19 separate special-purpose company. Special Forces units have become victims of fashion for their name. Soldiers of unconventional warfare
In just a few years, units and subunits of the Special Forces have experienced an amazing round of development: from a serious reduction and reassignment to the formation of new brigades and even battalions, re-equipment with the latest models of weapons and military equipment, communications equipment, reconnaissance and surveillance devices. But, even despite the successful actions of "polite people" in the Crimea, the Russian special forces have a lot of serious problems.
Everything that has been happening since 2009 in special forces units and subunits has received from the special forces themselves the rather apt name “chaotic throwing” or, even more simply, “chaos”. As they joke in the units and subunits of the Special Forces: “ At first they withered, but now we are trying to bloom in a new way. But everything is somehow unsuccessful».
wild brigades
From the very beginning, announced by the ex-Minister of Defense and the former Chief of the General Staff, the transition to a new look, the special forces brigades underwent a sudden reduction and reorganization. Moreover, units and subunits of the Special Forces, by a strong-willed decision of the leadership of the military department, were reassigned to the intelligence department of the Ground Forces, leaving the structure of the GRU of the General Staff. But the department responsible for the special forces remained in the GRU.
In 2009, the 12th (city of Asbest) and 67th (Berdsk) special-purpose brigades were disbanded, and the 24th special forces brigade managed to change several locations in just a year and a half, moving first from near Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk, and then to Berdsk, losing with each movement of military personnel who did not want to continue serving in the new garrisons.
According to some reports, it was planned to disband the youngest brigade - the 10th brigade from the Krasnodar Molkino, created in 2003 to solve special tasks in the North Caucasus. True, the situation in the region forced them to abandon these plans. But still, one of the detachments of the brigade was transferred to the newly formed experimental 100th reconnaissance brigade.
In other units and subunits of special forces, the positions of officers and ensigns were reduced, and the number of conscripts who replaced contract soldiers increased significantly. At one time, unit commanders had a special schedule for the dismissal of contract soldiers, for which they were asked at each meeting.
According to the original plan, approved by the former National Guard, two or three contract servicemen were enough for a group of 12 people - a deputy group commander, a sniper and a signalman. As the soldiers of the special forces themselves say, at first they broke everything, and then they began to build a new system, not fully understanding what they wanted in the end.
In 2009, the so-called national special-purpose battalions appeared in several combined arms brigades. In particular, in the 19th brigade such a battalion is staffed by servicemen of Ingush nationality, and in the 18th and 8th brigades - mainly by Chechens.
Even more chaos in the reform of special forces units brought the Olympics in Sochi. To ensure it, the Ministry of Defense began the formation of a special-purpose brigade - the 346th ObrSpN and a separate regiment - the 25th OpSpN. According to some reports, the main task of these military units was to protect the Sochi region from possible terrorist raids from the Greater Caucasus Range.
It is noteworthy that until 2012, before the appointment of Sergei Shoigu to the post of Minister of Defense, there was only one special-purpose regiment in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - the 45th Special Forces of the Airborne Forces, however, formally (despite the name) was not part of the structure of the units and subunits of the GRU special forces. And the 25th regiment, stationed in Stavropol, has become a unique military unit. According to some reports, at the stage of formation, his companies were “cut into” areas of responsibility in the mountains. The regiment coped with the task of protecting the Olympics "excellently", however, like other units and subunits of the Special Forces involved.
Since 2013, the special forces, having returned under the wing of the GRU, began, as the servicemen themselves joke, “to multiply rapidly.” Literally in two years, the national battalions of the Special Forces appeared as part of the 4th and 7th military bases. It is noteworthy that these units are recruited mainly from residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, although, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, only those who have passports of citizens of the Russian Federation.
In the reconnaissance battalions of several brigades, in particular the 34th motorized rifle (mountain) battalion, special-purpose companies appeared. After an unsuccessful experiment from the 100th reconnaissance brigade, the Special Forces detachment returned to the 10th special forces brigade, and in its place a reconnaissance battalion with two special forces companies was formed. Until recently, the 33rd reconnaissance brigade (mountain) also existed on the same staff. True, this military unit was once again reorganized, but already into an ordinary motorized rifle brigade.
