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16.02.2018, 13:30

For more than a quarter of a century, the village of Magdagachi was the landing capital of the Amur region. Thousands of Soviet and later Russian guys went through a difficult soldier's school in the 13th Airborne Assault Brigade. At one time, such units cooled the ardor of those who wanted to unleash the Third world war in the Far East. On August 2, veterans of the brigade can be found not only on the streets of Blagoveshchensk, but also in many cities throughout the post-Soviet space. Even decades later, they pronounce the name of Pavel Borisovich Gladstein with respect. It was he, a Stalingrad boy and a pupil of Vasily Margelov himself, who stood at the origins of the founding of the famous military unit. Today he is 90, but he continues to live by the laws of the main motto of the Airborne Forces: “Nobody but us!”

Stay in line

Pavel Borisovich Gladstein begins every day by checking his email. Despite his advanced age, he remains an active Internet user. He loves to communicate via Skype with colleagues from all over the former Soviet Union, and his Odnoklassniki account is a page of memories. Veterans of the 13th Air Assault Brigade recognize each other decades later, remember how they saw each other off to Afghanistan and slept with weapons during the troubled days of Damansky.

He lives in this rhythm for two decades. It was then, in the year of his 70th anniversary, that his relatives gave him a computer. They say they noticed some kind of sadness in the eyes of their father and grandfather. We hit the bull’s eye, as they say, and the signs of boredom instantly evaporated. The active landing nature of Pavel Borisovich allowed him not only to quickly understand high technology, but also to teach computer literacy to children and grandchildren. Staying in service is his life’s credo, implicated in German bombing and service under the flags of the Airborne Forces.

Childhood in kerosene solution

Stalingrad, the boiling Volga and tanks coming out of the gates of the tractor factory. 14-year-old Pavel watched this picture from the workshop and clearly understood: tomorrow the equipment, damaged and crumpled, will be dragged back again. And he, together with the same young volunteers, will restore it. They were tasked with finishing tank fuel pumps. I had to adjust every part and wash it in a kerosene solution.

In 1994, the 13th Magdagachi air assault brigade was redeployed to Orenburg. A year later, its units entered into battle with Dudayev’s militants in Chechnya.

The fighting took place on the very outskirts of the city, and the boys, exhausted by hard work, received a cup of porridge and a glass of tea for lunch, and by the end of the 12-hour shift they literally collapsed. Bread in the city has long been issued in limited portions. Those who worked received 800 grams per day, those who did not work received half as much. After work, he ran home, hastily had dinner, and went to the basement to spend the night with his mother and sisters. The Germans regularly bombed the boiler room next to the house. The tall chimney was taken as a landmark.

— They were constantly dumping them on the roofs of houses. incendiary bombs. If you do not extinguish it in time, then nothing will save you from the fire. Therefore, adults were on duty on the roofs and attics. They picked up German “lighters” with large metal tongs and threw them into barrels of water,” Pavel Borisovich recalls his childhood. “In the morning we came out of the basement and didn’t know if our apartment was intact. They got ready and went back to their workplaces. I got to work at the plant straight from school. In May 1942, he graduated from seventh grade. A representative of the enterprise came and said bluntly - men are at the front, there are not enough workers. My friends and I got together and went to forge victory.

Simple General Uncle Vasya

The Margelov family left Stalingrad the day before the Germans arrived. My father, the head of a large trust, was given the task of transporting the plant’s equipment to the Urals at any cost. On the Baikal-Amur Mainline, the railway tracks were urgently dismantled, and the rails were transported to Stalingrad. They built a road from them that led straight from the workshop to the Volga. There's a train ferry there. The last echelon of the enterprise crossed to a safe shore, and the next day there were battles throughout the city.

At Yurga station in Kemerovo region the machines were installed directly under open air. The son of a big boss, Pavel Gladstein, worked as a mechanic. Two years after the victory, he graduated from technical school and became a specialist in the production of artillery systems. He returned to his native, destroyed Stalingrad, so that after a while he could literally escape from it.

The management of the Barrikady plant, where Pavel Gladshtein headed the workforce, saw in him a promising specialist. When he mentioned his desire for a military career, threats immediately poured in. He was threatened with trial for his unwillingness to restore National economy— after the war, every specialist was worth his weight in gold. Pavel finally fled to Kyiv, entered the military school self-propelled artillery.

