Only 6 people in the Soviet Army were awarded the highest rank in the engineering troops of the USSR - Marshal of the Engineering Troops. And among them was the Armenian Sergey Aganov. At first, few people knew about his Armenian origin. Even the Armenians did not really believe in it before. After all, his last name was not Oganov, but Aganov. Although it was hard not to notice the expressive Armenian features in him: thick dark eyebrows, a pronounced nasolabial fold, a characteristic large nose.

The future marshal was born on June 4, 1917 in Astrakhan in the family of an Armenian employee Christopher Aganov and Russian actress and singer Maria Frolova. The real name of the father was originally Khachatur Oganyan. Therefore, in many pre-war sources and biographical sheets, Sergei Aganov was recorded as Sergei Khachaturovich Oganyan. And Sergei's paternal grandfather, who came to Astrakhan, was a native of Nagorno-Karabakh. It was this stunning Armenian region that gave rise to all the most famous Armenian marshals, generals and admirals.

First, Sergei went to school in Astrakhan, and then until 1929 he studied at a secondary school in Baku. After graduation, he entered Moscow School tram electricians. From 1935 to 1937, Aganov worked at the Moscow Electric Plant as an assistant locksmith, and then became a foreman of fitters. At the same time, he studied at the evening department of the workers' faculty of Moscow State University.

Sergei Khristoforovich was a man with a technical, not a humanitarian mindset. That is why in 1938 he entered the Moscow Military Engineering School. Thus, since 1938, Aganov began his military service in the Red Army. In 1940, he graduated from college with honors and received the rank of officer of the engineering troops.

Sergei Aganov was sent to the Leningrad Military District. He volunteered to participate in the Soviet-Finnish war in the battles on the Karelian Isthmus as a commander of a sapper platoon of the 257th separate sapper battalion of the 123rd rifle division, and from March 1940 he commanded a sapper company. Already during this period, the authorities saw Aganov's talents, and he was appointed head of the school for junior commanders of the engineering and sapper brigade of the Leningrad Military District.

And soon the Great Patriotic War began. In the very first days of the war in June 1941, Sergei Aganov went to the front in the army. He participated in numerous battles. At the beginning, he commanded a sapper company, from October 1941 - senior adjutant (in modern terminology, this corresponds to the position of chief of staff) of a sapper battalion, from February 1942 - deputy commander of a motor-engineer battalion, and from April 1942 - assistant chief of staff of engineering troops 54- th army. Aganov fought on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. In October 1941 he was promoted to senior lieutenant and in February 1942 to captain. In the ranks of the heroic defenders of Leningrad, he endured all the hardships of the blockade.

Sergei Khristoforovich was full of strength, ambition and desire to apply his knowledge, skills and experience in business. The war brought them to light and this helped him in his military career. He excelled at any given task. In November 1942, the command noticed the talent and abilities of Aganov, who received the rank of major, and he was recalled from the front for further military service at the headquarters of the engineering troops of the Red Army.

At the headquarters, he served as assistant chief of operations. In 1943, Aganov was awarded the Order Patriotic War II degree. In 1944 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and until the end of the war he served as senior assistant to the head of the operations department. As part of a group of representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, he repeatedly went to the army. He provided great assistance to the troops in organizing engineering support for operations on the Southwestern, Bryansk, Voronezh, 3rd Belorussian, 1st Baltic and 2nd Baltic fronts.

Surprisingly, some ill-wishers later reproached Aganov for wanting to hide behind the bodies and lives of ordinary soldiers due to the fact that he spent only about a year and a half at the front. Not knowing his merits, they thereby undeservedly offended him. Sergey Khristoforovich himself spoke about this: “Yes, I confess honestly, I was very sorry to hear such accusations addressed to me. After all, many fought without being directly on the battlefield. And this in no way detracts from their services to the Fatherland. I have repeatedly traveled to on the battlefield, helped the guys, advised, explained many plans. And, amazingly, not one of them accused me of what these people who were born after the war accused me of."

After the end of the war, Aganov continued to serve in the headquarters of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army. In 1946 - 1951 he was a senior officer, then from 1951 - deputy head of the department, and from January 1952 - head of the department of staff. Sergei Khristoforovich was a man who constantly improved himself. In 1947, he entered the correspondence department of the M. V. Frunze Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1950 with a gold medal. In 1953, he entered and in 1955 successfully graduated from the Higher Military Academy of the General Staff named after K. E. Voroshilov, after which his career rapidly went up. Ranks and positions changed each other.

From November 1955, Aganov headed the engineering troops of the 8th Guards Army in the Group for 5 years. Soviet troops in Germany. In 1959 he was awarded the rank of major general of the engineering troops. Then he was transferred to a teaching job. In August 1960, Sergei Khristoforovich was appointed senior lecturer at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR. And in December 1963 - Deputy Head of the Military Engineering Department of the Military Academy of the General Staff. In 1964, he successfully defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of military sciences.

From January 1967, Aganov was the head of the engineering troops of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. Since January 1970, Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops Aganov became the Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since April 1974, he has been the head of the Military Engineering Academy named after V. V. Kuibyshev. In March 1975, Sergei Aganov was appointed head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He held this position until March 1987. On April 25, 1975, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General of the Engineering Troops. And on May 7, 1980, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov high rank Marshal of the Engineering Troops of the USSR. For his skillful leadership of the engineering troops during the Zapad-81 exercises, he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree.

Aganov worked hard and had little rest. One of his close friends said: "Sergey Khristoforovich simply did not know how to relax. Even while on vacation, he managed to constantly design something. He always had a notebook or notebook with him for notes." He devoted his whole life to the modernization of the engineering troops, introducing innovations and his own developments. Aganov paid great attention to improving the organizational structure of the engineering troops and their technical equipment, developing effective ways engineering support for military operations of troops, training of engineering personnel. He made efforts to improve the educational level commanders engineering troops of the country.

Under the skillful leadership of Aganov, from 1975 to 1987, the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense underwent a serious reconstruction, were thoroughly modernized and improved, new means of both attack and defense were developed. During this period, 263 samples of engineering ammunition, engineering vehicles of electronic means were adopted and supplied, which significantly increased the combat readiness of the troops. For the development and introduction of new systems of engineering weapons into the troops and their testing in a combat situation in 1981, Marshal of the Engineering Troops Sergei Aganov was awarded the USSR State Prize.

In the 80s, Sergei Aganov, risking his life, often visited Afghanistan. Here, the engineering troops under his leadership had to solve complex problems during the hostilities. Thanks to his efforts and the introduced technical innovations, many lives of Soviet soldiers were saved.

Let me give you an interesting fact. In December 1985, the head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense, Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov, contributed to the appointment of Lieutenant General Stepan Khorenovich Arakelyan as the chief of staff - first deputy chief of the engineering troops of the USSR. Of course, not because he was an Armenian, but because he was a talented military leader who went through Afghanistan, and later Chernobyl. Arakelyan held this post until February 1988. And in 1990 he was awarded the rank of Colonel General of the Engineering Troops. Thus, in 1985-1987, two Armenians, Aganov and Arakelyan, were at the head of the Soviet engineering troops.

The illustrious Soviet and Armenian commander Norat Grigoryevich Ter-Grigoryants, who knew him well, shared his memories of Marshal Aganov with me. They often met in Afghanistan, and later, and closely communicated. Since 1980, with the rank of major general, Ter-Grigoryants headed the task force of the Turkestan military district in Afghanistan. From mid-1981 to the end of 1983, he was chief of staff of the 40th Army. At the end of 1983 he was appointed to the post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff ground forces Armed Forces of the USSR, and he was awarded military rank lieutenant general.

Norat Ter-Grigoryants remembers Sergei Aganov very warmly. He remembered him as a kind of wise aksakal. According to him, he was a smart, kind, decent, disciplined, respected person. Aganov was very easy to communicate with, you could always consult with him and get good advice. He perfectly established the engineering support of the ground forces. According to the memoirs of Ter-Grigoryants, Aganov was highly valued and highly regarded by the Ministers of Defense of the USSR Andrei Antonovich Grechko, Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov and Sergei Leonidovich Sokolov. .

A special page in the life of Sergei Aganov is Chernobyl. He made a great contribution to the organization and implementation of measures to eliminate the consequences of the terrible explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986. Already on May 2, he was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the accident with a group of his officers and on the spot led the work of the created operational group of engineering troops. Aganov led the solution of many priority tasks to ensure access to a nuclear reactor and the creation of a sarcophagus. At that time, many did not yet realize the scale of the disaster and did not understand the terrible consequences of the disaster. But Sergei Khristoforovich knew everything perfectly well. He acted courageously, risking his own life and his own health.

Under the leadership of Marshal Aganov, a group of engineering units of 26 battalions with a total number of 8 thousand people, who had more than 900 units of special engineering equipment, completed a huge amount of tasks to decontaminate the area, build dams and dams in the area of ​​​​the 4th power unit in the zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In 1986, Sergei Khristoforovich made a great contribution to the organization and implementation of measures to eliminate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. It was he who developed and implemented the most successful projects that helped to minimize the horrific consequences of the explosion at the station. And it is to him that many residents of the city and the liquidators owe their lives. For his heroism and courage, Sergei Aganov was awarded the Order of Lenin.