It should be noted that each combined-arms, air assault brigade (regiment) has a company of snipers, which is also formally a special forces unit. At the same time, in the North Caucasian 8th, 18th, 19th motorized rifle brigades, in addition to sniper companies and special forces battalions, there are also groups of snipers - as they say in the North Caucasus Military District, motorized rifle-special forces brigades.
Despite the return of units and subunits of the Special Forces to the structure of the Main Intelligence Directorate, a paradoxical situation arose with their subordination. For example, Special Forces brigades are subordinate to the GRU, and various battalions and companies are simultaneously subordinate to brigade commanders, intelligence chiefs of the army and the district, and in some cases, to the chief of staff and personally to the district commander. At the same time, the GRU is responsible for their training, and also, under certain conditions, for combat use.
Whatever the warrior, then Rambo
In fact, in two years, a kind of special forces took place in the Russian Armed Forces, when special forces units appeared even in motorized rifle and tank brigades. It is clear that the need not only for trained intelligence officers, but also for signalmen, special miners, etc. has increased many times over. We must not forget about the snipers, who must complete special courses, until recently held only in the suburbs.
One of the attempts to solve the problem of training specialists was to expand the capabilities of specialized training centers for reconnaissance and Special Forces soldiers in each district. For example, in the North Caucasus District, the Daryal center specializes in mountain training, and a similar military unit in the Central Military District specializes in actions in winter conditions, in particular in wooded and hilly areas.
But as special forces officers admit, the main problem is the small proportion of contract servicemen, especially in the newly formed sniper companies, as well as companies and battalions of the Special Forces. Often, there are two or three contractors for several dozen conscripts. Not much better with personnel in the brigades of the Special Forces, although there the commanders from the beginning of the creation of a new look made every effort to preserve the backbone of the established military teams.
It is worth noting that despite the widespread belief that all Special Forces brigades were contract brigades before the new look, the percentage of recruits in Special Forces units was quite large. Only the North Caucasian 10th and 22nd Special Forces units could boast of a high proportion of professionals. Although in August 2008, the 108th detachment of the Special Forces of the 22nd brigade, urgently transferred to South Ossetia, had to be reinforced with consolidated reconnaissance groups of contract servicemen from other parts of this detachment of Special Forces.
Until recently, of the four companies and individual platoons in the detachments of the special forces of the brigades, only one company was fully contracted, not counting individual military personnel, in particular, armored personnel carrier drivers, signalmen, miners, etc. All other units consisted of conscripts. It is clear that they tried not to attract conscripts to carry out combat missions, therefore, for the task of the brigades, it was difficult to put up one Special Forces detachment from three special forces companies, a special weapons company and individual platoons.
True, by now it has been decided not to “spread a thin layer” of contract servicemen throughout the entire brigade (battalion), but to form a so-called contract detachment or company.
One of the most acute problems is the training of special forces snipers. Even in the companies of snipers of combined arms brigades, several Austrian Steyr-Mannlicher SSG-04 rifles are currently in the state. they train for several months at courses in the Moscow region, where they not only master Steyr, but also undergo special tactical training, topography, camouflage, etc.
So far, only officers and contract servicemen are being sent to the courses, since the conscript will most likely be transferred to the reserve upon completion of the courses. Classes are quite difficult, they require not only physical endurance, but also a high level of intelligence from candidates. Alas, it is not always possible to pick up such a contingent. Often, military personnel return to their units expelled. It is noteworthy that the snipers of one of the motorized rifle brigades received certificates of completion of the courses, but according to the results of the training, they were not trusted with complex and expensive Austrian rifles.
Soldiers of unconventional warfare
Not only the structure and composition of the units and subunits of the Special Forces, but also the tasks, have undergone changes. Despite the fact that the documents regulating the combat use of special forces remain classified as "Secret" and even "Top Secret", you can learn from open sources that one of the main tasks of the units and subunits of the Special Forces is to conduct so-called special intelligence. It is not only about observation, but also about conducting ambushes, raids and searches deep behind enemy lines. At present, these tasks have been supplemented by work in zones of local conflicts.
If you look at the US charter FM 3-18 Special Forces Operations, adopted in May 2014, you will find that the so-called special intelligence is not on the short list of the US Green Berets, whose main task, as indicated in chapter 3 field charter, conducting unconventional warfare, literally - unconventional hostilities. The second most important task is the training of foreign specialists, and the third is counterinsurgency.
