Army special forces - 62 of the year in the ranks
Military historians say that the main reason for the appearance of units of the army special forces was the fact that in the armies of the NATO member states, weapons of nuclear attack appeared. And only the special forces were able to most effectively resist them.
History Army Special Forces of the USSR Armed Forces began in 1950, when a directive appeared on 24 in October, signed by the Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union, Marshal Vasilevsky, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Shtemenko. According to this document, in all mechanized and combined-arms armies, in military districts that did not have their own connections, 46 separate special-purpose companies were formed, which were controlled by the General Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff. Each company consisted of 120 people. When selecting companies, preference was given predominantly to those servicemen who served in military intelligence and had extensive combat experience. In the process of creating documentation, the experience of conducting sabotage and reconnaissance activities of the partisans, as well as those reconnaissance saboteurs who worked in the staffs of the General Staff and the front staffs, was used. In addition, the experience of foreign intelligence services during the Second World War was studied and applied.
I must say that the first instruction regarding the combat use of special forces units was written by P.A. Golitsyn, who previously held the post of chief of intelligence of the Belarusian partisan unit "Chekist".
As a result of the reorganization of the Armed Forces in the 1953 year, a special-purpose 35 company was reduced. Major General Sherstnev in the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces was sent a memo which considered the possibility of creating three special forces units or a Special Purpose Center and an air squadron on the basis of the remaining 11 companies. According to this document, 400 military personnel should be in the unit.
However, in the 1957 year, according to the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, instead of the 3-x detachments offered by Sherstnev, the 5 special forces battalions were created, which came under the leadership of the commanders of military groups and military districts.
Thus, the 26-th battalion entered the structure of the Group of Soviet Forces, which was stationed in Germany, 27-th was in the Northern Group of Forces, 43-th - in the Transcaucasian, 36-th - in the Carpathian Military District and 61-th - in Turkestan Military District. In addition, 4 individual special forces companies were also kept.
In addition, in 1961, a resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU on the training of personnel and the development of special equipment for the formation and equipping of partisan units appeared. And in the next year, 1962, the order of the General Staff appeared, according to which the projects of special forces brigades for peacetime and wartime were developed. Thus, this year in the Belarusian, Transcaucasian, Far Eastern, Kiev, Moscow, Leningrad, Odessa, Prikarpatsky, Turkestan and Baltic military districts were organized special forces brigades. It must be said that these brigades were mainly formed on the basis of the staffing schedule of peacetime, i.e. some units consisted only of detachment commanders, the rest of the sergeants, soldiers, and officers were in reserve. As a result, after this reform, the Soviet special forces consisted, in addition to the above-mentioned 5 battalions, another 12 separate companies and 10 scaled special forces brigades.
In the 1964 year, as a result of the next reform, the special forces missed the 3 battalions and the 6 company.
In 1968, the leadership of the General Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff recalled its intention to create an educational institution where special intelligence officers intelligence officers would be trained. Thus, in Ryazan Command School another cadet company was formed - the ninth. The course of study, among other things, included the study of foreign languages - English, French, German and Chinese. Already from 1970 of the year, language training was included in the composition of the combat training of special forces, although only 40 hours of study time were devoted to it.
A new stage in the development of army special forces began in March 1979 of the year (it can still be described as Afghan) after Colonel Kolesnik received from the Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff the task of organizing the 154-th separate special forces detachment. It consisted of 520 military personnel. The squad included 4 companies. In service with one of them were BMP-1, in the other two - the BTR-60. And the fourth company was a division of weapons, which included a platoon of AGS-17, a platoon of sappers and infantry rocket flamethrowers "Lynx". In addition, there were separate units in the detachment: a communications platoon, a car platoon, a Shilka platoon platoon and a logistic support platoon. At the same time, the main feature of the unit was that it recruited only servicemen of three nationalities: Turkmen, Uzbeks and Tajiks. In Moscow for the battalion the military uniform of the army of Afghanistan was made and documents were made in Afghan. At the same time, the names of the fighters were left unchanged, because in Afghanistan there is a fairly large number of people belonging to all three nationalities. From November, the detachment was sent to Bagram, from where it was supposed to get to Kabul under its own power and reinforce the security of the Taj Beck there. And it was this detachment that participated in the storming and seizure of the Amin Palace 27 of December 1979 of the year together with the special forces units of the KGB.