Of course, his stay in Chernobyl was not in vain for him either. But still after that he lived for another 10 years. Since March 1987, Sergei Aganov was in the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since 1992 he has been retired and lived in Moscow. In his later years, Aganov visited Armenia and helped organize the work of engineering troops, create defense structures, build roads and bridges. February 1, 1996 Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov died. He was buried at the Troekurovsky cemetery in Moscow. A beautiful monument to the famous commander in a marshal's tunic with all the awards was erected on the grave.

For services to the Motherland, Marshal Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Kutuzov I degree, the Order of the Patriotic War I degree, the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, two Orders of the Red Star, the Order "For Service to the Motherland in Armed Forces III degree, many medals of the USSR, as well as orders and medals of foreign states.

In 2012, Kliment Harutyunyan's book "Marshal of Engineering Troops Sergey Khristoforovich Aganov" was published in Yerevan. And on December 12, 2017, a postage stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous marshal was put into circulation in Armenia with a 40,000th circulation. In Moscow, in the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the Armed Forces Russian Federation a memorial plaque with a portrait of the marshal was installed, reminiscent of the fact that from 1975 to 1987, during the period of the greatest military power of the USSR, the country's engineering troops were headed by Aganov.

Outstanding Soviet military leader, a talented military engineer and scientist Sergei Khristoforovich Aganov risked his life more than once for the sake of the lives of other people, for the sake of the well-being of his native country. Therefore, he is remembered, loved and honored in Russia, and in Armenia, and in the homeland of his ancestors in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Alexander YERKANYAN

From 21 to 28 June, on the basis of the 2nd Engineer Regiment of the Armed Forces of Belarus, which is deployed in Minsk, a joint gathering of units of the engineering troops of the armed forces of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan was held.

Initiative
No, it is not for nothing that the engineering troops are called pioneer, that is, the first. Always go in the forefront at some distance from the rest, pave the way for yourself and those following behind, take the first step where no one dared to step before you - this is the mission of the engineering troops. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that it was among the sappers of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus that the idea of ​​holding a joint gathering of engineering units was born and brought to life.
Six years ago, at a meeting with colleagues from Ukraine and Belarus, the head of the engineering troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Nikolai Serdtsev, proposed to radically change the format of such meetings. His idea was to business conversation reinforce three Slavic nachinzh with the opportunity to communicate with soldiers, sergeants, young officers of three armies who did not serve in the Soviet Army and therefore have almost no idea about each other. Moreover, to provide the personnel of the units of the fraternal countries with the opportunity not only to talk about life over a cup of evening tea, but also to exchange practical experience, show your skills in sapper business and see what heights of professional skill colleagues have reached. The idea of ​​Colonel-General Serdtsev was approved by the chiefs of the armed forces of Ukraine and Belarus.
At first, Russia hosted the guests - the first gathering of engineering units took place in Nakhabino near Moscow. The following year, the collection was held in the Belarusian Grodno, the year before last - in the Ukrainian city of Brovary. In 2006, a fourth participant appeared in the gathering, which took place in the ancient Russian city of Murom, a unit from Kazakhstan (a report from last year's gathering was published in Krasnaya Zvezda on August 10, 2006). This year, Belarus was the hospitable host of the gathering - representatives from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan were hosted by the 2nd Engineer Regiment stationed on the outskirts of Minsk.
Dear guests
Traditionally, the event was competitive in nature. Since the leadership of the engineering troops of the participating countries agreed on this in advance, naturally, some of the best specialists arrived in Minsk as part of the teams.
For example, privates and sergeants of the Ukrainian team are serving in the 91st engineer regiment in Akhtyrka, Sumy region. AT Soviet times an engineer brigade was deployed in its place, the personnel of which had the opportunity to solve many serious tasks not only during major exercises and testing of new equipment, but also in the combat situation of Afghanistan, during the elimination of consequences Chernobyl disaster, during a peacekeeping mission in Angola ... At the current level of training of the personnel of the 91st Engineer Regiment, the glorious traditions of the predecessor brigade, apparently, have a strong effect: according to the results of 2006 school year the regiment took first place among the engineering units of the ground forces of Ukraine. Of course, leadership is also explained by the fact that the regiment is 90% staffed by military personnel under the contract.
The team from Russia consisted almost entirely of military personnel serving in two engineering units stationed in Nakhabino: a separate engineering and sapper brigade under the command of Guards Colonel Valery Kiper and a training center for the training of junior specialists in engineering troops, where Colonel Mikhail Cherny is the head of the guards. The team was led by Colonel Vitaly Kushnir, senior officer of the department of the head of the engineering troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Naturally, there were no inexperienced youth in the Kazakh team either. It was headed by a senior officer of the Department of Engineering Troops of Kazakhstan, Lieutenant Colonel Rakhmet Artekov. And all the other officers and sergeants - there were no privates - serve in the engineering brigade, which is stationed in Kopchegai.
Each of the teams had 14 people, including three officers. Privates and sergeants of the Belarusian team were conscripts, only contract soldiers arrived as part of the guests.
The main thing is participation
In sports, everyone needs first of all a victory. At the gathering of engineering units of the armed forces of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the exchange of experience was much more important.
In the sport of great achievement, rivals usually know each other very well. Participants of the gathering from four countries at the level of soldiers, sergeants and military officers knew nothing about each other before it began. Therefore, one of the objectives of the event for each team was to get acquainted with colleagues from other countries - both in the course of performing professional tasks, and during leisure hours on sports grounds, during an amateur art show, and on excursions around the Belarusian capital. After all, only by getting to know each other closely, in the future, with personal participation, it is possible to strengthen the combat fraternity of the engineering troops of the Armed Forces of friendly states.
In the course of competitions in special training, everyone had to fulfill four standards.
In the installation of an anti-tank minefield, the calculation of the GMZ-3 caterpillar mine layer was not equal to the sappers from Belarus. The second place was taken by the Ukrainians, the third result was shown by our team, the fourth by the Kazakh team.
The reconnaissance of the minefield in front of the front line of the enemy's defense was most successfully carried out by the squad of our sappers. The second place in the implementation of this standard was taken by the Kazakhs, the third and fourth - by Belarusians and Ukrainians, respectively.
The passage in the anti-tank minefield with the help of the UR-77 demining installation was more successful than the others by sappers from Kazakhstan. The Ukrainian team lost only a little to them, the Russians were third, the hosts took the fourth place.
The last standard was the preparation of a foundation pit for shelter using the PZM-2. The driver-mechanic PZM-2 from the training center stationed in Nakhabino, Guards Private Vladimir Mokhnashchekov ensured the victory of the team from Russia. The second place was taken by the team of Kazakhstan, the third - by Belarus, the fourth - by Ukraine.
If the Ukrainian sergeants failed to become leaders in special training, then the officers, on the contrary, were lucky. Ukrainian officers took first place in the field training competition. Not much, but still the Russians lost to them, as a result they ended up in second position.
Like last time, the gathering was full of purely sports competitions. The teams competed in several sports: volleyball, football, kettlebell lifting and tug of war.
Belarusians excelled in volleyball, Ukrainians - in football. There were no equal weightlifters from Russia, and in the individual competition, all three prizes were won by the Russians. Guards Major Dmitry Titov (pictured below) won first place, Guards Sergeants Roman Chernega and Alexander Rogachev won second and third respectively. With the help of a rope, the Ukrainian team pulled everyone over to its side, it was also the best in amateur performances.
“All the participants demonstrated high professionalism, and it can be said with confidence that, by and large, there were no losers in the competition, that friendship really won,” said Lieutenant-General Stepan Matus, Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who led the Russian delegation at the gathering. – In these summer days, thanks to the excellent organization of the event by the Belarusian side, its cordiality and hospitality on the outskirts of Minsk, the armies of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan have come closer together. On the engineering, or on the sapper, so to speak, direction ...
Next year, a gathering of engineering units is planned to be held in Ukraine. It is possible that the number of participating countries will increase.
The photographs were provided by the Office of the Chief of Engineering Troops of the Russian Armed Forces.

A new page in the history of Russian engineering troops began in the early 1990s. in connection with the collapse Soviet Union, the creation on the basis of the Soviet Armed Forces of the Russian Army and the implementation of military transformations in the Russian Federation that meet the requirements of the emerging military-political situation.

Reforming the organizational structure

In the context of the destruction of the single military-strategic space of the countries of the socialist camp, the cessation of the activities of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, the emergence of sovereign states in the post-Soviet space that began the construction of national armed forces, which included more than 90 formations, units and institutions of the engineering troops of the Soviet Army, before the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the head of the engineering troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, it became necessary to solve extremely complex problems: the reconstruction of the engineering troops as part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the definition of their rational organizational and staffing structure, and the increase in their technical equipment. the main objective in solving these problems was to create such engineering troops that could ensure the functioning of the defensive system Russian state with a sharp reduction in military spending, which, in the opinion of the military-political leadership of the state, was possible only through the creation of a powerful mobile reserve in the group of engineering troops.

