more than 5 years in Serbia. filmed a lot of material, prepared doc. film of 5 episodes. I've seen a lot, so he told me that Ukrainians are considered the most despicable people in the Balkans, and this is thanks to the "exploits" of such "jackals of fortune" from Galicia (I am doubly offended because I wear a Ukrainian surname, although Russian was born in Russia) ... During the war in Yugoslavia, this guy's wife was in the states. there, in all the cities, huge screens hung - a live broadcast of NATO aviation's military operations, there are a lot of people around and after each hit there is a screeching, jubilation like at a football match ... people die there - live on air - and they have delight ... girl on these enthusiastic non-humans went into a fight, literally !!! , but they did not understand, they were surprised, the police showed up, checked the documents ... and with a crooked smile "ah, Russian." So when there are no men, such girls save our honor! And for the "exploits" of those jackals, in front of decent people, in a century not to wash - soldiers of fortune for the glory of the State Department and the Queen of England! ... we sat with that guy in the courtyard of the "Slavic Center" for an hour and a half. He was waiting for Academician Klykov, I was Misha Saunin, then they dispersed, about a week later there was no real Russian person, sculptor, inspirer of many, founder of the International Slavic Center for Writing and Culture Vyacheslav Klykov, his blessed memory!
    1. Alexander Zlodeev
      +1
      5 May 2012 20: 05
      They go there for a simple reason, poor financial condition, since the salary is already at least 5-6 times higher than at home, in the queue for an apartment, one of the first, while the salary remains at home, a participant in hostilities and some other social guarantees (this is what lures the warriors of trying on forces from countries such as ours) But the most important thing is that the politicians in the person of the state benefit, not only do they solve some questions about inclination and serving the West in the view of introducing world peace (and it doesn’t matter what what world imagined America and pro-Western forces) so they still make money on this elementary !!!! I can explain the following using Liberia’s example (the facts of 2004-2005, therefore, I can’t vouch for our time because I served in 2005) so in Liberia, for finding a Ukrainian helicopter under a UN mission, they paid $ 12000 (all subsequent figures will be in the same American presidents killed) for an hour of the flight of this helicopter 2000, a Ukrainian pilot received a salary of about 2000 per month, respectively, you can calculate how much the state earns yours !! Moreover, at the same airfield in Monrovia (the capital of Liberia) there were Russian peacekeepers, and so because there was no language barrier (thank God) and it was not difficult to find out that under the same conditions a Russian pilot receives 5000 per month ! this even speaks of the state’s attitude towards its military !!!!! but what’s the most interst that can’t do anything about it! no matter how offensive the same Ukrainian pilot would understand, if he didn’t agree to go with that money he would very quickly appear on his meta another who even has these conditions compared to 500 1000 in Ukraine for a month (at that time, I don’t know the courses and salaries have changed, but the situation is the same) would seem like a fairy tale !!!!!! And I’m 1% sure that the situation is the same in Iraq and Kosovo !! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!XNUMX
  25. berdichev
    +9
    4 May 2012 19: 14
    I don’t know how a soldier is taken on such missions, but officers pay loot for this. In Ukraine, for sure. I know from those who were there. And if an officer paid, invested, so to speak, in his career and financial well-being, then he goes on such a business trip not to fight, but to do business. Hence the subsequent actions of the officers ... I sometimes read the comments of the Russians on this site and just bastard of your love for your homeland ... Something you have left of the Great Country. Good luck to all of you, Russian brothers, let us live - without a break.
  26. speedy
    +2
    4 May 2012 19: 52
    And I still remember. as in 1985 in Vilnius on the parade ground, we gnashed our teeth with resentment, when the head of the school (then) Colonel Grishin said "an hour ago the US ultimatum to Nicaragua expired, perhaps now bombs are already exploding there, two of our ships have been damaged by American mines, this crisis is like first, the Caribbean puts us on the brink of war, we do not abandon friends in trouble, so be prepared for early graduation: 4th year - lieutenants, 3rd - junior, 2nd - sergeants "... and we are 1st ... only half a year weaned, what is the use of us? And after all this was all serious, then the Pershing-2 was placed in Europe, the flight time to Vilnius was 6 minutes - we were raised by alarm for half a year at night - in a minute on the parade ground in full gear, in another minute the last car leaves the school heading for the training ground - so that survive and fight back. And they wrote a report about the direction to Afghan ... wanted adventure? Yes !!! , but not on the side of the sworn enemy! and many got their adventures, but it's not a shame to remember them, especially if there is no innocent blood on their hands ... but to boast that the Americans supported you with fire when you overwhelmed the "spirit" who defended your land? !!! ... it looks like something really is wrong with our boys.
    1. Aleksey67
      +2
      4 May 2012 19: 58
      Quote: short-term
      per minute on the parade ground in full gear, another minute later the last car leaves the school heading for the training ground - to survive and give change