He dreamed of gun salvos, but, to his own surprise, he was assigned to the Airborne Forces. At first, however, I had the opportunity to serve in my specialty: the 125th Kostroma Guards Airborne Division had a self-propelled artillery division. However, less than a year later they had to say goodbye to the artillery. On April 1, 1952, Lieutenant Gladstein was sent to the Far East. The joke turned out to be successful. The new place of service was Kuibyshevka-Vostochnaya, now Belogorsk, Amur Region. The airborne corps under the command of Vasily Margelov himself was stationed here.

- Hero of the Soviet Union, lieutenant general, founder of the Airborne Forces... A man honored in all respects and at the same time completely easy to communicate with. I was worried before talking to him, but he meets every young officer and clearly explains to him the specifics of service in the Far East. Himself in an ordinary cap and flight leather jacket without shoulder straps,” Pavel Borisovich recalls the details of the historical meeting.

Fall on the enemy's head

At the end of the sixties of the last century, newspapers wrote little about the events on the Soviet-Chinese border. Soviet citizens lived ordinary life, and only the military understood what would complicate the situation. The summer of 1968 in the border territories of the Union turned out to be restless; less than a year remained before the main bloodshed on Damansky Island.

Against this background, paratrooper officers began to arrive in the Amur village of Magdagachi from all over the country. They were entrusted with a serious task - to cover 400 kilometers of the state border. The line of responsibility is from Erofei Pavlovich station to Shimanovskaya station. The theater of possible military operations is of unprecedented length; even combined arms formations have never been tasked with such tasks.

The emphasis was placed on high mobility and completely new type airborne units. They had to land on small military transport helicopters and operate close to the rear of a potential enemy. Simply put, fall right on the enemy's head.

— In July 1968, the chief of staff of the 98th Guards Svir Red Banner Airborne Division, Mikhail Timofeevich Reznikov, was summoned to the General Staff. We were given the task of forming a separate air assault brigade. It all came down to lack of time. The brigade had to be formed at an accelerated pace,” Pavel Gladstein describes the events of the alarming 1968.

He was among the first officers to arrive at Magdagachi station. He didn’t even imagine that his fate would be connected with the 13th Air Assault Brigade for more than ten years. The older generation of paratroopers remember very well this brave major, who two years later became chief of staff and then headed the brigade. It was a powerful mobile fist, which included mortar, anti-aircraft, anti-tank and even howitzer units. Only people with rich everyday and military experience could effectively command such a formation.

We have nothing to fear

In March 1969, Damansky’s snow was soaked in the blood of soldiers and officers. However, it never came to the Third World War. There was no need to jump on the enemy's head. On the other side of the Amur they knew very well what kind of reception would be prepared in case of full-scale aggression.

In Stalingrad, after work, Pavel ran home, hastily had dinner and, together with his mother and sisters, went to spend the night in the basement. The Germans regularly bombed the boiler room next to the house.

In July 1978, the commander of the Far Eastern Military District, Army General Tretyak, conducted exercises with troops of the 35th Army ( Amur region). The 13th Airborne Brigade was alerted and received an order to move to an area that was located 300 kilometers from its permanent location.

— Paratroopers on Mi-8 and Mi-6 helicopters landed in the indicated areas and took up defensive positions. During the debriefing of the exercises, the commander noted that this was the first time the brigade had participated in such exercises and had completed its tasks. The rating of the 13th Airborne Brigade is good. The rest of the formations of the 35th Army are satisfactory,” recalls Pavel Borisovich. — After reviewing the exercises, the commander called me and said that he would not sign my resignation report, which I submitted in connection with my 50th anniversary. I must serve until a candidate for the position of brigade commander is identified. He was found only two years later.

OPINION

Clara Gladstein, wife of Pavel Borisovich, famous Amur restaurateur:

— Despite his venerable age, Pavel Borisovich remains an unquestioned authority for all family members. In addition to his two children, he has six grandchildren and as many great-grandchildren. He is demanding of everyone, but first of all of himself, so he is always collected and obligatory. He is never late for anything and teaches his loved ones to do the same. He is a real role model, well versed in all life issues. You can talk to him about political topics and get purely everyday advice.

Pavel Borisovich still drives a car, he has very strong, confident hands that can fix anything in the house. He lives without grudges against life and claims to his own difficult fate. He follows all the events in the country and the world and knows for sure that as long as there are Airborne Forces in Russia, we have nothing to fear.