The most important feature of the creation of a new grouping of engineering troops was that in the early 90s. from the territories of states of Eastern Europe and the former republics of the USSR were withdrawn with the simultaneous disbandment of 64 formations and units, about

11 200 units engineering equipment, more than 12,800 wagons of engineering ammunition and property. After the withdrawal, all formations and units were settled on the existing bases of units of the engineering troops of the army, district and central subordination. Most of the withdrawn units were located in the Leningrad, Moscow, Volga, North Caucasian and Ural military districts.

The reorganization of the engineering troops was carried out with their significant reduction, which required the development of such an organizational and staffing structure in which units and formations would have not only high mobilization and combat readiness, but also the ability to perform combat and national economic tasks with available forces and means.

The solution to this problem was carried out as follows: firstly, combat units were deployed in a regular peacetime organization capable of performing priority tasks of engineering support for covering the state border, the actions of troops in "hot spots" during peacekeeping operations, as well as in the course of combat training and in the daily activities of the military districts; secondly, a system was developed for guaranteed deployment of formations and units of engineering troops in wartime and engineering support for the strategic deployment of the RF Armed Forces.

At the same time, one of the main requirements for the engineering troops was that they had to retain the ability to perform the state tasks assigned to them in peacetime.

When improving the organizational and staffing structure of the engineering troops, the main attention was paid to the transition to the brigade system (battalions and personnel of brigades and regiments were reorganized into reduced engineering brigades, in their organizational and staffing structure as close as possible to the wartime structure.), Formation of storage bases military equipment (BKhVT), intended for conducting mobilization work, maintenance, storage of engineering weapons and material reserves, as well as issues of management and communications, organization of a mine detection service, a significant strengthening of the engineering units of the military level and equipping them with armored means.

Taking into account the experience of the military operations of the troops in the Chechen campaigns, an engineering and sapper brigade was formed in the North Caucasian Military District, consisting of separate battalions capable of independently performing the tasks of engineering support, and, first of all, demining the terrain and objects. In addition, an engineer brigade of central subordination is deployed to perform suddenly arising tasks. The experience of its application in ensuring the entry and deployment of peacekeeping forces in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict confirmed the correctness of such a decision.

To eliminate the consequences of major man-made accidents and natural disasters, several separate engineering teams were additionally deployed as part of the engineering troops, the presence of which in peacetime made it possible to significantly reduce possible damage to the country's economic facilities and the population, to train and accumulate personnel trained to perform engineering support tasks in extreme conditions and in peacetime.

Along with carrying out these activities, the tables for the staffs of the formations and units of the engineering troops were refined in accordance with the military-geographical and climatic conditions of their places of deployment: for example, equipment that was of limited use in the conditions of the Arctic was excluded from the states of the formations and parts of the northern regions. At the same time, engineering troops received equipment that made it possible to increase the efficiency of performing engineering support tasks while reducing their numbers and switching to a cropped recruiting system.

The measures taken in terms of the reorganization of the engineering troops were complex and often contradictory. By the end of the 90s. the staffing of the engineering troops was reduced by 36%, their total number was 35 thousand military personnel, including about 16 thousand in the Ground Forces, 11 were disbanded, 13 formations and units were reorganized, All units were kept on a reduced staff ( about 6.5% of wartime needs).

The reorganization of the engineering troops was carried out under the leadership of the head of the engineering troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General V.P. Kuznetsov (1991-1999). In April 1999, Major General N.I. Hearts. His appointment coincided with the next stage in the reorganization of the engineering troops, as a result of which, at the beginning of 2000, 135 formations, units, institutions and military educational institutions remained in their composition, including: brigades - four, regiments - 18, special units - two, separate battalions - 33, BHVT - 12, mobilization depots - five, military educational institutions - three, training centers - four, research institutions - four, units of engineering and technical service - 57. However, quite serious sets of engineering troops of types of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: the engineering troops of the Strategic Missile Forces consisted of 19 separate engineer-sapper battalions and one training center; Air Force and Air Defense Engineering Troops - five engineer battalions and four ITO units; naval engineering troops - one separate road and seven separate marine engineering battalions, five mobilization depots and eight ITO units; engineering airborne troops- five engineering units and divisions.

The basis of the engineering troops in peacetime was made up of engineering and sapper and pontoon-bridge brigades, parts of the reduced composition and BHVI. The reduction in the number of personnel led to the transition from the brigade to the regimental organization of engineering troops of district and army subordination.

Improvement of engineering weapons

During the period under review, considerable attention was paid to the development of engineering weapons. The most complex and science-intensive tasks for the development of new models of engineering equipment and weapons were solved by the 15th Central Research Institute named after. D.M. Karbyshev, which was headed by major generals K.E. Kochetkov and A.M. Averchenko. The efforts of the scientists of the institute were focused on solving problems in three main areas: modernization of existing facilities; creation of special qualitatively new engineering facilities; development of dual-use equipment and selection for the army of funds produced for the needs of the national economy and meeting the requirements of the troops. The solution of the most complex and voluminous tasks was carried out jointly with scientists from the Military Engineering University.

The modernization of engineering weapons was carried out to increase their technical capabilities by replacing the base machines and finalizing the working equipment. An example of such a modernization was a universal caterpillar minelayer for the installation of all types of cluster mines based on the chassis of the GMZ-3 minelayer and the working equipment of the UMZ minelayer. Additional equipment was also developed for existing engineering vehicles.

Thus, the additional equipment to the regular IMR-2M manipulator increased its functionality - it became possible to collect non-exploded ammunition on the ground and load it onto vehicles for removal to destruction sites.

When developing engineering ammunition, priority was given to anti-tank mines - remote installation and anti-aircraft. The development of new anti-personnel mines was carried out taking into account the requirements of the Protocol of the new edition (1996) of the Geneva Convention on the reduction of civilian casualties in areas of mass use of anti-personnel minefields. In connection with the possible accession of the Russian Federation to the Ottawa Convention on the Complete Ban on the Production and Use of Anti-Personnel Mines, problems arose in creating alternative means capable of replacing them in a combat situation, organizing their production and accumulating the minimum necessary stocks.

Got further development means of engineering reconnaissance, installation and overcoming of mine-explosive barriers (MVZ), military fortification, camouflage and imitation.

Portable mine detectors of the IMP-2 type began to be used for reconnaissance of the MVZ, which ensure the search for any ammunition containing a minimum amount of metal. In order to ensure independent overcoming of the MVZ by armored military equipment, the engineering troops received track roller-knife trawls of the KMT-7KN type, capable of sweeping mines with non-contact magnetic fuses. To clear the paths of movement of troops, an armored demining vehicle BMR-3 was developed on a tank chassis, which was successfully used during Chechen campaigns. To make continuous passages, elongated demining charges and their means of transportation were improved. A sapper protective kit was also developed, including a suit made of Kevlar fabric, reinforced with armored plates, and special footwear that protects against high-explosive anti-personnel mines.

To perform tasks in the conditions of radioactive contamination, a robot-2 barrier vehicle, a bulldozer based on the T-10.32-8 tractor, an EOV-4422KZ excavator, a DZ-171.1KZ bulldozer, and a KC-35766K3 truck crane were created.

For the mechanization of earthworks, a trench machine BTM-4 was created, capable of performing work in frozen soils.

Much attention was paid to the creation of new designs of fortifications: a universal hiding-type firing structure (UOS) was developed for firing from machine guns, grenade launchers and portable anti-tank missile systems; a set of frame-fabric unified military fortifications was created to equip the positions of motorized rifle, tank and artillery units; container-type modular fortifications for equipping the main elements of command posts and medical posts; issues of using advanced materials in the construction of fortifications were developed.

To mask military equipment from optical reconnaissance equipment against snowy and green plant backgrounds, the following were developed: a universal camouflage station for making models of military equipment from polyurethane foam, texturing and camouflage painting of equipment and fortifications in the field; pneumatic models of weapons and equipment; a thermal catalytic emitter for imparting thermal revealing features to false objects; camouflage kits MKT-2S and MKT-ZL, masks for camouflaging weapons and military equipment from optical, radar reconnaissance equipment and guidance systems for high-precision weapons against plant backgrounds.

The most important direction in the development of engineering weapons was the creation of dual-use equipment, which included road vehicles, pontoon parks, landing and crossing facilities, bridge-building installations, excavation and trenching machines, excavators, drilling rigs, water production, purification and storage facilities, mobile power plants. , repair, lifting, sawmills, etc. For example, the EA-17 single-bucket excavator, tested in military conditions, was finalized and put into service. The solution to the problems of water supply to the troops was carried out in the direction of creating universal complexes based on reagentless technology - the station for complex water purification and desalination SKO-10 / 4-1A. To ensure the electrification of engineering work, an engineering power plant ED-16 with a capacity of 16 kW was developed.

Along with the development of engineering weapons since the early 2000s. comprehensive work began to be carried out to improve the technical equipment of the engineering troops - equipment with a shelf life of more than 25 years was withdrawn from the units, the re-equipment of engineering formations from trailed to tracked minelayers, road builders to engineering obstacles, road mine detectors to engineering reconnaissance vehicles began.

Central control bodies of the engineering troops

With the beginning of the Russian period of the engineering troops, their central control bodies were reorganized: the scientific and technical committee was removed from the staff of the directorate of the chief of engineering troops, the combat training department was transformed into the apparatus of the department of combat training and military educational institutions with a reduction of 60% of its number; The post of first deputy chief of the engineering troops was eliminated.