The experience of counterterrorist operations in the North Caucasus has proved that it is time for spetsnaz units to move from special intelligence to work in a much broader spectrum. According to some reports, the new combat regulations of the Special Forces units have new sections that regulate the assigned tasks.
However, such an expansion of functions does not always find understanding not only among the special forces themselves, but also - more importantly - among the military command and control bodies responsible for planning the combat use of units and subunits of the Special Forces, who traditionally believe that their main task is to conduct reconnaissance, as well as protect headquarters , mobile command and control posts.
Although the annexation of Crimea to Russia last year once again proved that special forces are not only intelligence behind enemy lines, but also a tool for solving complex military-political tasks. The special forces were not abandoned for the purpose of reconnaissance, but blockaded military units, acted against hostile elements, organized local self-defense forces - in fact, they waged the same unconventional warfare prescribed in American charters. But, despite the tasks declared in the new Russian documents, the combat training program in most units and subunits of the Special Forces is still focused mainly on reconnaissance.
It is worth noting that in the US Army, the "green berets" are grouped into special forces assigned to certain regions of the globe. In particular, the 1st Special Forces Group based in Fort Lewis operates in the Pacific region, the 10th is focused on Europe, the Balkans, etc.
Depending on the military specialty, the training of an American commando takes from one year (engineer, heavy weapons specialist) to two years (medic). The structure of not only groups, but the entire command of special operations is optimized for unconventional warfare.
The question is, is such special forces expedient in the Russian army? What non-traditional combat operations can be carried out by a special-purpose company as part of a reconnaissance battalion, which actually performs the task of previously existing reconnaissance and airborne companies, or a sniper company of a combined arms or even an airborne assault brigade, moreover, staffed mainly by military conscripts?
It must be admitted that the vast majority of the newly formed units and subunits of the Special Forces are more likely not special forces, but some kind of military intelligence agency with increased capabilities. But the success of the “polite people” in Crimea led the leadership of the Ministry of Defense to a paradoxical conclusion: instead of structuring a chaotic mass of various companies, battalions, regiments and brigades of special forces and clearly allocating tasks and areas of responsibility between them, special forces continue.
True, judging by the latest decisions of the military department, in particular, the reorganization of the 45th reconnaissance regiment of the Airborne Forces into a separate reconnaissance brigade, as well as changes in the organizational and staffing structures of units and subunits of the Special Forces, most likely, the quantity is still beginning to turn into quality.
Return status
In less than six years of cuts and reorganization, units and subunits of the Special Forces have grown, even becoming part of the combined arms brigades. True, the special forces have so far created a large number of difficulties: there is no established structure, there are no trained specialists.
« There are never too many special forces. This is a handy tool for complex work.”, - such a phrase can summarize the opinion of many servicemen about what is happening now in special forces units and subunits.
Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that in the course of a few years, despite all the difficulties, the Russian Armed Forces have created well-prepared special forces units capable of solving even such complex tasks as non-traditional military operations, which was proved by the events in the Crimea. The conclusion suggests itself: the special forces must be the elite. And by definition, there can't be too many. So let military intelligence remain intelligence, without any "specials". It will not diminish her authority.
The Ministry of Defense decided to return the special-purpose reconnaissance companies. The scouts will work behind enemy lines, and then report the coordinates of targets for Iskander missile systems and Uragan high-precision multiple launch rocket systems. Moreover, each army of the RF Armed Forces will have its own company.
Soviet special forces had similar tasks during the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya - scouts coordinated the fire of artillery and the Air Force and brought great benefits to the army.
In those days, separate special-purpose companies (OrSpN) operated. But after the end of the First Chechen War and the crisis of 1998, a military reform followed - combat units began to be reduced. And individual companies of special forces were no exception. Now, 20 years later, Russia has decided to recreate the elite combat units.
According to Izvestia, citing its source at the headquarters of the ground forces, the first companies have already been formed in the combined arms armies of the Southern Military District. In other districts, it is still in process. It is also known that the scouts were given new armored vehicles "Tiger", "Lynx" and "Typhoon".
