Day of the special forces of the Russian Federation
October 24 in Russia celebrates the Day of the special forces units of the Armed Forces. The official appearance of this holiday in the Russian Federation is connected with the signing in 2006 of the presidential decree No. 549, which is called “On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation”. The very appearance of special forces as part of the Russian Armed Forces took place, naturally, not in the 2006 year, but much earlier. And the appearance of military special forces is considered to be inseparable from the secret directive of the Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky, adopted in 1950 year.
The directive of Marshal Vasilevsky singled out in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union a number of special special forces units that were supposed to operate in the rear of the enemy. We are talking about the so-called deep intelligence, which is often called special-purpose intelligence. The command of the Ministry of the Armed Forces (then the name of the Ministry of Defense) decided to create units of the army and naval special forces, which included about 5,5 thousand people.
According to the memoirs of those people who were involved in the creation of special units of the USSR Armed Forces, the selection was carried out according to numerous criteria. This is not only excellent health and physical endurance, but also a set of psychological qualities that would allow you to work effectively in the rear of the enemy. In addition to the military, who is preparing to enter the fraternity of military special forces, special demands were placed on the level of possession weapons (including cold ones), hand-to-hand combat skills, knowledge of the material part of weapons of foreign production. It gave preference to those who speak a foreign language. For the linguistic training of officers, special classes were even conducted, the importance of which was highly appreciated by the servicemen themselves.
The final formation of a special forces unit in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union took place in 1951. One of the main tasks, which was set by the command of the time before the special forces, was to take control of the command posts of the NATO countries in the event that NATO embarked on aggression against the USSR or its allies in the socialist alliance. In other words, the special forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR should have, as soon as possible, on the basis of an analysis of the situation, solved the issues of destroying enemy strongholds and incapacitating communications and communication systems, allowing NATO countries to coordinate their actions against the USSR.
Military historians tend to associate the signing of a directive on the creation of troop special forces with the emergence of a nuclear weapon at the North Atlantic Alliance. These objects could become the most important targets for the special forces of the RF Armed Forces, designed to conduct deep logistical work.
More than 60 years have passed since then, but, by and large, the tasks of special-purpose fighters in terms of countering the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance, especially against the background of well-known events, remain relevant. At the same time, we should not forget that the configuration of our country and NATO countries has substantially changed since the appearance of the secret directive of Marshal Vasilevsky. If at the beginning of 50-s, NATO was, in fact, only formed as an alliance, and defended from the borders of the Soviet Union by many hundreds and thousands of kilometers (with the exception of Norway), today NATO has come close to the Russian borders and continues its expansion activities due to the possible adoption of the republics of the former USSR (Georgia, Ukraine). Moreover, the head of the American military department reached the point where he accused Russia of the fact that it was our Armed Forces that turned out to be on the threshold of NATO.
The famous poster 1952 of the authors V.Govorkov and M.Ioffe ed. The “art” also has not lost its relevance (except that NATO has got even more bases, and they have become even closer):
So that any provocation does not come as a surprise to Russia, and special-purpose units that carry on the glorious traditions of their predecessors perform their duty.
One of the pages of the present feat of the Soviet special forces is associated with Afghanistan. The fighters of special-purpose units performed the tasks of causing maximum damage to the enemy in his rear. If initially the command of the USSR Armed Forces concerning Afghanistan had certain illusions in terms of waiting for a solution to the problem in a short time, then it became clear that the United States, some countries of the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan are engaged in active financing and no less active preparation of the “mujahideen”. Understanding that behind the Afghan militants are much more serious forces, led to the decision to increase the percentage of military special forces of various types of troops in Afghanistan.
The main tasks assigned to the special forces in Afghanistan include the following: destroying “caravans” that supplied weapons and ammunition to Afghan militants, eliminating the leaders of armed groups, mercenaries, and identifying border holes through which arms were supplied from Pakistan . Special forces were engaged in the expansion of the network of informers among local residents. On account of the Special Forces of the USSR Armed Forces there are hundreds, as they say now, of preventive operations that have been completed with success. The greatest activity on the introduction of Soviet military special forces in Afghanistan occurred in the 1984-1985 years.
After the collapse of the USSR, military special forces were waiting, as, indeed, all the structures of the Armed Forces, difficult times. Often, special purpose fighters were tried to use in police functions, which did not always lead to proper results. But the years of stagnation have passed, and the Armed Forces of the Fatherland once again felt the foundation under their feet. A new foundation has emerged among special forces, whose importance for the country's defense is difficult to overestimate.