At the beginning of 1992, the positions of the leadership of the UNIV of the RF Ministry of Defense were performed by: Colonel General V.P. Kuznetsov - Chief of Engineering Troops of the RF Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General V.A. Vasiliev - Chief of Staff of the Engineering Troops - First Deputy of the NIV of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General

N.G. Topilin - Deputy NIV of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for armaments, Colonel I.G. Oleinik - Deputy NIV of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the preparation of theater operations, Major General V.V. Kelpsh - Head of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Engineering Troops, Major General M.S. Nefedov - Head of the Armaments and Supply Department, Colonel V.P. Menyailov - head of the department for the operation and repair of engineering equipment. In July 1992, Major General Yu.V. Krasnikov. Approval in the positions of the UNIV leadership took place in February-March 1993.

In the first half of the 90s. the UNIV was entrusted with the following tasks: organization and implementation of measures to prepare the territory of Russia in engineering terms to repel possible aggression, design and construction of fortified areas, command posts and other defense facilities in the western regions of Russia; control over the withdrawal of formations and units of engineering troops from the territories of the former socialist countries and union republics, their arrangement in new locations; engineering support for the localization and blocking of areas of armed conflicts, participation in peacekeeping operations on the territory of states of the near and far abroad; ensuring the readiness of parts of the engineering troops to carry out work to eliminate the consequences of accidents and man-made accidents and natural disasters.

The main units of the UNIV retained in general their appearance and structural features inherited from the Soviet Army, which indicated the continuity of the principles of building the central control bodies of the engineering troops in the new historical conditions. The main among these principles can be considered the correspondence of the organizational and staff structure to the level of tasks to be solved in command and control of subordinate troops. Therefore, even in the face of the inevitable decrease in the number of UNIV, which was determined by the general reduction of the RF Armed Forces, the command of the engineering troops managed to maintain a workable management structure. For example, the headquarters of the engineering troops in terms of quantitative composition almost did not change compared to the state of 1987, meanwhile, it included a department for the preparation of a theater of operations, command posts and capital construction of 10 people.

The optimization of the structure of the headquarters of the engineering troops resulted in a significant reduction in the number of support services, which made it possible, under the conditions of reduction, to retain the staff of the main departments of the headquarters - operational-reconnaissance and organizational-mobilization for the successful fulfillment of its main functions of directing and controlling the combat and mobilization training of engineering troops, developing strategies for their combat use, improving the organization of engineering troops at a new historical stage.

Changes in the organizational structure and strength of other units of the UNIV were relatively small: the staff of the combat training department and the VVUZ was reduced by three people and received a new name - the staff of the department of combat training, the groups in its composition were abolished; the management of editorial and publishing work in the troops was transferred to the headquarters of the engineering troops.

The greatest changes took place in the armaments management structure: instead of five departments in the new state, there were three left - planning and supply, engineering weapons and the engineering ammunition department. The departments of electrical equipment and special equipment, material assets and spare parts were abolished. The reduction in the number of management amounted to 18 people. (from 52 to 34) by reducing the number of civilian personnel.

The transfer of the functions of the disbanded departments to the remaining ones became an increasingly common phenomenon in the practice of managerial activity in the context of the continued reduction of the RF Armed Forces. In this case, there was not an enlargement of departments, but a combination of tasks to control the release of one or another type of SIV within one structural unit, which made higher demands on the professional training of weapons control officers - they had to be well versed in the entire range of SIV and be able to establish working contacts with industrial enterprises that were going through hard times due to the economic crisis of the 90s.

The Repair and Operation Department has completely retained its staff (34 people) and the structure, consisting of three departments and the energy supervision inspectorate, however, the name and nature of the activity of the third department have changed: instead of the military technical assistance department foreign countries(for obvious reasons - the cessation of the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs) a logistics department of the same number appeared. The group for the sale of military-technical property, created in 1990 to resolve issues related to the withdrawal of troops from the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics, continued to remain part of the repair and operation department.

In the organization of daily activities in the 90s. the command of the engineering troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation was guided by the "Regulations on the Directorates and Independent Departments of the Directorate

NIV MO USSR", approved by order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR of April 20, 1991, in general, valid until February 1993. Since the beginning of the 90s. the process of automation of managerial work in the engineering troops was developed. The main governing body for the introduction of new information technologies in the command and control of subordinate troops was the headquarters of the engineering troops, which was entrusted with: organizing and conducting operational support and coordination of work on the creation of engineering subsystems for automated control systems and ensuring control over the creation of material support for the developed automated control systems; the introduction of technical means of automation into the daily activities of the troops. To solve these problems, in accordance with the changing initial data, the Computing Center of the Engineering Troops was created, subordinated to the NIV of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In the future, it was planned to combine

The VTs with the command post of the chief of engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense, which was under construction since the end of 1989, into a single complex for command and control of engineering troops - the command post of the chief of engineering troops.

Thus, the command of the engineering troops, in organizing the daily work on the leadership of the troops, tried to meet the requirements for introducing new information technologies into the practice of command and control. Gradually, the process of managing units, institutions and enterprises of the engineering troops acquired the character of an automated exchange of information, in which formalized documents processed by computers played a predominant role.

Combat use and use in emergency response

The construction of the Russian engineering troops was carried out in the conditions of performing various and complex combat and national economic tasks, which indicated an increase in their role in the system of the RF Armed Forces: engineering support for the localization and blocking of areas of armed conflicts, suppression of armed clashes and separation of the warring parties not only on the territory Russia, but also carried out through the UN Security Council or in accordance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation; preparation in engineering terms of the territory of Russia to repel possible aggression, including the design of command posts and other defense facilities.

The great efforts of the engineering troops were required to carry out work to eliminate man-made accidents and natural disasters, demining terrain and objects, considerable attention was paid to protecting bridges and hydraulic structures during ice drift and floods, and providing assistance to the population during floods.

New political realities set before the military-political leadership of Russia the task of not only eliminating military conflicts, attempts to destroy the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, but also protecting the borders of other CIS states.

High professionalism and courage were shown by the soldiers of the engineering troops during the events on the Tajik-Afghan border in July-August 1993, fulfilling the Decree of the President of Russia and the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the defense of the border: in the shortest possible time they installed mine-explosive barriers in probable directions actions of bandit formations, fortification equipment for frontier outposts was made, tasks to provide troops with water were completed. In total, more than 200 thousand mines were installed to cover the border. Simultaneously with the solution of these tasks, the training of relevant military specialists, including those for the Armed Forces of Tajikistan, began. For their courage and heroism, 52 officers of the engineering troops were awarded state awards, including 26 of them - the Order "For Personal Courage". This work was carried out mainly by volunteer sappers, students of the Military Engineering Academy who served in Afghanistan: Lieutenant General Yu.V. Krasnikov, S.A. Tertyshnikov, colonels E.A. Sokolov, Yu.V. Cherenshchikov, M.V. Firsov, A.K. Kovtun, Major Yu.P. Chernenko and others.

In 1994, the engineering troops ensured the entry, deployment and operations of peacekeeping forces in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian military conflict. The following tasks were assigned to them: reconnaissance of the terrain, movement routes, areas of location and positions of troops for the presence of mine-explosive barriers; clearance of roads, helipads, locations of peacekeeping forces; search and destruction of explosive objects: restoration of the destroyed section of the road during the operation to clean up the Kodori Gorge; fortification equipment, areas, positions, checkpoints and posts occupied by troops. In the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, more than 12,000 explosive objects were discovered and destroyed, a large number of various fortifications were equipped, more than 650 hectares of terrain were checked for the presence of explosive objects. In carrying out these tasks, the newly formed sapper battalion of the engineer-sapper brigade of central subordination received a baptism of fire, which, within just one day, was transferred by military transport aviation to the city of Gudauta, located in the north of Abkhazia, and then, in a short time, made a 120 km march to the designated area Gali district of Abkhazia.

Many officers, sergeants and soldiers of the engineering troops were awarded high state awards for the successful demining of the area while ensuring the entry and deployment of peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia. So, senior lieutenant R.G. Bersenev was awarded the high title of Hero of Russia (posthumously), the Colonel was awarded the Order of Courage

A.V. Nizhalovsky, lieutenant colonels V.A. Dyachenko, N.T. Salamahin, Major Yu.A. Yamanov, senior lieutenants S.M. Vasilevsky, R.I. Bunny.

One of the main tasks for the engineering troops since the mid-90s. was the engineering support for the actions of the troops in the Chechen Republic. Since December 1994, the engineering troops were entrusted with the task of ensuring the organized entry of troops into the territory of the republic, blocking and storming the city of Grozny and other settlements. To ensure the advancement of groupings of troops to Grozny, taking into account the experience of Afghanistan, six reinforced movement support detachments were created, each of which included reconnaissance, barrier and support groups. During the conduct of hostilities, engineering troops performed the tasks of reconnaissance and neutralization of mines and land mines of the enemy, as well as the destruction of road facilities, the construction of barriers to cover their troops, fortification equipment of the area, extraction and purification of water.

The task of clearing the area from explosive objects was one of the most difficult for the engineering troops. Despite the fact that the battles of the last war ended long ago, in the vast area where the battles raged, there were many mines, bombs, shells that killed people and especially children. The number of explosive objects neutralized and destroyed by sappers in the post-war years amounted to tens of millions.