In Afghanistan, there were also 459-I separate company (Kabul company) of special forces, created at the end of 1979 of the year. Note that only this company, until the spring of 84, conducted military operations using special forces tactics. 173 special forces unit, created in February 80-th. In addition, in January, 1980 - October 1981, based on the 22 brigade, stationed in Kapchagai, was formed the 177-th separate special forces unit, in 1981, entered the Afghan territory. However, this unit, together with the 154 squadron, until 1984, provided mainly protection of the mountain pass and the pipeline.
The situation with the use of special forces in Afghan territory changed in 1984, when the military command decided that special forces should be used more actively. The reason for this decision was the fact that the Mujahideen received considerable help and support from Pakistan and Iran. In addition, the Kabul company, which, as we noted above, used special forces tactics, has proven its effectiveness in fighting rebel caravans.
The last spetsnaz units left the Afghan territory of 15 on February 89 of the year, covering the exit of the column of the 40 army. This was the end of the Afghan period of the Soviet special forces.
Then in the history of army special forces came the most difficult period, which was associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even the war in Afghanistan, which lasted 9 years, did not bring so many losses.
The beginning of the nineties was characterized by riots and numerous speeches by militant and separatist groups. The 173 squad had the opportunity to take part in maintaining order in Baku during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict, and in Mountainous Karabakh. 22-th separate detachment of special forces was transferred to the North Caucasus Military District. In 1988-1989, the 3 squad of the 12 squad of the Special Forces Brigade of the Transcaucasian Military Unit was sent to Azerbaijan to maintain constitutional order. But, in 1991, due to the complicated situation in North Ossetia, the command decided to withdraw the brigade and transfer it to the Urals Military District. In the same year, a brigade was withdrawn from the territory of the GDR.
In 1992, two special forces units of the Moscow Military District were sent to the territory of Tajikistan to help maintain order.
The training regiment of the special forces, which trained sergeants, and the school of ensigns were also to be abolished. After the famous Bialowieza Agreement, the 10-I separate brigade of the special mission of the Odessa Military District (it was reorganized into the 1-th parachute regiment of the Ukrainian armed forces), the Brigade of the Kiev VO, which was located in Kirovograd, the Brigade of the Carpathian Military District, went to the Ukrainian armed forces. The 15-I Special Forces Brigade, the 459-I separate special forces company, as well as the Special Forces Training Regiment, which trained specialists for the war in Afghanistan, went to the armed forces of Uzbekistan.
At the same time, despite the fact that there were a significant number of hot spots where it was necessary to maintain order, the decline in the level of combat training in the Russian armed forces and shortcomings in the equipment of special forces units were also noticeable during these years. weapons and technology.
With the beginning of the Chechen conflict 1994-1996, Russian special forces units took an active part in it, and from the very beginning of the introduction of Russian troops. Thus, in the 1994-1995 years, the 45 th separate regiment of the special forces of the Airborne Forces participated in the conflict. Until the spring of 1995, the special forces units were withdrawn from the Chechen territory, except for a separate special unit of the North Caucasus Military District, which was withdrawn only with the end of hostilities in the 1996 year.
In the years of the Chechen conflict, special forces units were often used as reconnaissance for the ground forces. It is for this reason that special forces units were included in the assault groups (Grozny). But such use led to significant losses. So, because of the miscalculations of the leadership in 1995, a special forces detachment of Major Ivanov was captured. One of the detachments of the Moscow IN was in a mined building. But then the special forces began to act independently, resorting to his tactics. So, the most frequently used were ambush actions. Very often, special forces units collaborated with counterintelligence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, using the intelligence information they obtained.