The rapid and coordinated entry of troops into Czechoslovakia led to the fact that within 36 hours the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries established complete control over Czechoslovak territory.

However, despite the obvious military success, it was not possible to achieve political goals. The leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and after them the XIV Extraordinary Party Congress, already on August 21, condemned the entry of allied troops. Representatives of the conservative group of delegates at the congress were not elected to any of the leadership positions in the Communist Party of Human Rights.

On October 17, 1968, the phased withdrawal of allied troops from the territory of Czechoslovakia began, which was completed by mid-November.

By Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council On February 22, 1969, the USSR awarded the 80th Parachute Regiment of the 104th Guards Airborne Division the Order of the Red Star for the successful completion of combat missions while restoring order in Czechoslovakia.

In the mid-60s, due to the active development of helicopters (with their amazing ability to land and take off almost anywhere), a completely appropriate idea arose of creating special military units that could be dropped by helicopter into the tactical rear of the enemy in order to assist advancing ground forces. Unlike the Airborne Forces, these new units were supposed to be landed only by landing, and unlike the GRU Special Forces, they were supposed to operate in fairly large forces, including the use of armored vehicles and other heavy weapons.

To confirm (or refute) the theoretical conclusions, it was necessary to conduct large-scale practical exercises that would put everything in its place.

In 1967, during the strategic exercises “Dnepr-67” on the basis of the 51st Guards PDP, the experimental 1st Air Assault Brigade was formed. The brigade was led by the head of the combat training department of the Airborne Forces Directorate, Major General Kobzar. The brigade landed in helicopters on the bridgehead on the Dnieper and completed its assigned task. Based on the results of the exercises, appropriate conclusions were drawn, and starting in 1968, the formation of the first air assault brigades in the Far Eastern and Trans-Baikal military districts began as part of the ground forces.

Based on the directive of the General Staff of May 22, 1968, by August 1970, the 13th air assault brigade was formed in the settlements of Nikolaevna and Zavitinsk, Amur Region, and the 11th Air Assault Brigade in the village of Mogocha, Chita Region.

Again, as in the very first airborne unit (the airborne detachment of the Leningrad Military District), the “land” unit received aviation under its control - two helicopter regiments with an air base each were transferred to the brigade control, which included an airfield support battalion and a separate communications and radio engineering division.

The structure of the air assault brigades of the first formation was as follows:

Brigade management;

Three air assault battalions;

Artillery Division;

Anti-aircraft artillery division;

Combat helicopter regiment with an air base;

Transport helicopter regiment with an aviation base;

Rear of the brigade.

Air assault units mounted on helicopters were able to land in the form of a landing force on any part of the operational-tactical theater of military operations and solve assigned tasks on their own with fire support from combat helicopters. Experimental exercises were conducted with these brigades to develop tactics for using air assault units. Based on the experience gained, the General Staff made recommendations for improving the organizational and staffing structure of such units.

It was assumed that the air assault brigades would operate in the enemy's tactical defense zone. The range at which battalions of air assault brigades were supposed to land did not exceed 70-100 km. In particular, as confirmation, this is evidenced by the operating range of communications equipment that entered service with air assault formations. However, if we consider the specific theater of operations in which the brigades were stationed, it can be assumed that the purpose of the 11th and 13th Brigades was to quickly close the poorly guarded section of the border with China in the event of a Chinese military invasion. By helicopter, brigade units could be landed anywhere, while the motorized rifle regiments of the 67th Motorized Rifle Division located in that area (from Mogocha to Magdagachi) could only move under their own power along the only rock road, which was very slow. Even after the helicopter regiments were withdrawn from the brigades (at the end of the 80s), the mission of the brigades did not change, and the helicopter regiments were always stationed in close proximity.

In the early 70s, a new name for the brigades was adopted. From now on they began to be called “airborne assault”.

On November 5, 1972, by directive of the General Staff, and on November 16, 1972, and by order of the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, by February 19, 1973, it was decided to form an airborne assault brigade in the Caucasian operational direction. The 21st separate air assault brigade was formed in the city of Kutaisi.