In the last decade, about 100 thousand such items have been destroyed annually, for which over one and a half thousand specialists from the engineering troops were involved.

At the turn of the new millennium, as before, one of the main tasks for the engineering troops remains the readiness to ensure the actions of the Armed Forces to protect the state integrity of the country. Since 1999, the most important task for the engineering troops has been to ensure the counter-terrorist operation of the Joint Group of Forces in the North Caucasus region. During the ongoing counter-terrorist operation, the following tasks were assigned to the engineering troops.

At the first stage (from August 28 to October 1, 1999) - engineering support for the defeat of militants in Dagestan, the liberation of captured settlements, and the implementation of counter-terrorist measures throughout the border area with Chechnya. During the second stage (from October 2 to November 25, 1999), they solved the tasks of engineering support to liberate the flat part and create security zones on the territory of Chechnya. At the third stage, the implementation of engineering tasks and activities acquired a specific character. This was due to the fact that the engineering troops were forced to perform tasks unusual for them - to ensure: the safety of the functioning of the authorities in the liberated territory; return of internally displaced persons to their places of permanent residence; blocking the routes and preventing the exit of illegal armed groups from the territory of Chechnya to the adjacent regions; completion of the defeat of large strongholds and bases of militants; establishing control over all regions of the Chechen Republic.

The specifics of the engineering support of the counter-terrorist operation necessitated the creation of a group of engineering troops, the basis of which was

14 engineering battalions of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, VV of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The number of personnel of the engineering troops did not exceed 4% of the total number of the United Group of Forces. Despite this, the engineering troops completed a significant amount of work: they laid 200 km of minefields, where up to 800 militants were destroyed, discovered and neutralized more than 300 thousand explosive objects, checked about 500 objects for the presence of mines, cleared

400 hectares of farmland destroyed 200 militant defenses; built 98 km of mountain road; built two floating bridges and restored two capital bridges; dug and equipped about 9 thousand trenches and shelters with a total volume of excavated soil of more than

2.2 million cubic meters; mined and cleaned 200 thousand tons of drinking water.

The motherland appreciated the contribution of the engineering troops to the defeat of gangs. A significant part of the servicemen was awarded and presented for awarding high government awards. Only in the UNIVERSITY of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, four servicemen were awarded the Order of Courage, and nine were awarded the Order for Military Merit. Major General A.S. Krasnikov, lieutenant colonels V.A. Rostovshchikov, S.V. Zhuikov (posthumously), majors O.V. Kryukov,

A.I. Kobin (posthumously), Captain A.Yu. Zhuravlev (posthumously), senior lieutenants

V.L. Marienko (posthumously), A.M. Kolgatin (posthumously) and Private E.G. Borisov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia. In terms of the number of Heroes of Russia in terms of a thousand people in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the engineering troops have the highest figure, which confirms their commitment to the glorious traditions of our army.

The successful fulfillment of combat missions by the engineering troops in various "hot spots" largely depended on the skillful leadership of them by the Office of the Chief of the Engineering Troops. Suffice it to say that only the head of the engineering troops of the RF Ministry of Defense, Colonel General

N.I. Serdtsev traveled for direct leadership and assistance to the troops of the Joint Group in the North Caucasus region more than 10 times. Timely and efficiently completed the tasks of covering the Russian-Georgian border of the engineering troops under the leadership of the chief of staff of the engineering troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Lieutenant General A.S. Shustov, and the construction of an 87 km long road in mountainous conditions, headed by the Deputy Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General N.G. Antonenko, has no analogues.

Military engineering preparation of the country's territory

Despite the difficult political, economic, social situation in Russia in the 90s.

XX century, at the organizational level, certain steps were taken in the field of engineering equipment of the country's territory. As part of the headquarters of the engineering troops, a department for the preparation of theater operations, command posts and capital construction of 10 people was created, which solved the problem of creating an administrative body designed to manage the engineering equipment of the territory of the Russian Federation within the newly defined strategic and operational areas, which since the beginning of the 90 x years. began to replace the usual TVD. Taking into account the large volume of upcoming events, the theater preparation department immediately set about solving the problem of determining the scope of research work and establishing close relationships with other branches of the military and civilian organizations in order to create a unified system of military infrastructure on the territory of the border military districts.

Simultaneously with the improvement of the organizational and staffing structure in the Department

The NIV of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation substantiated the creation of groupings of engineering troops to cover new strategic and operational areas, especially in areas of potential military conflicts, the composition and equipment of the units and subunits included in them were specified. Due to the fact that the command was not able to proportionally distribute forces in directions, the main attention in creating a single group of engineering troops for operations in a threatened period was given to strengthening the border districts, primarily Leningrad, North Caucasus and Moscow. The reason for this was, as noted by military analysts, the fact that "Russia's land borders are 300 kilometers longer than the borders of former USSR. Their conflict potential is much higher.” In some other military districts, for example, in the Volga and Far East, it was planned to deploy most of the pontoon-bridge units.

Military engineering education

Leading educational and scientific center, as before, there remained the Military Engineering Academy, headed by Lieutenant General V.A. Vasiliev, Yu.V. Krasnikov and A.B. Shevchuk.

In 1998, in accordance with the concept of reforming military education, the academy merged the engineering and fortification faculty with the command faculty into a common command and engineering faculty, the correspondence department was transformed into a correspondence department, retraining courses for officers were abolished, with the assignment of their tasks to the retraining faculty and advanced training, a special faculty is being deployed on the basis of a special department for the training of foreign military personnel.

1998 The Military Engineering Academy is renamed into the Military Engineering University, with the inclusion of the Nizhny Novgorod Higher Military Engineering Command School (formerly Kaliningrad), the Tyumen Higher Military Engineering Command School and the St. Petersburg Higher Military Topographical School as branches command school renamed as institutes.

Until 2006, the Military Engineering University was a multidisciplinary higher military educational institution, which trained command and engineering officers for all branches of the Armed Forces (Ground Forces, Strategic Missile Forces, Air Defense, Navy), specialists for the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the Topographic Service , Internal and Border Troops of Russia and the armies of other states.

The Tyumen branch of the university specialized in training officers with higher military special education for Air Force, the Central Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Central Road Administration, other ministries and departments that require a specific educational and material base and teaching methods.

The Nizhny Novgorod branch of the university, located in the city of Kstovo on the Volga, has long remained the base educational institution for the training of engineering personnel for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

In St. Petersburg, military topographers and surveyors were trained. Such a network and the capacity of military educational institutions provided for the needs of the Armed Forces, other ministries and departments in the specialists of the engineering troops, made it possible to recruit cadets in the Central and Eastern regions of Russia.

As a result of the reorganization, the Military Engineering University became a single educational, methodological and scientific center for engineering troops, which made it possible to quickly solve scientific problems and issues of methodological support. educational process, training of scientific and pedagogical personnel, to provide a practical orientation in the training of students and cadets. In the early 2000s At the university, officer training was carried out at eight faculties, a correspondence department, 33 departments (11 eleven general university and 22 faculty), in three branches that had sufficient scientific and pedagogical potential.

In total, 40 doctors, more than 260 candidates of military, technical and other sciences worked at the university. Of these, 45 had the academic title of professor, more than 200 - associate professor and senior researcher. Eleven university scientists had the honorary title "Honored Worker of Science of the Russian Federation", and three - "Honored Worker of high school RF". Organization of training and methodical work at the university was carried out in accordance with the established requirements and provided training for students in 16 specialties and five specializations, including cadets in four science-intensive engineering specialties. A new phenomenon in the training of students is that some of them, in order to gain practical skills, are sent for internships in combat areas, in particular, in the North Caucasian Military District.

One of major areas activity of the academy (university) in these years was scientific work. In the context of a significant reduction in funding for science, the main efforts in scientific work were aimed at solving the problems of reforming the engineering troops, summarizing the experience of engineering support for combat operations in armed conflicts and local wars, development of the theory of engineering equipment of the country's territory. Scientists of the academy (university) took an active part in the development of the fundamental statutory documents of the engineering troops. The materials of the conducted research became the basis for the preparation of dissertations, monographs, the development of new textbooks, teaching aids and lectures on the profile of departments and faculties of the university.

The system of training junior specialists of engineering troops has undergone significant changes. By the beginning of the 2000s. their training was carried out on the basis of four interspecies regional (6, 187, 399, 47 training centers) and district training centers for

27 specialties.

Engineering and technical support

The most difficult problem for the Directorate of the NIV of the RF Ministry of Defense in the post-Soviet period can rightly be considered the technical equipment of engineering troops - the development and adoption of new engineering weapons, placing orders for their production in industry, organizing maintenance, repair and storage of engineering equipment, supply spare parts, etc. The lack of funding had a particularly acute effect on the entire cycle of engineering equipment production - from scientific research and development of technical documentation for military and field testing of finished samples, organization of mass production of promising SIVs, including dual-use equipment. With the transition to market relations, the well-established system of supplying troops with engineering equipment began to give tangible failures.