In 1995, a special forces detachment of the North Caucasian Military District was involved in an operation related to the release of hostages in the city of Budenovsk. They monitored urban neighborhoods, not taking part in the storming of the hospital building, and then accompanied the convoy of militants and hostages, waiting for the team to destroy the bandits (as is well known such a team never arrived).
In 1996, one of the special forces took part in the release of hostages in Pervomaisk. It was his task to pull back the main forces of the militants at the initial stage, and at the final - he struck a blow at the retreating group of militants Raduev. For success in carrying out 5 operations, special forces officers received the title of Hero of Russia, one of them - posthumously.
In addition, during these years, the special forces unit operating in Chechnya was again, as in Afghanistan, equipped with equipment, which made it possible to increase the firepower of the reconnaissance detachments that ensured the work of reconnaissance groups. In addition, special forces units during this period began to recruit contract servicemen. It should be noted that the level of education of the special forces of that time was quite high, this was due to regular and fairly high cash content. However, after the end of the Chechen war, they began to pay much less and not so regularly. Therefore, people who had a great experience of hostilities, were fired, and their soldiers took the place of conscripts. Therefore, the special forces did not become professional. At the same time, that part of the military that went through the war shared their experience with the younger generation, as a result, the level of combat training has increased significantly compared with the period of the formation of the Russian special forces after the collapse of the USSR.
The military commanders were well aware that the hostilities in the Caucasus were not finished, because from the middle of the 90s, the threat of the spread of separatist ideas throughout the Caucasus was obvious. The greatest concern caused Dagestan. And by 1997, the command became clear that it was this state that was to become the first republic to be separated from Russia in order to create an independent Islamic country with a capital in Grozny.
Therefore, in the 1998 year, the 8-th separate special forces detachment was sent there, which after a few months changed the 3-th separate special forces detachment. This replacement took place before 1999. Special Forces officers carried out reconnaissance in those areas that were adjacent to Chechnya, tracking the sale of illegal oil products that came in large quantities from Chechnya. They also worked together with units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, identifying illegal ways to trade in arms. The activities of the special forces were very effective, which, in particular, is evidenced by the fact that information about the invasion of Khattab and Basayev’s groups was tracked in time and sent to the Center.
During the fighting, the special forces provided the troops with intelligence information. So, 8-th separate detachment of special forces, as well as divisions of 3-th separate detachment solved similar tasks. Later, the special forces were reinforced by separate and consolidated units that arrived from almost every military district. When the hotbed of the conflict in Dagestan was eliminated, the special forces, together with the troops of the army, were transferred to Chechnya, where they were also engaged in reconnaissance activities, providing the troops with the necessary information regarding militant groups. Later, spetsnaz units began to carry out search and ambush operations, and raid the enemy bases.
In general, according to the estimates of the employees of the A and B departments of the FSB, who took direct part in the hostilities in Chechnya, no one was better than the GRU special forces in the 2 of Chechen.
Due to its merit, the date of October 24 was officially declared the Day of the Russian Special Forces. For military merits 22-I separate special forces team was awarded the title of Guards, becoming the first unit in Russia, which received such a high rank in the postwar period.
In this article we tried to talk about army special forces, although at present special forces units are part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Emergencies Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice, having their own conditional names (Vityaz, Alfa, Russia, Vympel ").
Despite the fact that each of these units has its own day of creation and its own history, there is a day that unites them together - this is the Day of the special purpose units.
Materials used:
http://www.specnaz.com.ua/specnaz/armeiskii-specnaz-gru.html
http://kaskad.ucoz.ua/publ/2-1-0-6
http://ru.wikipedia.org/
http://www.calend.ru/event/4404/
Information