Army games: for show and against the viewer?
"Army Games-2018" ... Events, which until recently caused a keen interest not only among the military, but also among ordinary people. Modern military equipment. Representatives of a fairly large number of countries. Interestingly built competitions. The beauty, again, that in the tank biathlon, that in "Aviadarts".
Interest in the first games was hype. And genuine interest. And look at the technique of the same China, and pay attention to other participants with the judges. And, of course, cheer for their own.
All this was just recently. Something started 5 years ago.
And what do we see today? It seems the same game. The same stages. Soldiers and officers are trying to win at "their competition." Well-organized broadcasts of tank biathlon and competition reviews. And interest in games is fading. What is going on? Why did a good start not get a decent continuation? Why the expansion of the program of games did not attract the audience?
Start over. From a simple, but at the same time very difficult issue. What is the "Army Games"?
The answer seems to be obvious. To popularize our army, to give the army a more attractive image, to respect people who are engaged in military labor, our defense and defense of our country.
Good goal? Good, even very good. People in uniform really deserve respect.
We must see how difficult it is today to control military equipment, to shoot from combat weapons, build bridges, defuse minefields, repair equipment on the battlefield. At the games, this is done not under bullets and shrapnel, but before our eyes. Which is also quite difficult.
However, those who attended competitions outside the Alabino training ground noticed a depressing fact: the games are now being held ... for the sake of the games. 500-1000 spectators at such competitions is the limit. And even then, half of these spectators are in fact participants and representatives of the participating teams, members of their families and others associated with the conduct of individual competitions.
The organizers went ahead and expanded the geography of the competition venues. And they expanded not only within their own country. Today 8 from 28 game competitions are held outside of Russia.
On the one hand, this is good. And on the other? Is this popularization of the Russian army? Or a review competition, for example, military cooks or repairmen of weapons? How do you like the song / dance / KVN competition in Armenia?
The appearance of games abroad seems to be understandable from the point of view of foreign policy. People see the power of the Russian army. Question: is it necessary? And if necessary, to whom?
On the one hand, as one of our readers said, this is “a demonstration of the flag”. In our opinion, this is a demonstration of dope. “All the flags will be our guests” is, of course, great. The question is, what flags and why. Especially from an economic point of view.
For example, it is surprising in the discipline "Tank biathlon "the presence of such" giants "of the army as Nicaragua, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and further on the list. For Nicaragua, which is armed with the T-54, participation in the T-72 seems to us like some kind of attraction. Free of charge. The same applies to the other two participants who did not see Soviet tanks in the eye when they were born.
Come to learn. Okay, let's say. But when you watch the competition in person and on television, it is hard to believe in it. Separately, I want to say a few kind words to the military from Egypt. One gets the impression that there is no harder camel technology in their army. And here they just come off "on the ball", just crippling someone else's equipment. This applies to tanks and cars.
It is very difficult to say what profit we get from this, but what costs are already obvious. Broken machinery, burned engines, crushed gearboxes. Direct losses, because half of the participants - frank rogue who will never allow themselves to buy decent weapons.
But for free - why not go?
In general, it is very similar to the style of the Soviet Union, which also diligently licked the "allied brothers." And it is worth remembering how these allies unfolded and rapidly changed their orientation when something was going not for their reasons.
But this, again, is the case of the Minister of Defense: how to occupy the herds of “effective managers” in their own lands. It is useful for the country to transfer to the scrap such a quantity of military equipment each year - it means that the equipment will be disposed of by guests from other countries. No problem.
But the way of holding competitions in the Russian outback is annoying. And this is a more serious question than it seems at first glance.
What the organizers do is beyond any understanding at all. One gets the overall impression that the Defense Ministry does not care at all whether the audience will see these competitions or not. The main thing is that the Zvezda channel filmed a reportage, held a competition, and distributed medals. Ticked off.
Next - the grass does not grow. It is done.
What is it? Incompetence of military "directors"? Disregard for the civilian viewer? Misunderstanding the importance of the task? Or maybe the intentional creation of such conditions under which the civilian viewer simply will not go to the landfills?