One of the first steps taken by the Directorate of the NIV of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to rectify the current situation was to set the task for commanders and headquarters to remove NZ equipment from storage and equip active units and subunits of engineering troops with it based on the instructions of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. Of course, this was a forced step that did not completely solve the problem, since as a result of such measures, the mobilization reserve of engineering weapons that had been created over the years was reduced. And in general in the 90s. there was a very tense situation in providing engineering troops modern technology. The situation was aggravated by the fact that a significant part of the engineering equipment and weapons that were in the troops was gradually exhausting its resource, morally obsolete. The organization of competent operation, timely maintenance and repair of engineering weapons in the face of a significant shortage of personnel, especially in military repair bodies, unsatisfactory supply of engineering troops with spare parts, tools and consumables was a serious problem for the practical activities of the operation and repair department as part of UNIV MO RF.

The loss of a significant part of the production base for the production of engineering weapons after the collapse of the USSR had a negative effect on the technical equipment of the troops with engineering equipment. The most noticeable loss was the cessation of deliveries of KrAZ heavy trucks to the troops, which were the main base wheeled vehicle for engineering equipment, since the Kremenchug Automobile Plant, which produces these vehicles, ended up on the territory of Ukraine, which refused military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation. This situation made it impossible for the task of further mass production of many types of engineering equipment produced on the basis of a powerful, off-road vehicle KrAZ, which had long been mastered by the engineering troops. I had to use other cars for similar purposes, such as the Ural, which, in turn, were not so powerful and passable. Similar problems existed in the development of other classes of engineering equipment.

Lieutenant General, Deputy Director of the Center social adaptation military personnel "Russia-NATO"

Born February 14, 1947 on the farm Susat, Rostov Region, Semikarakorsky District, on the Lower Don. Father - Antonenko Georgy Ivanovich (1910-1985), worker. Mother - Antonenko (Popova) Maria Kirillovna (born in 1921). Wife - Nadezhda Mikhailovna (Kucheryavenko). Daughter - Svetlana (born in 1970). Son - Nikolai (born in 1974). Granddaughter - Maria. Grandchildren: Maxim, Dmitry, Ilya.
Nikolai was born immediately after his brother Peter - they are twins. Soon a sister and a younger brother appeared in the family. Memoirs of Nikolai Georgievich about the early years of his life fit in one phrase: "childhood was very difficult." The Antonenko family fully recognized devastation and hunger post-war years on the Don.
Nikolai's father went to the front as a volunteer, fought back from the first to the last day of the Great Patriotic War. He was an ordinary sapper, went to reconnaissance, participated in the assault on Königsberg during the large-scale East Prussian operation of the Soviet troops. He returned home as a sergeant, albeit with a wound, but safe and sound, which was not a frequent occurrence for sappers. And then until the end of his life he worked in the forge.
Kolya often helped his father, and he revealed to him the secrets of working with metal, which would be useful for a future military engineer. Nikolai was not successful in growth, but, as the people say, he was small, but he was successful: among the children, he was always a leader, he did not want to give in to anyone and in nothing. He knew how to stand up for himself, and his uncle, Vladimir Kirillovich Popov, taught his nephew some tricks. In 1954, Nikolai was assigned to an elementary school. Then there was an eight-year-old, he graduated with excellent grades. In the 9th and 10th grades, Nikolai studied, already working at the state farm, at an evening school in the regional center - the city of Semikarakorsk. During this period, he was full of unstoppable energy, expectations and optimism. He participates in the work of the school Komsomol organization, is actively involved in sports: he plays volleyball, football, goes to the equestrian sports section, shooting.
In 1964, Nikolai received a matriculation certificate and seriously thought about choosing a life path. Parents believed that Nikolai's brother, Peter, who had a military streak, would go to military school, and Nikolai - to the institute. Peter, however, did not want to become a military man. “Then I’ll be a military man,” Nikolai decided. In the same year, the whole village accompanied him to the Tyumen Military Engineering School (now the Tyumen branch of the Moscow Military Engineering University). Like his father, he wanted to be a sapper.
Entry exams passed successfully. True, at the mandate commission, the head of the school, Major General B.V. Zatylkin doubted whether Nikolai would be able to serve in the engineering troops. In those days, military engineers needed power in the literal sense of the word. The troops did not have the current military engineering equipment with automated control systems. In order to deploy, say, a pontoon bridge, remarkable physical strength was required. But everything worked out, and Nikolai became a cadet. Studying was easy for him, he became the champion of the boxing school, so the question of his physical readiness for future profession. A year later, Nikolai was appointed commander of the training department. This was an exception to the rule, recognition by the command and fellow students of his authority: at the school, not yesterday's schoolchildren were usually appointed to this position, but guys who had already served their military service, and there were many such among the cadets.
He graduated from college with honors in 1967. Taking advantage of the right to choose a future place of service as an excellent student, Nikolai decides to go to serve in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. True, instead of the GDR, he ended up in Novocherkassk - again of his own free will: a vacancy suddenly opened up there, and he asked to be sent there, because he wanted to be closer to his native places. Lieutenant Antonenko is appointed as a platoon commander in an engineering battalion stationed in Novocherkassk, the former capital of the Don Cossacks. The first instruction of the command is the construction of a checkpoint. A sapper, and in the civilian specialty that the school gave - a civil engineer, he coped with the task successfully: he developed his own project, organized the construction. The building he built is still standing today.
It was then that Nikolai Georgievich adopted such a motto - do not repeat yourself and fulfill orders as best as possible. During this period, he met with officers from the special forces unit of the Airborne Forces, also stationed in Novocherkassk. The young officer attracted the attention of the command of the paratroopers with his special and physical training, and soon Nikolai was offered to change his place of service. Three months later, an order came from the commander of the North Caucasian Military District (SKVO) to transfer to a new duty station.
N.G. Antonenko was appointed to the position of instructor for special training - assistant commander of the unit. The service was not easy, but interesting. His duties included training officers and non-commissioned officers in mine-explosive business, providing the unit with weapons and ammunition and storing them. There were parachute jumps, forced marches to a distance of 300 kilometers, a situation that required the adoption of immediate and independent decisions, which was very useful to officer Antonenko in the future.
In 1968, Nikolai Antonenko was offered an equivalent position in the Southern Group of Forces stationed in Hungary (1968-1973). The years of service there were for Nikolai Georgievich a time of serious maturation. The recognition of his business and human qualities was the election of the secretary of the party organization of the unit. Meetings with Hungarian brothers in arms, representatives of local party and state bodies demanded from him political consistency, the ability to properly build relations with the population of a friendly country. It was a useful experience for a future military leader.
In 1973, Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Antonenko received a new appointment and went to a military unit stationed in Volgograd. Part of the cropped, that is, apart from weapons and a few officers, there was nothing here, as well as solid combat training. Patience did not last long, and in the same year he was sent to a new duty station.
Nikolai Antonenko was appointed to the post of commander of a paratrooper company in a unit in Novocherkassk, where he began his officer career. Got in on the act quickly. A year after his appointment, he received from the hands of the first secretary of the Rostov Regional Committee of the CPSU I.A. Bondarenko pennant as the commander of the best company in the North Caucasus Military District. And in 1975 - a new promotion: he became the chief of staff of the pontoon-bridge battalion, which, in its structure and saturation with equipment, was, in fact, a regiment. The officers of the battalion almost every year carried out the deployment of units and units to wartime states, which meant the call-up of thousands of reservists from the "citizen". The battalion planned and conducted exercises, to which, as an extraordinary event in the life of the troops, the district command always paid special attention. The chief of staff was constantly in sight of the leadership of the North Caucasus Military District, which stimulated his zeal in the service.
In 1977, Nikolai Antonenko, who graduated from a secondary military educational institution with honors, having passed only one exam according to the existing situation, but with excellent marks, enters the Moscow Military Engineering Academy named after V.V. Kuibyshev. Becomes the best student on the course, the first to pass all tests and exams with excellent marks, he is appointed commander of the study group. He graduated from the Academy with honors and in 1981 was appointed to the Carpathian Military District (PrikVO) as deputy commander of an engineer regiment stationed in the city of Sambir (Ukraine). Two years later, he became the commander of this unit, at the same time the head of the Sambir garrison, was elected a deputy of the city council and a member of the city party committee. At this time, the unit was building a number of serious objects of military operational significance, including a buried command post for the military leadership of the Warsaw Pact, building tank routes for escorting columns from Rivne to Lvov training center and a very difficult road in the Carpathians. The last task was not easy, as the track was constantly washed away by rains. Antonenko understood everything in detail, consulted with local residents. A way out was found, and after the completion of the work, the technician could walk along the road at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. For success in combat and political training - such a wording was used then in the Soviet army lexicon - the regiment was awarded the challenge Red Banner of the District Military Council.
After the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU on "providing international assistance to the Afghan people" and the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the corresponding military contingent was being trained. In 1985, Lieutenant Colonel Antonenko, after a tough selection and conversations with high officials, was appointed commander of the 45th separate brigade engineer-sapper regiment stationed near the Afghan city of Charikar.
A week later, the new commander led his regiment to the first combat operation. Of course, it was not easy: it was necessary to understand the operational situation, to understand the role and place of the regiment in the grouping of troops, to deal with the tasks, to know where to expect trouble. Having figured it out, Nikolai Antonenko no longer experienced great difficulties in organizing subsequent hostilities. There was only one problem - the ubiquitous dust and mosquitoes. fighting were carried out by the regiment practically throughout Afghanistan. Tasks: conducting military columns, mine clearing and mining of the terrain - one is more difficult than the other, and there are twelve of them in total.
The regimental commander, seemingly devoid of any fear, was always in front of his subordinates, contrary to the statutory requirements. The main thing for him was human life. The losses among the personnel of the regiment were the smallest throughout the 40th Army. N.G. Antonenko put into practice the simulation of actions before going on a combat mission: a layout of the terrain was created, and each participant in the upcoming military operation spoke out his future actions, applying to the terrain. The soldiers and sergeants, not to mention the officers, knew their maneuver in such a way that they aroused the surprise of the army command, who came to the regiment with inspections. A part of them occupied, as a rule, the first places in all indicators, and personnel deservedly received orders, award hours, letters. The regiment receives the challenge Red Banner of the Military Council of the Turkestan Military District (TurkVO), and the regiment commander - the rank of "colonel". The real commander, a true comrade-in-arms in these Afghan fiery years was and remained in the memory of Nikolai Georgievich the head of the engineering troops, Lieutenant-General Valentin Mefodievich Yaremchuk.
In 1987, after two years of hostilities, they were to return to the territory of the USSR. Commander of the TurkVO, Colonel-General N.I. Popov had long noticed a well-trained officer and suggested to Colonel N.G. Antonenko, an unprecedented promotion by army standards - the post of chief of staff of the engineering troops of the district. At the new location, Antonenko is engaged in the liquidation of the warehouses of Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the Hairatan region, removes the bridge over the Amu Darya River in the Ayvaj region from the Afghan side - it was a complex engineering operation, builds bridges and crossings on the Pyanj River. During the same period, he organized the construction of platoon and company strongholds and battalion defense areas along the state border in the zone of responsibility of the Turkestan military district, which by 1988 merged with the Central Asian military district (SAVO). In 1989, Colonel General N.I. Popov is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Strategic Direction. He offers N.G. Antonenko the post of head of the engineering troops of the headquarters. But a promising officer asks to be released to study at the Academy of the General Staff, receives consent and becomes her listener.
After graduating from the academy in 1991, N.G. Antonenko was appointed head of the engineering troops of the Baltic Military District (PribVO), which was then commanded by Colonel General F.M. Kuzmin, and the head of the engineering troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense was Colonel-General V.P. Kuznetsov, who knew N.G. Antonenko for joint service in the PrikVO. He arrived at his new duty station from vacation ten days ahead of schedule, and it was then that the events of August 1991, sad for the Soviet Union, took place. The new chief of the engineering troops of the district had to deal not with the combat and political training of his subordinates, but with the withdrawal of troops from the territory of the Baltic republics.
The withdrawal of troops was carried out in difficult political conditions, often at gunpoint by local nationalists. Despite this, Major General N.G. Antonenko successfully organizes everything and receives the necessary documents for the withdrawal of troops, equipment and weapons from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Managed to take out everything to the last bolt. Under the strictest control, nothing was lost or stolen, which often happened in such an environment. Nikolai Georgievich was one of the authors of the scheme, according to which all officers returning to Russia received housing. After a successful operation, N.G. Antonenko is offered the post of deputy chief of the engineering troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
In Moscow, he entered the disposal of the head of the engineering troops of the RF Ministry of Defense. General Antonenko is included in the operational group of the General Staff, created to organize the entry of troops into the Chechen Republic, the leadership of which has embarked on the path of separatism. He is directly involved in the preparation of the operation, controls the transfer of troops by rail. He was in the operational group until January 1995, after which he was appointed deputy chief of the engineering troops of the RF Ministry of Defense for armaments. The nature of Nikolai Georgievich's work is changing dramatically: now he is engaged in the development of new equipment, its testing, adoption, procurement, and organization of operation and repair. But he, as always, is drawn to live work, and when the opportunity arose, he began to oversee the combat training of the engineering troops. The general inspects the troops, heads the state examination boards in specialized schools and the academy. A real test of maturity, courage and skill was the task assigned to the engineering troops by the Chief of the General Staff for the construction of the South Caucasian Rokada along the Main Caucasian ridge. The organizer and direct supervisor of the construction was General N.G. Antonenko. He himself went to engineering intelligence, 94 kilometers of the roadway were built without preliminary preparation and design in three months. The troops called this road "Road Antonenko".
On the combat account of the general there will be another armed conflict - the events in Transnistria. He will directly organize the withdrawal of troops and equipment from the unrecognized republic of Transnistria. During this period, he would get to know its president, I.N. Smirnov. Only the accumulated experience of dealing with difficult and uncomfortable opponents and negotiators allowed him to convince the parties involved in the conflict to allow Russia to take out the equipment in the volumes that it planned. At this time, Nikolai Georgievich was awarded the military rank of "lieutenant general".
N.G. Antonenko retired from the Armed Forces in May 2002. His former chief, who at one time commanded the North-Western Group of Forces, Colonel General L.S. Mayorov, who headed the Russia-NATO Center for Social Adaptation of Military Personnel, created in the same year in Moscow by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and NATO, invited him to be his assistant, and then his deputy. Since then, N.G. Antonenko is working in this post. Makes a significant and concrete contribution to the social protection of military personnel, citizens discharged from military service, and members of their families. The Center provides consulting support, if necessary, gives the dismissed servicemen the opportunity to undergo professional retraining assists them in finding employment. Branches of the Center operate in six cities of Russia. N.G. Antonenko organizes their work, establishes business relations, seeks a common language and understanding with the command structures of the North Atlantic bloc. In particular, with the NATO Office for Economic Affairs of Defense and Security, the Information Office and the NATO Military Liaison Mission in Moscow. In the interests of Russian servicemen dismissed from the army, he seeks to increase funding for the work of the Center through the North Atlantic Alliance.
Lieutenant General N.G. Antonenko was awarded the Orders of the Red Star, Courage, "For Military Merit", "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree, medals, as well as the Imperial Military Order of the 1st degree of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, the Afghan Order of the Red Banner, the Order "For the Service of Russia" of the Federation of the Union of Cossacks, the Order of the Moscow Committee of War Veterans and Military Personnel of the Moscow House of Veterans of Wars and the Armed Forces, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky I degree of the Academy of Security, Defense and Law Enforcement. His merits were awarded with medals "For Strengthening the Combat Commonwealth", "300 Years of Engineering Troops", the badge of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation "For Mine Clearance", the badge of the commander of the North Caucasian Military District "For Service in the Caucasus", the badge railway troops"For excellent military service", badge "Instructor-parachutist" (171 jumps).
For a long time N.G. Antonenko provides active assistance to the Cossack movement. He was appointed chief of the Don Emperor Alexander III cadet corps. His meetings with the Cadets carry a great educational charge, laying in them the seeds of spirituality and patriotism. At the suggestion of Nikolai Georgievich, a cash prize was established for the best cadets in study and discipline. He is also a member of the Rostov community in Moscow, where he is responsible for organizing work with fellow countrymen from law enforcement agencies, military personnel, veterans of war, labor and military service.
Hobbies N.G. Antonenko: Russian billiards, fishing, hunting. He loves books from the series "Life of Remarkable People", distinguishes from them the book by A. Manfred "Napoleon Bonaparte".