So far, nothing has been reported about the organization of the company - this information is kept secret. But it can be assumed that the unit is formed on the model of a separate GRU special-purpose company of the early 1990s.
OrSpN consisted of 110-120 personnel and consisted of four reconnaissance platoons. As well as platoons of support and special communications. Could be included in the company and the training unit, where they trained scouts or a whole squad of snipers. Special companies could have different purposes.
Now we are talking about the formation of full-fledged deep reconnaissance companies.
According to military expert Vladislav Shurygin, this is happening as part of the transition to high-precision weapons.
“In order to use Hurricanes or Iskanders, you need to have accurate information. And basically this is a tactical level. Images from space in this case are ineffective, since the targets are constantly moving,” says Vladislav Shurygin. to be protected mobile command posts, they need to be identified and targeted in time."
Drones are also far from always able to help scouts. UAVs have learned to shoot down and disable by means of electronic warfare, but this is impossible to do with a person. The reconnaissance companies will report the coordinates of the targets not only to Iskanders with Hurricanes, but also to aviation.
Photo: Valery Matytsin / TASS
In Syria, this work has long been carried out by the Special Operations Forces of the Russian Federation (SOF). Photos of the fighters of this unit spread around the world after the liberation of Palmyra. Then the SOF transmitted to the VKS the coordinates of the command posts and military equipment of the militants. Including tanks hidden in concrete hangars. Satellites and drones simply will not detect such targets.
“In the 90s of the last century, a gross mistake was made,” recalls Vladislav Shurygin. “The GRU, in order to preserve its personnel, liquidated individual special-purpose companies. And these were well-organized teams of professionals.”
Indeed, by the end of 1998, only two companies remained in vital areas: the 75th, subordinate to the Kaliningrad defensive region, and the 584th, part of the 205th motorized rifle brigade in Budennovsk, which actively participated in both Chechen campaigns.
But now, almost 20 years later, spetsnaz companies are returning to the Russian armed forces. Moreover, their range of tasks has become much wider, taking into account the fact that during this time the rocket troops and artillery have gone ahead by leaps and bounds. The same Iskanders are capable of hitting 500 km, replacing an entire group of bombers in terms of efficiency, which means that the scouts will have to go deep behind enemy lines in order to aim at targets. Or modern "Hurricane-1M", from which you can fire 300-millimeter shells of the "Smerch" systems. When attacking with a weapon of such destructive power, it is necessary to have the most accurate coordinates. Therefore, scouts have a great responsibility.
Dear colleagues, do you know anything about the differences of the Special Purpose Regiment that has guarded the Kremlin since 1936? The official history indicates that the uniform of the internal guard was worn. However, a number of photographs show officers in caps with light bands and dark crowns (circa 1940-1941), and in the photo of the issuance of shoulder straps in 1943, the cipher "ORSN" is visible (it is not yet clear to me what it could mean - Separate Special Purpose Company ?), later the encryption "PSN" is visible.
Yes, everything is known "on the differences of the Special Purpose Regiment, which has guarded the Kremlin since 1936".
ORSN, as you guessed correctly, is a separate special-purpose company, which until August 1942 was called the military fire brigade. ORSN was not part of the PSN, but was part of the Kremlin garrison. The garrison also included a separate motor transport battalion, whose military personnel wore the OAB cipher on shoulder straps, and a military construction battalion, whose military personnel wore the VSB cipher. In addition, the Kremlin garrison included a separate officer battalion, nee Separate Battalion of the NKVD GUGB.
All of the above military personnel, except for the GUGB battalion, wore the uniform of the internal troops, of which they were:
36. The special purpose regiment is equipped with:
a) command and command staff - by special selection from the border and internal troops of the NKVD
b) rank and file - from the next draft contingents, subject to the obligatory condition of checking and studying the assigned composition during the year.
Coverage of shortages in the period between calls is made by special selection from units of the border and internal troops.
37. Service life in a special purpose regiment is set at 3 years.
38. When calculating the length of service for retirement to the commanding and commanding staff of the Kremlin garrison units, a year of service in the garrison is taken as 1.5 years.