      I understand everything, but many forum users served and know the real time of withdrawal of military unit by combat alert laughing I understand that emotions overwhelm, but you don’t need to keep others around for fools, we are not going to hear about fishing stories here smile
      Nothing personal, just craving for the truth drinks
  27. Oleg0705
    0
    4 May 2012 20: 21
    but in my opinion sheep and not horseradish they were there to do
  28. stankomi
    0
    4 May 2012 23: 29
    Why is the article not up to the end ???
  29. Nikolay22
    0
    4 May 2012 23: 58
    Bitter truth!!!! It is a pity that the army turned into a service to the colonel, not the people !!!
  30. +1
    5 May 2012 01: 22
    Quote: Aleksey67
    officers do not think about saving the lives of soldiers and completing the task, but about how their actions will be evaluated by the higher command. "No matter what happens" is our motto.

    This is a common Russian misfortune. I noticed that in general, foreign leaders think about how to get a result, and ours immediately think about how to cover their ass. As a result, it turns out that for our bowlers he cooks whatever excuse he can compose, why his department did not complete the work, while the foreigners' thinking is directed at how to do the work. And foreigners judge their leaders ONLY BY RESULT, and no one cares that you may be "unlucky" or "you were set up" or "well, you yourself ordered me", etc. Don't give a damn - such a leader is dismissed without hesitation, they say "since you are unlucky, these are your problems."
    At the root, everything needs to be changed, all thinking, the whole approach, and not only in the Army. Instead of writing and reading reports forever, it would be better if ours hand guides all ranks have learned to look at the result and see progress or regression. Instead, they eternally "delve into the essence" and "in the root and complex of the problem are diversified." In short, the herd of Vasissualiev Lokhankin from the "Golden Calf". Also, I just boiled. I came to the conclusion that I don’t know how in the Army, but in general we, the Russians, do not know how to lead.
  31. 0
    5 May 2012 01: 24
    It was also tokoe. This is not the first year on the contract after an urgent one - I intervene on duty at the checkpoint. instructs the chief of staff everything is as it should be - to me - well, you know everything, go and do the service - I am Comrade. regiment. the question is what do the xivas of other departments look like - cops, GB, journalists, then I know how xivos should be - but I don’t know the ones that should be. he is not supposed to know much. but how can I be. I had to serve myself, trusting me with my instinct. My personal answer is military service in jo - ne.
  32. sazhka0
    0
    5 May 2012 05: 37
    From the beginning, he spoke like a Man .. Then he began to speak like an Americanos .. IS THIS A YAT SITE?

    From the beginning there was the Word .. Then the Administration .. And the word STOP It is forbidden to use .. WHY? What are you PEPPERS.?
    1. Alexander Zlodeev
      0
      5 May 2012 20: 18
      This is because no one would call you M..SKALEM, and on this site all who speak of the former power of both Russia and the USSR and the current Armed Forces of our powers speak out on their successes and discuss their successes in this matter on this site !!!! And it doesn’t matter from where are you Ukraine, Russia, Belarus we are all SLAVES and our history is glorious and almost all of it is common !!!!!!! but instead of inciting internecine wars you need to be united at least in Defense !!! Because together we are power and invincible !!! In the meantime, you'll be determined who is X, HALL and who is M .. Oskal, see what would the Yankee system about you m yard is not set !!!!

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