Proloque.
This text was written several days before discharge of the simple full-time soldier of the Russian army. At that moment, when 360 days of your service are over, when you feel home already and count every minute. From this text you will become familiar with some traditions and realias of the Russian army and understand what a simple soldier feels before he comes back home. I almost didn't change the original text of the soldier's letter, so it has all feelings in its lines. The soldier is myself few years ago.
I'd like to add that every fellow in Russia, after graduating from school or university, should serve in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for a year. I joined the army after university, and I don't regret it at all. I spoke everything honestly, like it really was. And, of course, there is a room left to add something else. Welcome to the Russian Army. Enjoy.
Soldier's Letter.
Many people ask me: how was it in the army? There is nothing to do, right? You didn't learn something new, did you? You lost a year of your life, right? And so on. I will answer to everyone at once, looking back on the year, because it's my discharge.
What is the army for me and what is the most important in it?
Army is a shock. Nobody bears you no malice personally. But you are always put in difficult complex psychological conditions. It trains your mentality and makes you stronger, you become immune to any nonsense and trifle. You thank God that you are alive! Everything rest is not that important.
[Unfortunately, in the Internet is very small pictures "real" Russian army, and a lot of propaganda. My experience stay in my eyes, but i cannot find any echo in the Internet photos. I pick up the ones that are closest to transmit printed in me. This photo was taken in the USSR army, but I assure you, nothing has changed. Jokes are the same.]
You meet all your fears and fixations, you have to find the way either to live with them or fight them. Communicating with your comrade-in-arms, psychologically you are stretching into a string, and at any moment you are ready to burst and smack your mate upside the head. By the way, your mate has the same spirit that makes the relationship between soldiers very "comfortable" and "friendly".
This is what makes boys men. This and nothing else. All the rest: physical exercise, military training, stupid orders, harassing duties- it's just addition. It is impossible to make a boy become a martial arts master, accurate sniper or, at least, competent driver mechanic of IFV. But it is quite real to make him stronger psychologically, turn boy into a men.
Army - is an experience. Any experience is good.
In army you get a knowledge to, literally, "give birth" to anything, anywhere and in any number. And that's skill is worthless for a lot of people. People attend courses to become confident and learn how to achieve their goals. But in army you can get it for free, you just need to come. You can handle any task, you don't have any choice and you can't surrender, it makes you stronger.
"To give birth" in army vocabulary means to fulfill an order, usually you need to find and bring something valuable. For example, I will tell you about a real task that was assigned to the regiment intelligence troop: to give birth to 2 beds and bring them to the billet.
Snoopers went on a mission to a neighboring regiment, entered the actual protected area, took out an object of interest, and brought by themselves to their billet. Mission is complete - nobody went into combat, there were no casualties. It's the Russian army, baby. :-))
You almost don't have any spare time in army.
The main task of the whole compulsory military service system is to make sure that the soldiers are not bored, always busy with something. And I should admit that it perfectly copes with this task. The duties assigned by the system ends at 10 pm, and after the second life starts in barracks, the night life. Soldiers get chocolates and sodie pops, do laundry and catch up their collars, someone watches movies on phones, read or do a workout. But whatever you do, at 6 am barracks orderly will shout "TROOP WAKE UP, and your new day will begin.
You weekend is on Sunday after lunch. On this day, a soldier can spend time for himself without scare of being punished. Someone goes to a city with convoy, someone watches TV, relax or just sleep. Most of the people just sleep.
The only thing that I was afraid of before going to the army - to lose myself.
I don't know how, but in the first four month I have mastered a new profession for me - the technology high-accuracy laser beam cutting, offering the equipment design for it based on coherent combining of laser prepulses. My graduation work was connected with it, and I just kept doing my research being in the army. I got in touch with the leading specialists of the Russian Academy of Sciences in this field and asked them for collaboration. Remotely I organized a team of physicists, together we made the technical task and received the answer from the Academy, they said the project was possible, but economically unsound. And I did all that being in the army, at night under my blanket or when I was free from my duties.
Officially you are not allowed to use a phone during the entire length of service. Yes sometimes the commanders pretend that they don't see phones blinking during the nighttime, but sometimes they can nail your cell phone to a board or pull a flashing out, so it won't blink. :-)).
But despite this, I read everything that I found interesting about the superstring theory and efficient production organization at the plant. I was curious about psychology and interpersonal relations: from socionics and typing of people to mind control of humanity and researches in the field of concealed behavior motivators. I got familiar with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, I took something from it and applied in actual practice. I came to know the fundamentals of information security and systems theory: from the people interaction in the state pyramid to the universal knowledge management and storage system - Intellect Net. I was also into the religion topic: I learned about Bible and Zen Buddhism basics. I studied some fields of business, medicine and law.
For the year I read not less than 50 books and tons of analytics. One book a week. I was reading everywhere, at any time when it was safe. How did I do that? Perhaps, it was my psychological protection which distracts me from life stress this way.
WHAT DID I GET OUT OF IT?
As it turned out, even the difficult psychological conditions cannot impede the process of getting knowledge and personal growth. You just need to really want it. We can do everything.
I completed my conceptual world view with related knowledge having made my reality tunnel and perception wider.
I learned how to appreciate time and use every minute to do something useful.
I worked over a sea of psychological material, destroyed the emotional charge in the past, and took all superfluous away from my head, having only the right left. It turned out that I don't need many things... Now I am a completely different person.