39. The military fire brigade is equipped with:
a) rank and file - according to a special selection from among the Red Army and junior command personnel and extra-long-term employees of the border and internal troops of the NKVD who have undergone special training;
b) commanding and commanding staff - by special selection from among the commanding and commanding staff of the border and internal troops of the NKVD, who have undergone special training;
c) specialists - by special selection from among those who graduated from the school of the paramilitary fire brigade of the NKVD
40. A separate battalion of the Main Directorate of State Security of the NKVD of the USSR has as its purpose the service in especially responsible posts.
41. The battalion is equipped with:
a) from among the Red Army soldiers and junior command and command staff of the special purpose regiment, subject to dismissal on long-term leave;
b) from among the junior and middle command and command staff of the border and internal troops of the NKVD.
c) from among the commanding staff of the GUGB.
Acquisition is made by special selection on a voluntary basis.
42. All selected Red Army and junior command personnel undergo preliminary training at the GUGB schools.
The personnel of the battalion are assigned special ranks of the commanding staff of the GUGB.
43. The personnel of the battalion serve on common grounds with all commanding personnel of the GUGB.
44. The service units of the battalion are completed and serve on a common basis with the personnel of the special purpose regiment.
You probably don't know what it was. But-fact! True, it lasted less than a day.
Because it was the most, that neither is, the most typical "war by mistake"
In short:
1983
year. The "Kabul" special forces company, with the support of two DSBs, was sent
to dismantle a village located in the Zaranj region for building materials.
Information was received that this settlement was used
"spirits" as a base camp, and at the same time the final point on
routes of large caravans from Iran. At such "points" caravans
ceased to exist as a whole and disintegrated into many
small caravans, and to catch 6-7 donkeys on the passes "berets" on
yuh did not rest.
As usual, for information support
operations were answered by KHAD (Afghan bloody gebnya, which, unlike
the Afghan army brought at least some benefit to the Limited
contingent). Its agents were supposed to place a day before the operation
in the mountains triangular panels, the sharp ends of which would point to
village Further, the pilots, using these landmarks, go to the target, "air
cavalry" went and ....
Here at this stage of preliminary
preparations and there were misunderstandings. Whether the KhADovtsy got lost and wandered into
the territory of a neighboring state, or whether the Iranians had a similar
the manner of marking border outposts - most likely, he will not know the truth
no one .... The pilots then swore with one voice that the relief they saw
their terrain one to one corresponded to those demonstrated to them
before the operation, aerial photographs and mock-up.
In short, the valiant Soviet special forces made a surprise attack on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
village
crumbled in a few minutes and without loss - there are clearly no "guests" here
waited. In the process of collecting trophies, the brave "Soviet Rambo" drew attention
to the fact that some of the dead "spirits" are dressed in some obviously unfamiliar
them a uniform, and even with shoulder straps (the latter in the conditions of a guerrilla war
- is an obvious nonsense). Taking their eyes off the ground, the fighters with surprise
found in the middle of the village a house not marked on their plans in
european style with a tricolor flag on the roof - iranian post
border guard. Interrogation of prisoners finally clarified the situation -
"How in Leningrad?!?".
They "missed" by 15 kilometers,
and at the same time they also committed an act, you understand, aggression. In the asset "Kabulskaya
company", however, could record for itself the fact that irritated by all
according to the rules, the village was still used by the Mujahideen as a transshipment
bases on the same caravan route - but who cares? because
in the morning the home team paid a return friendly visit to
as part of a motorized infantry battalion with the support of two Phantoms.
Fight
in this situation, the spetsnaz of desire, of course, did not have a company
considered it useful to make a maneuver "accelerated withdrawal from the occupied
position", in simpler terms - try to VERY quickly move away
international incident. Because the spetsnaz arsenal is calculated
a lot for something - but not for conducting full-fledged hostilities
against superior enemy forces, which also has aviation.
Necessary
to say that in this operation the "Kabul company" practically had no
losses. But pizdyuly their "at home" were waiting for the grandest. Iran demanded
apologies, blood and the convening of an extraordinary UN assembly. Moscow "did
face" and apologized.
But these guys walked around Kabul as heroes. "If not for the order, they would have reached Tehran," yeah.
However, this is already from the field of "hunting tales" and "war songs".
BUT
on the account of the "Kabul company" in addition to the "Soviet-Iranian war" was
many really successful and beautiful operations and 8 years "across the river"
- more than all parts of the special forces of the Limited Contingent of the Soviet
troops in Afghanistan.