Thus, by the mid-70s, the so-called Airborne Forces of the ground forces included three brigades:

11th airborne brigade (military unit 21460), ZabVO (Mogocha settlement, Chita region), consisting of: 617th, 618th, 619th airborne battalion, 329th and 307th airborne battalion;

13th airborne brigade (military unit 21463), Far Eastern Military District (n. Magdagachi, Amur region), consisting of: 620th, 621st (Amazar), 622nd airborne battalion, 825th and 398th airborne battalion ;

21st Specialized Brigade (military unit 31571), ZakVO (Kutaisi, Georgia), consisting of: 802nd (military unit 36685, Tsulukidze), 803rd (military unit 55055), 804th (in /h 57351) odshb, 1059th oadn, 325th and 292nd airborne forces, 1863rd one sirto, 303rd obao.

An interesting fact was that the battalions in these formations were separate units, whereas in the Airborne Forces only a regiment was a separate unit. From the moment of their formation until 1983, parachute training was not provided for in these brigades and was not included in the combat training plans, and therefore the personnel of the air assault brigades wore the uniform of motorized rifle troops with the appropriate insignia. Airborne assault units received the Airborne Forces uniform only with the introduction of parachute jumping into their combat training.

In 1973, the air assault brigades included:

Management (staff 326 people);

Three separate air assault battalions (each battalion has 349 people);

Separate artillery division (staff 171 people);

Aviation group (only 805 people on staff);

Separate division of communications and radio technical support (190 people on staff);

Separate battalion of airfield technical support (410 people on staff).

New formations began active combat training. There were accidents and disasters. In 1976, during a major exercise in the 21st brigade, a tragedy occurred: two Mi-8 helicopters collided in the air and crashed to the ground. As a result of the disaster, 36 people died. Similar tragedies occurred from time to time in all brigades - probably this was the terrible tribute that had to be paid for the possession of such highly mobile military units.

The experience accumulated by the new brigades turned out to be positive, and therefore, by the end of the 70s, the General Staff decided to form several more air assault brigades of front-line (district) subordination, as well as several separate air assault battalions of army subordination. Since the number of newly formed units and formations was quite large, the General Staff decided to disband one airborne division to complete them.

Based on the General Staff Directive of August 3, 1979 No. 314/3/00746, by December 1, 1979, the 105th Guards Airborne Vienna Red Banner Division (111th, 345th, 351st, 383rd Guards PDP) , stationed in Fergana, Uzbek SSR, was disbanded. The 345th Regiment was reorganized into a separate parachute regiment and left in the southern operational direction. The personnel of the disbanded regiments and individual units went to form air assault units and formations.

In addition to parachute units and formations, the airborne troops and ground forces (ground forces) of the USSR Armed Forces also had air assault units and formations, but they were subordinate to the commanders of military districts (groups of forces), armies or corps. They were no different in anything except their tasks, subordination and general education system. Methods of combat use, combat training programs for personnel, weapons and uniforms of military personnel were the same as those of parachute units and formations of the Airborne Forces (central subordination). Air assault formations were represented by separate air assault brigades (ADSBr), separate air assault regiments (ADAS) and separate air assault battalions (ADSB).