Conducting hostilities, both local and large-scale in modern conditions necessarily implies their full-fledged engineering support and support. It is in this perspective that the engineering units and subunits of the Southern Military District are now preparing to carry out their assigned tasks. Major General Konstantin SMESHKO, Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Southern Military District, told the readers of the Orientir magazine about the course of combat training, the development of new equipment and weapons.

Comrade Major General, what forms of training personnel in the art of war are priority in subordinate units and subunits, and what methods of work are preferable?

Now we have to solve a number of tasks, the most important of which is to maintain high combat readiness of formations and units. Combat training is organized within the framework of the combat training system of the troops of the Southern Military District and includes the consistent acquisition by soldiers and sergeants of theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the specialty, their consolidation during regular field trips, camp training and exercises at various levels. The entire personnel of the district engineering brigade, engineer-sapper battalions of motorized rifle brigades and other special units take part in such events. For example, at the mountain training complex "Tsabal" a field exit of the engineering unit of the Russian military base stationed in the Republic of Abkhazia.

In the conditions of a mountainous and wooded area, military personnel learned to manage minefields, to detonate explosive

objects using fire and electric methods, conduct engineering reconnaissance of the area, erect fortifications, and also performed exercises in driving special and automotive equipment.

Particular attention during the field exercises was given to the development of a modern station for the extraction and purification of water SKO10 "Hygiene" and the latest non-contact mine detector "Korshun". The capabilities of the latter make it possible to detect explosive devices at a distance of up to 30 m both in the ground and snow, and in various structures and behind obstacles.

Further, more than 200 servicemen of the engineering units of the combined arms formations stationed on the territory of the Chechen Republic, with the involvement of about 50 units of military and special equipment, carried out training of tasks for their intended purpose as part of field exits at the Alpiysky, Gvardeisky and Kalinovsky training complexes.

During the training, the servicemen worked out the standards for engineering support for the actions of motorized rifle, tank and artillery units.

At the end of the field exits, they completed the tasks of making passages in mine explosive barriers with the help of a special charge of the demining installation.