I found the key to the perfect health and my spiritual path. It's a long way which takes the whole life.
I realized where I should go. I should follow my dream and listen to my heart. Whatever happens.
Army taught me to accept the world in its complexity, in all its beauty and multivariance. It taught me to separate myself from far-fetched ideas and make a conscious choice of the most important things.
I learned to observe admiring and enjoying the moment with all my being.
I realized that the rational approach of thinking is narrow-minded and weak if you want to discover yourself.
In my head there were always these lines:
Be yourself, never give up, fight, move on, get up, think and never lose fire in your soul. Everything gets started from you. You life is a fight.
AND NOW - REALITY.
Army is a bunch of idiots executing stupid orders of a dumbhead commander. There is no any sense in them, all they have is inconsistency and arrogance. The main principle is to carry round things and roll square ones. You are nobody here. You are a slut, animal, slave. You must obey. Otherwise you get punished, most of the times physically. Everyone can beat you up, an officer and vulture contract soldier. There might be punishments more sophisticated than physical ones. They can make you sweep the square with a breaker or do a workout in body armor and with weight plates on your back... Army men have really good fantasy for it.
The punishment, if your phone is found, for example:
The punishment, if you forgot to bring a weapon. AK-74:
Just knife:
You might say - do what you are told to do and everything will be cool.
No, even if you do everything as you are told, you will not have a good time. Here, it's worse than in a jail. You want to run away? You are welcome, but they will soon find you, and things will be worse after it. It's not about it. Here there are no rules, no laws. Strength is the main rule and law in army. If you cannot use force even saucing somebody off, don't go to army. You will be beaten, squashed, they will make you clean toilets. It happens here fast and easy. All person's kernel is coming out, it's impossible to hide anything.
The initial fitness conditioning does not really matter (where I served). First 6 months you exercise in a drying room, embracing shoulders of the comrades from your troop. You execute orders until the thermometer in the room shows temperature set by dischargees according to the weather, mood and the offense severity of a rookie.
"800 squats, 200 push-ups! Is the thermometer showing 60° already? ON THE FLOOR!! One!-Two!-One and half!!.."
[There are no photos on the internet of this process. Senior soldiers, if recording it, not spread or upload it because they are real afraid of jail time. But every soldier faced with this, absolutely. May be i can find it photos some later]
Here any hunk will die, and a fat-ass will lose 20 kg for a month. I know it for sure. You crawl out from a drying room on your comrade's shoulders, but the next morning you start as usual - with monkey drill where you run with you exercised legs and bleeding from army boots feet. But you have no choice. And in the evening it will start over again.
The second half of your service you can exercise elephants (in army language elephant is a soldier who has not served for 6 months), if you want. As a rule, many people take part in it, they feel their duty to the old-timers and new generation, someone needs to share experience and survival skills in a drying room. :-)) Maybe there is a deep psychological meaning in it, but who cares about it there in that sauna? Sometimes soldiers do not withstand the load and die, sometimes they hang themselves right at the same place, sometimes they run away. It's supposed to be normal.
As for a combat training... Well, someone has, someone does not. Some soldiers shoot away 3 automated stores and throw one grenade for the whole hitch, and the rest of the time they do some domesticities. But also there also soldiers who spend all their time at shooting-rangers and garages constantly arranging gunnery drills or combat machines driving. Serving is different for everyone and highly depends on branch of service.
A lot crazy stuff is happening in the army, a drying room is just the tip of the iceberg. :-)) But it's fun. After. When you return to civilian life. And you are really proud of it. You are proud that you passed through it and stay unbroken.
But there are People even in this army zoo. They didn't get wrong by the army's senseless and merciless. They were still People with a capital "P". My commander was like that, I was lucky. He is an example of what the real officer should be like: emotionally and energetically strong, humanely fair, manly noble, responsible and tough. As long as we are protected by such people - we can sleep peacefully. I trust him.
The last year was the most productive in my life. In the army I found the keys. Many keys and they all are very different. To get to the truth, hidden in me, I have to use them all.
Should one go to the army?
Of course. Army changes boys, strong ones get stronger, weak ones weaker. For the last ones, I wouldn't recommend to go, they should better save themselves. It's more trouble than it is worth. Stay under a skirt, it's safe and sound there. ;-))
What happens when you are about to go home?
It's the whole ritual. Soldiers gather near the hall-door of the billet, say goodbye to each other and bid farewell, and after that they slap a discharge on his butt to make him fall from the stairs, so he never comes back. Every soldier waits for this moment for 365 days, and "elephants" watch it, envy and mourn.
Junior sergeant
Alex Ant
As an epilogue.
Yes, in Russia a lot of new equipment, a lot of old machines and weapons, some units are well equipped and prepared perfectly (especially Ramzan Kadyrov units in Chechnya)
There are special forces which always find and neutralize terrorists. The Warrior's Blog:
http://molonlabe.livejournal.com/
But the Soldiers's letter is a take on the involuntary service with his own eyes. The involuntary service is different from volunteer one, the second mechanism works a bit differently, there are many professionals who are ready to defend the country. But we don't want our skills to be applied. Army is cool until it's a school of life, training. But, please, let's live without wars, we don't need deaths and antagonism.. Let's live in peace and friendship!..
Follow me if you want to learn more about the Russian Army. Ask me in the comments that you would like to know and I will tell the true.