The reason for the creation of airborne assault formations in the late 60s was the revision tactics in the fight against the enemy in the event of a full-scale war. The emphasis was placed on the concept of using massive landings in the enemy's near rear, capable of disorganizing the defense. The technical capability for such a landing was provided by the significantly increased fleet of transport helicopters in army aviation.
By the mid-80s, the USSR Armed Forces included 14 separate brigades, two separate regiments and about 20 separate battalions. The brigades were stationed on the territory of the USSR according to the principle - one brigade per military district having land access to State border USSR, one brigade in the internal Kiev Military District (23 airborne assault brigade in Kremenchug, subordinate to the High Command of the southwestern direction) and two brigades for a group of Soviet troops abroad (35 airborne assault brigade in the GSVG in the city of Cottbus and 83 airborne assault brigade in the SGV in the city Bialogard). 56th Guards The separate airborne assault brigade in OKSVA, stationed in the city of Gardez, Republic of Afghanistan, belonged to the Turkestan Military District in which it was formed.
Individual air assault regiments were subordinate to the commanders of individual army corps.
The difference between the parachute and airborne assault formations of the Airborne Forces was as follows:
- Availability of standard airborne armored vehicles (BMD, BTR-D, self-propelled guns “Nona”, etc.). In the air assault units, only a quarter of all units were equipped with it - in contrast to 100% of the airborne units.
- Subordinate to the troops. Airborne assault units, operationally, were subordinate to the command of military districts (groups of forces), armies, and corps. The parachute units were subordinate to the command of the Airborne Forces, whose headquarters were in Moscow.
- In assigned tasks. It was assumed that the airborne assault units, in the event of the outbreak of large-scale hostilities, would be used to land near the enemy's rear, mainly by landing from helicopters. The parachute units were supposed to be used deeper behind enemy lines with parachute landing from military air transport aircraft. At the same time, airborne training with planned training parachute landings of personnel and military equipment was mandatory for both types of airborne formations.
- Unlike the guards parachute units of the Airborne Forces deployed at full strength, some air assault brigades were squadroned (special staff) and were not guards. The exception was three brigades that received the name Guards, created on the basis of the 105th Vienna Red Banner Guards Airborne Division, disbanded in 1979 - the 35th, 38th and 56th.
In the mid-80s in as part of the Airborne Forces The USSR Armed Forces had the following brigades and regiments: 9
- 11 airborne assault brigade in the Transbaikal Military District ( Transbaikal region Mogocha and Amazar),
- 13th airborne assault brigade in the Far Eastern Military District (Amur region, Magdagachi and Zavitinsk),
- 21 Special Airborne Brigade in the Transcaucasian Military District (Georgian SSR, Kutaisi),
- 23 ADSB of the South-Western direction (on the territory of the Kyiv Military District), (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug),
- 35gv. ODSB in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (German Democratic Republic, Cottbus),
- 36 airborne assault brigade in the Leningrad Military District ( Leningrad region, town Garbolovo),
- 37 airborne assault brigade in the Baltic Military District ( Kaliningrad region, Chernyakhovsk),
- 38th Guards ODShBr in the Belorussian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Brest),
- 39 Special Airborne Brigade in the Carpathian Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Khyrov),
- 40 airborne assault brigade in the Odessa Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Nikolaev),
- 56 Guards Special Airborne Brigade in the Turkestan Military District (formed in the city of Chirchik, Uzbek SSR and introduced into Afghanistan),
- 57 airborne assault brigade in the Central Asian Military District (Kazakh SSR, Aktogay town),
- 58 ADShBr in the Kiev Military District (Ukrainian SSR, Kremenchug),
- 83 ADSB in the Northern Group of Forces, (Polish People's Republic, Bialogard),
- 1318 ODShP in the Belorussian Military District (Belarusian SSR, Polotsk) subordinate to the 5th separate army corps.
- 1319 ODShP in the Trans-Baikal Military District (Chita region, Kyakhta) subordinate to the 48th separate army corps.
These brigades included command, 3 or 4 air assault battalions, one artillery battalion and units combat support And logistics support. The personnel of the deployed brigades reached 2,500 military personnel. For example, the regular number of personnel is 56 Guards. As of December 1, 1986, the Specialized Brigade consisted of 2,452 military personnel (261 officers, 109 warrant officers, 416 sergeants, 1,666 soldiers).
The regiments differed from the brigades by the presence of only two battalions: one parachute and one air assault (on BMD), as well as a slightly reduced composition of the units of the regimental set.

In the Afghan war, one airborne division (103rd Guards Airborne Division), one separate airborne assault brigade (56th Guards Special Airborne Brigade), one separate parachute regiment participated from the airborne and air assault formations of the USSR Armed Forces (345th Guards OPDP) and two air assault battalions as part of separate motorized rifle brigades (66 Motorized Rifle Brigade and 70 Motorized Rifle Brigade). In total, in 1987 these were 18 “line” battalions (13 parachute and 5 air assault), which amounted to a fifth of the total number of all “line” OKSVA battalions (which included another 18 tank and 43 motorized rifle battalions) .

Training of officers for airborne troops.