Field exercises were carried out on specially equipped training places and engineering fields of educational complexes of connections.

But a kind of apogee of the course of combat training over the past time was the participation of military personnel in the strategic command and staff exercise "Kavkaz 2012", during which a wide range of tasks had to be performed. Let me remind you that on the eve of the active phase of the exercise, a special rear exercise was conducted. Here were shown the types of crossings over large water barriers. In particular, a pontoon bridge 452 meters long was built across the Don River. Ferry and landing crossings, tank crossings under water were also organized.

In preparation for the exercise, we also solved the tasks of fortifying equipment of lines, positions and areas, demining terrain and objects. We were engaged in the preparation and maintenance of movement and maneuver routes, concealment and imitation of important areas and objects using engineering weapons, local means and materials, and field power supply to the troops. And already in the course of practical actions, an important place was given to engineering reconnaissance of the enemy, terrain and objects. Moreover, such reconnaissance was carried out both by ground and air means. In addition, we were ordered to deal with the arrangement and maintenance of engineering barriers, making and maintaining passages in engineering barriers and destruction.

At the same time, I can notice that the command rated our actions as “good” and “excellent”. What has become for the personnel not only a source of pride, but also an incentive to maintain professional training at a high level and improve it. A number of military personnel were awarded medals from the Ministry of Defense.

Konstantin Evgenievich, the specifics of the service of your subordinates is such that they, like, perhaps, no one else, must “keep the gunpowder dry”, be ready at any moment and in any situation to carry out a real combat mission. Is it possible, and to what extent, to cope with it?

This is in the sense that even in peacetime, servicemen of engineering and combat units have to directly deal with the real demining of the area, the neutralization of certain ammunition. Thus, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the Government of the Russian Federation have set before us the task of demining the territories of the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia.

There is a very large amount of work here, in total it is necessary to clear 15,000 hectares. The demining battalion of about 500 people is engaged in this. As a rule, all lands cleared of explosive objects are then used as farmland. And in Ingushetia, in addition, it is planned to create a tourist cluster. Indeed, these places are very beautiful and attractive for domestic and foreign tourists. Take, for example, the Dzheyrakh Gorge, the area of ​​the medieval castle village of Vovnushki. So our work is directly related to the strengthening of peaceful life in the North Caucasus region, we help to make it prosperous and safe.

Works are being carried out in Shelkovsky, Groznensky, UrusMartanovsky, Shali and Kurchaloysky districts of the Chechen Republic, as well as in the Sunzha and Dzheyrakhsky districts of the Republic of Ingushetia.

When demining, sappers use BMRM armored demining vehicles based on the T-72 tank with a tracked mine trawl, IMR3 engineering clearing vehicles, as well as Korshun mine detectors that arrived in the Southern Military District in 2012 and protective suits for the Doublon sapper. In addition, experts from the mine detection service with specially trained dogs take part in the search for explosive objects.

In total, in 2013, sappers of the engineering troops of the Southern Military District will clear more than 600 hectares of agricultural land from explosive objects, as well as a number of important objects of the economic complex of the republics.

Last year, the forces of the engineering troops of the military district inspected about 1350 hectares, neutralized about 3.5 thousand various ammunition and explosive objects.

Planned annual indicators were fulfilled by 150%. Demining activities are planned until 2015. By this time, about 15,000 thousand hectares of agricultural land will be completely cleared of explosive objects by the forces of engineering units of the Southern Military District.

I must say that the fulfillment of such tasks requires great professionalism and high responsibility from the personnel. Here, sappers operate, one might say, in a real combat situation, and the well-known proverb about a sapper who has no right to make a mistake is more relevant here than anywhere else. Here is a recent example. Our servicemen found minefields in the demining area, laid by unknown units; no documentation on them could be found in the archives. Ammunition was mixed type, both anti-tank and anti-personnel, also set to non-removability. And only the highest training of the personnel, correctly and efficiently organized work made it possible to ensure demining without losses and incidents. This is a great merit of the head of the operational group of the Southern Military District, Colonel Alexander Nesterenko and the commander of the demining battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Matorin.

It is easy to assume that professional training military personnel of the demining battalion implies the presence of special qualities, knowledge and experience. How and where are people prepared for such a difficult job? Where do you draw, so to speak, personnel?

First of all, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the demining battalion serves exclusively under contract. That is, they are already mature, experienced fighters, who understand well what responsible step they have taken. Each of them without fail completed a course of study at the training centers of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the Volgograd and Moscow regions. They are licensed to work with explosives. In addition, there is a well-established system for additional training of such servicemen. This allows us to exclude cases of death or injury of personnel, which we manage to avoid today.

It can be added that a similar scenario for the training of personnel is also being implemented when performing the tasks of clearing our military ranges from explosive objects, as well as the disposal of ammunition during the Great Patriotic War.

I will add a few words about what is commonly called the echo of the past war. As you know, one of the greatest battles of the Great Patriotic War unfolded near Stalingrad, and this is the territory of the current Southern Military District. And we still very often have to cleanse the earth from the sinister messengers of those terrible years. In 2013, more than 1.5 thousand explosive items and various ammunition from the Great Patriotic War, weighing more than 2 tons, were removed, transported to the disposal site and defused by engineering units of the Southern Military District. During this time, demining teams have completed more than 170 applications from the departments of the regional military commissariat with a trip to the place of detection in 6 cities and 33 districts of the Volgograd region.

A little more about the training of junior specialists for our units and divisions. Most of them are trained in interspecies training center Southern Military District, stationed in the Volgograd region. Not so long ago, more than 1,000 junior specialists of the engineering troops graduated, who were trained in more than 20 military specialties that are in demand by us.

Upon completion of the 3.5-month course and successful completion of the final exams, military personnel are sent to pass further service to military units and formations of the Southern, Central and Western military districts.

The center provides training for excavators, crane operators, bulldozer drivers, tractors, bridge layers, drivers of caterpillar floating transporters and engineering reconnaissance vehicles.

Military divers are also trained here, who learn to conduct engineering, special, rescue and evacuation and engineering reconnaissance diving operations with immersion to a depth of 60 meters.

They must be able to find explosive devices at depth and extract them to the surface, work on metal, clear the riverbed. During the training period, divers spend up to 60 training hours underwater.

As for the officers, the vast majority of them now come to us after graduating from the branch of the Military Academy of the RCB Protection Troops and Engineering Troops (Tyumen). For us, this is now the main forge of personnel.

And do all of them get the opportunity to serve in the specialty chosen at the military university, are there any who are disappointed? Are there opportunities for improvement in the profession?

Fortunately, this problem is not relevant for us now. Of the young officers who came to us last year, all received appropriate official appointments. Moreover, we observed a small shortage officers, which we replenished with officers of the 2013 graduates.

There are several factors influencing this situation. It is important, of course, that the country's leadership has shown real concern for the level of social security and security of military personnel. Under conditions of good service, people now receive quite a decent monetary reward, enjoy a number of benefits and advantages established by the current legislation. Further, we have almost completely solved the housing problem. All eligible servicemen are provided with official housing. Now literally a few people are waiting for their turn to receive apartments, and that is because they are waiting for them in the chosen region.

And that is not all. Over the past 23 years, about 20 officers who had previously been dismissed due to organizational measures have returned to us. Many people are still applying to recruiting offices with a request to re-conclude a contract with the Ministry of Defense, there has even been some competition, we have a choice.

I think that it is also important that serving in our district is prestigious and interesting from a professional point of view, there are incentives. It is in our units and subdivisions that samples of the latest equipment and weapons are received: armored suits of the new type "Dublon", the latest development of suits "Sable" and so on. Newly deployed engineering team The Southern Military District also received the most modern models of equipment. Even 2 Western European bulldozers from Liebherr were purchased for us under a defense order. They have already entered service and took part in the camp gathering, having proven themselves well in performing real tasks.

The newest domestic technology and weapons samples are being tested with us, we identify possible shortcomings and prospects for modernization. Indeed, sometimes we have difficult conditions for combat use: high mountains, high humidity, significant temperature changes. Then this equipment is supplied to other units and divisions of the Russian Armed Forces in an improved form.

I can add that we pay serious attention to improving the skills of specialists and their professional growth. I happened to serve in various regions and military districts of our country. And I can state with confidence that nowhere is the study and promotion of best practices so thoroughly and systematically as it is done in the engineering unit and engineering units of the Southern Military District. Perhaps, because until recently it was the most "belligerent" district, the achievements of colleagues are highly valued here. Indeed, experience is often sprinkled with blood. In each period of training, we develop, approve with the commander of the troops and send to the units methodological recommendations and teaching aids for military specialties. We are now paying special attention to methods and techniques for disarming improvised explosive devices, alas, this is still relevant today.

This year, we were given a new task to discover and bury the remains of Soviet soldiers who died in the Elbrus region during the battle for the Caucasus. The case is unusual for us, but very responsible and honorable. We have trained the personnel involved in this operation with the necessary skills. In the difficult conditions of the highlands, the task assigned to us was completed.

So our servicemen, as always, are at the forefront both in mastering new equipment and in real combat work. And this inspires pride in their profession and the desire to do the assigned work as best as possible.

Interview took

Yuri SELEZNEV