It is clear that much of what happens at competitions, the viewer can not see firsthand simply for security reasons. Yes, on Elbrus you can’t drag spectators and you can’t drive a landing platoon.
But look at the organization of most competitions. These stages are broadcast on large screens, and the audience reacts quite adequately to this. Look at the perfectly organized broadcast tank biathlon. So you can make the competition more spectacular. So the reason is something else.
Tell me, do many people take a vacation or a day off for a trip to the beautifully named competitions "Troop Intelligence" in the Novosibirsk region to the Koltsovo training ground? View the landing, march, shooting, "scout path" competition mehvodov ...
Of course, voices about local viewers will now sound. They rush to the site for all of this to watch. Theoretically, maybe yes. And practically? Competitions are held on weekdays! Not on weekends, mostly, but when the organizers are appointed. Local viewers just work. And the million-plus city does not see this event, although it is trying very hard.
Aviadarts in Voronezh. Even on a weekday 5-6 thousand is easy. Once, by a miracle, the contest hit on Saturday, the most colorful part of it, “Aviamiks”. Yes, it was a crowd of thousands on 12, or even more.
Ostrogozhsk and ABT Masters. 2016 year. THE WHOLE district, all the settlements, sent their representatives. Exhibitions of achievements, cuisine, pickles, smoking. Everything is absolutely free, to the songs and dances of the people in historical suits.
And what a misery this year ... A quarter of what he saw in 2016. Because the working day, and in the agricultural center, everything in the fields is like.
The same story in Omsk. Grateful spectators from among cadets and officers of the material support academy observe the competitions of their own cadets with the Chinese ... And not the first year.
Worthless spent money on the organization of games. Having perfectly prepared the venues for competitions (everything glitters to the envy of the neighboring parts!), The organizers are completely uninterested in the viewer.
Yes, and what to attract, in addition to the entertainment tank biathlon? The confrontation of the Russian army and the army of Morocco? Or Venezuela, with all our respect for the servicemen of these armies?
Games have long become a competition between two armies: Russia and China. The remaining participants above the third place will not rise, alas. Therefore, do not even participate. How many contests left Kazakhstan and Belarus, for example.
At the same “Rembate” the three first places were played by the teams of Russia and China. Even traditionally participating in the competition in Kazakhstan this year did not want to disgrace.
Does anyone doubt our victory in the overall standings? The second will be the Chinese. That's the whole intrigue ...
But an example before the eyes! Just past the football championship. And we spent it! Any competitions without relevant "related events" will not be interesting. Without concerts, without souvenirs, without posters, without a press, without honoring the winners.
Why it is impossible to make a holiday from army games at every competition, and not just at the closing? No local artists? Or famous artists will not go into the outback? They go to war, but they don’t want to compete?
Why not hold competitions at the weekend? Games are stretched enough in time. So stretch even harder! Not for a month and a half, but for three or four. You look, this monstrous money vacuum cleaner, called “Patriot” park and working 6 days a year, during the “Army-20 ..” forum will cease to be unprofitable.
The most interesting and spectacular stages of transfer to the weekend. More people - more noise, more attention. Of course, the winners of the contest will survive the absence of spectators at the award ceremony, but damn it, they fought for these awards!
Need to think. To think not only about the stages of the competition, about the placement of teams, about the technique, but also about the audience and informational coverage. It’s a paradox, but the Russians know more about the European championship in water sports in the UK than about the international army games in Russia. Although ours are winning both there and there.
But ... canine competitions are not as interesting as jumping into the water. And so the competitions of military doctors and military police, and even more so.
We absolutely do not want to be known as goons, but ... Money must be learned not only to spend, but also to earn! That technique, which in sufficient quantities were sent to repair at these competitions. also worth the money. And the preparation for the games lasts more than one month.
I would like the Russian Ministry of Defense to finally understand this. By the way, an example of such an understanding can be seen on the sites of the same MO. Compare your own MO website and 2018 games site.
They can, when they want. But only when they want ...
Until next year, you want to want. Otherwise, a great idea will turn sour and turn into a routine, uninteresting to anyone unprofitable event for show.
We will not dispute, of course, up there, more visible.
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