Officers were trained by the following military educational institutions in the following military specialties (MSS):
- Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School - commander of an airborne (airborne) platoon, commander of a reconnaissance platoon.
- Airborne Faculty of the Ryazan Higher Military Automotive Engineering School - commander of an automobile/transport platoon.
- Airborne Faculty of the Ryazan Higher Military Command School of Communications - commander of a communications platoon.
- Airborne Faculty of the Novosibirsk Higher Military-Political Combined Arms School - deputy company commander for political affairs ( educational work).
- Airborne Faculty of the Kolomna Higher Artillery Command School - commander of an artillery platoon.
- Airborne Faculty of the Leningrad Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile Command School - commander of an anti-aircraft missile platoon.
- Airborne Faculty of Kamenets-Podolsk Higher Military Engineering Command School - commander of an engineering platoon.
In addition to the graduates mentioned educational institutions, in the Airborne Forces they were often appointed to the positions of platoon commanders, graduates of higher combined arms schools (VOKU) and military departments that trained for commanders motorized rifle platoon. This was due to the fact that the specialized Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School (RVVDKU), which graduated on average about 300 lieutenants every year, was not able to fully meet the needs of the Airborne Forces (at the end of the 80s there were about 60,000 personnel in them ) in platoon commanders. Eg, former commander 247 Guards PDP, Hero of the Russian Federation Em Yuri Pavlovich, who began his service in the Airborne Forces as a platoon commander, graduated from the Alma-Ata Higher Combined Arms Command School.
For a long time military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces (so-called now army special forces) were mistakenly and deliberately called paratroopers. This is due to the fact that in Soviet period, as now, there were and are no special forces in the Russian Armed Forces, but there were and are special forces units and units of the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. In the press and in the media, the phrases “special forces” or “commandos” were mentioned only in relation to the troops of a potential enemy (“Green Berets”, “Rangers”, “Commandos”).
Starting from the emergence of these units in the USSR Armed Forces in 1950 until the end of the 80s, the existence of such units and units was completely denied. To the point that military personnel know about their existence conscript service They were recognized only when they were accepted into the personnel of these units and units. Officially in the Soviet press and on television, units and units of the GRU Special Forces General Staff The USSR Armed Forces declared either airborne units- as in the case of the GSVG (officially there were no Special Forces units in the GDR), or as in the case of OKSVA - separate motorized rifle battalions (OMSB). For example, the 173rd separate special forces detachment (173 OOSpN), stationed near the city of Kandahar, was called the 3rd separate motorized rifle battalion(3 OMSB).
In everyday life, military personnel of units and units of the Special Forces wore the dress and field uniforms adopted by the Airborne Forces, although neither in terms of subordination nor in terms of the assigned tasks of reconnaissance and sabotage activities they belonged to the Airborne Forces. The only thing that united the Airborne Forces and the units and units of the Special Forces was most of officers - graduates of the RVVDKU, airborne training and possible combat use behind enemy lines.

Acquisition

To create and staff the “second wave” of air assault units, it was decided to disband the 105th Guards Airborne Division and the 80th Guards. PDP 104th Airborne Division. Officers and soldiers of military districts and groups of troops were sent for additional staffing. Thus, the 36th Airborne Brigade was formed on the basis of the 237th Guards PDP (it was squadroned) which allocated officers and units of the Leningrad Military District; 38th Vienna - based on officers of the headquarters of the 105th Guards Airborne Division, as well as officers and soldiers of the military unit of the Belarusian Military District.
In the air assault units of the military districts, most of the officers were from the military units of the districts: for the airborne assault forces, only commanders were selected from the Airborne Forces, the rest from the districts; in the odshb of groups of forces, the battalion commander was supplemented with a deputy battalion commander, and also, partially, company commanders. To staff the newly created units, in 1979, enrollment in military schools training officers for the Airborne Forces was increased, and from 1983-84. Most of the officers already went to the Airborne Forces having been trained under the Airborne Forces program. Mostly they were appointed to groups of troops in the Oshbr, less often - in the OshBR of districts, and even less often in the Odshb. In 1984-85 a reshuffling of officers in groups of troops was carried out - almost all officers were replaced in the DShV. All this increased the percentage of airborne officers (plus replacements in Afghanistan). But at the same time, the most trained graduates of military schools and academies were always assigned to the Airborne Forces.
With regard to the recruitment of conscript soldiers, the Airborne Forces were subject to the same medical requirements and other selection rules as for the Airborne Forces. The most healthy and physically developed conscript contingent was selected. High selection requirements (height - not lower than 173 cm; physical development - not lower than average; education - not lower than average, absence of medical restrictions, etc.) determined fairly high capabilities during combat training.
Unlike the Airborne Forces, which had their own large “Gaizhyunay training” - the 44th Airborne Forces; DShV were staffed by junior commanders and specialists, mostly those who had graduated from training divisions Ground Forces and to a lesser extent, from the Gaizhyunai "training", the air assault battalion of the 70th Motorized Rifle Brigade was also replenished from the Fergana "training, military unit 52788