"Military Review" congratulates all the military personnel of the special forces of the Armed Forces and veterans who have devoted many years to solving the most important tasks of ensuring state security on the holiday!
The directive of Marshal Vasilevsky singled out in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union a number of special special forces units that were supposed to operate in the rear of the enemy. We are talking about the so-called deep intelligence, which is often called special-purpose intelligence. The command of the Ministry of the Armed Forces (then the name of the Ministry of Defense) decided to create units of the army and naval special forces, which included about 5,5 thousand people.
According to the memoirs of those people who were involved in the creation of special units of the USSR Armed Forces, the selection was carried out according to numerous criteria. This is not only excellent health and physical endurance, but also a set of psychological qualities that would allow you to work effectively in the rear of the enemy. In addition to the military, who is preparing to enter the fraternity of military special forces, special demands were placed on the level of possession weapons (including cold ones), hand-to-hand combat skills, knowledge of the material part of weapons of foreign production. It gave preference to those who speak a foreign language. For the linguistic training of officers, special classes were even conducted, the importance of which was highly appreciated by the servicemen themselves.
The final formation of a special forces unit in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union took place in 1951. One of the main tasks, which was set by the command of the time before the special forces, was to take control of the command posts of the NATO countries in the event that NATO embarked on aggression against the USSR or its allies in the socialist alliance. In other words, the special forces of the Armed Forces of the USSR should have, as soon as possible, on the basis of an analysis of the situation, solved the issues of destroying enemy strongholds and incapacitating communications and communication systems, allowing NATO countries to coordinate their actions against the USSR.
Military historians tend to associate the signing of a directive on the creation of troop special forces with the emergence of a nuclear weapon at the North Atlantic Alliance. These objects could become the most important targets for the special forces of the RF Armed Forces, designed to conduct deep logistical work.
More than 60 years have passed since then, but, by and large, the tasks of special-purpose fighters in terms of countering the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance, especially against the background of well-known events, remain relevant. At the same time, we should not forget that the configuration of our country and NATO countries has substantially changed since the appearance of the secret directive of Marshal Vasilevsky. If at the beginning of 50-s, NATO was, in fact, only formed as an alliance, and defended from the borders of the Soviet Union by many hundreds and thousands of kilometers (with the exception of Norway), today NATO has come close to the Russian borders and continues its expansion activities due to the possible adoption of the republics of the former USSR (Georgia, Ukraine). Moreover, the head of the American military department reached the point where he accused Russia of the fact that it was our Armed Forces that turned out to be on the threshold of NATO.
The famous poster 1952 of the authors V.Govorkov and M.Ioffe ed. The “art” also has not lost its relevance (except that NATO has got even more bases, and they have become even closer):
So that any provocation does not come as a surprise to Russia, and special-purpose units that carry on the glorious traditions of their predecessors perform their duty.
One of the pages of the present feat of the Soviet special forces is associated with Afghanistan. The fighters of special-purpose units performed the tasks of causing maximum damage to the enemy in his rear. If initially the command of the USSR Armed Forces concerning Afghanistan had certain illusions in terms of waiting for a solution to the problem in a short time, then it became clear that the United States, some countries of the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan are engaged in active financing and no less active preparation of the “mujahideen”. Understanding that behind the Afghan militants are much more serious forces, led to the decision to increase the percentage of military special forces of various types of troops in Afghanistan.
The main tasks assigned to the special forces in Afghanistan include the following: destroying “caravans” that supplied weapons and ammunition to Afghan militants, eliminating the leaders of armed groups, mercenaries, and identifying border holes through which arms were supplied from Pakistan . Special forces were engaged in the expansion of the network of informers among local residents. On account of the Special Forces of the USSR Armed Forces there are hundreds, as they say now, of preventive operations that have been completed with success. The greatest activity on the introduction of Soviet military special forces in Afghanistan occurred in the 1984-1985 years.
After the collapse of the USSR, military special forces were waiting, as, indeed, all the structures of the Armed Forces, difficult times. Often, special purpose fighters were tried to use in police functions, which did not always lead to proper results. But the years of stagnation have passed, and the Armed Forces of the Fatherland once again felt the foundation under their feet. A new foundation has emerged among special forces, whose importance for the country's defense is difficult to overestimate.
"Military Review" congratulates all the military personnel of the special forces of the Armed Forces and veterans who have devoted many years to solving the most important tasks of ensuring state security on the holiday!
Information