"Hussars" in Bamut.
We flew to Chechnya in the fall and a turntable took us, there were 6 of us, and 6 two-hundredths were unloaded from the turntable and the pilot said smiling, "And what about you to replace this or something?". But we returned alive, it did not come true.
.
876 A separate special-purpose company, based in the Costa region of Vladikavkaz, at first took an active part in the aftermath of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. Chermen, Chermensky circle, Tarskoye, Vladikavkaz. Patrol at the border, demining, protection of important people such as: Lozovoy, Kvashnin, Troshev and Shamanov. Then a business trip to Chechnya, I stayed there for 9 months. Basically, the unit was in Khankala and, by order, they were sent to the mountains by helicopter, then they processed squares in the mountains on foot, search and destruction of the irreconcilable, either by artillery or aircraft, liquidation of oil refineries, search and release of prisoners and capture of the Mujahideen. Bamut was a demobilization chord for me.
.
"Hussars" in Bamut.
.
We got to Bamut for two or three weeks. Our task was to blockade the village and continue to save the prisoners during the assault, if any. This was the only time when we acted with the reconnaissance company of the 166th Motorized Rifle Brigade (with the “Mad Company”) to Bamut, we walked from the other side of the pass, there was such a moment: we confused them with militants and called artillery on them.
“My radio battery died, it only worked for reception. And I heard how someone with the call sign "Hussar" contacts our artillery and asks to send 3-5 "cucumbers" (min), they say they are watching some kind of body. At the same time, our coordinates are called. The God of War was not stingy, sent 5 "cucumbers", and, most surprisingly, they did not miss this time.
.
Left: Nikolay "Svyaz" and Yura "Moroz" in Bamut.
Near Bamut, we did not have skirmishes with militants, except for a single shelling, where one wounded was spared. It was like this: We were walking from the bottom, and the militants were higher, they were noisy, we heard and lay down under the leaves of the fern (probably), in principle, the bearded men could see in the sight, but if they entered the battle, they would have killed many of us. Our position was not favorable. We waited ... someone apparently noticed something from them and gave a turn through the foliage in our direction. One bullet entered our guy, who was with VSS, in the arm, in the pulp. He was in front of me, I only saw how he clenched his teeth on the belt of the machine gun. There was no more shooting.
Later, we tried to contact the Lunatics, but they turned off the radio. "cucumbers" flew at us and at them, well, they apparently decided that they were detecting and beating by communication. We also turned off for a while (in fact, the radio operator Nikolai "Svyaz" simply ran out of battery on the radio and he worked only for reception).
The moment of the meeting and its details with the "Mad Company" was not remembered. We had a delay the day before, the turntable didn't arrive on time. And since yesterday evening we have been “on the easy side”, the fighters have not eaten anything. And then the guys shared with us dry rations.
"Hussars".
On the armor of the BMP "Hussars", on the right are the guys from the "Mad Company".
Then we went down from the hills, it was already completely dark. An order was given that to spend the night by the stream, if paired patrols appeared, then clean up silently - with knives and silent weapons. At night, when it started to rain, we ended up in a stream, and we wallowed in the water all night. In my opinion, something happened at night, but it's like "like drinking tea." Somewhere it’s noisy, you’re in line, then it seems like they answered, well, a couple more people will join you. On the morning of May 25, together with the Lunatics, they entered Bamut. As such, I don’t remember the battle, small skirmishes are not clear at whom, or rather we shot, before entering the house or courtyards, there were underground passages between the houses, grenades were thrown there, and so the whole village was plowed up by artillery. So the whole day passed, then we occupied some house and spent the night there. Then I had a little fight with the officers, we were tired, all the berets were covered in clay, and they let us drive like spirits, well, we sort of "pulled the shutters" a little. On the second day of our stay in Bamut, we went to the dungeons, missile silos, there was nothing interesting there, garbage was dirt and crap, then they brought sappers, Shamanov flew in and then they rushed these mines at the entrance, the entrance was filled up and everyone went home. I don’t remember years ago, it seems, on the turntable “Korova” in Khankala, the order for demobilization has long been. From Khankala by turntable back to Vladikavkaz and then home by train.