Aviation in local conflicts. Puti-Dorogi (337th Infantry Division) 1129th Infantry Regiment of the 337th Infantry Division

The formation of the 337th Airborne Forces began on December 15, 1978 at the Sokol airfield in the Vladimir region. Since February 1979, personnel have taken part in district exercises with a “good” rating. The command noted the competent and skillful actions of the pilots. In August 1979, the formation of the unit was completely completed.

On September 22, 1979, the regiment was relocated to the Malwinkel airfield of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany and transferred to the 16th Air Army.

The leadership of the regiment of that period:

1. regiment commander - Colonel Dmitriev Nikolai Afanasyevich;

2. deputy commander - Lieutenant Colonel Belov

3. beginning half of the department - Lieutenant Colonel Laptev (Alexander Vasilyevich?)

4. Deputy for IAS - Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Prokopovich Zaitsev

5. com. 1st VE- Lieutenant Colonel Proskurnich

The regiment's personnel were very young. Average age was 24 years old. Dmitriev himself was 36 years old, and the commander 1 ve Proskurnich is 33 years old, he was not even married, since for a long time he was the chief pilot of some emir. Flew to Germany by squadron. Each squadron had its own route. The second train went along the route Sokol (Vladimirsky) - Shatalovo-Nivenskoye - Brzeg - Malwinkel. The flight was carried out with drop tanks. Takeoff and landing like an airplane.
The GSVG conducted very intensive combat training, which made it possible already in 1980-1981 to carry out successful combat testing at the Demin and Luninets training grounds. In Demina, the landfill was completely destroyed. The regiment's score for bombing was 4.85, for launching guided missiles - 4.65. Five missiles had manufacturing defects. By this time, the commander of the 1st Air Force was Major Nikonorov (in 1985 he was deputy commander of the 335th Obvp, later he commanded army aviation in the Far Eastern Military District), the commander of the 2nd Air Force was Lieutenant Colonel Fillipenko. The regiment's personnel were actively involved in the transfer of equipment from Brody to the GSVG during the formation of the OVE in Parchim, Noirupin, Templin, etc.
According to the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, on July 9, 1980, the regiment was awarded the Battle Banner - a symbol of military honor and valor.
In 1980, 3 ve were transferred (to Brandis?), in March 1981, 1 ve - to Parchim (military unit 15420).

In 1983, 8 crews from the squadron, transferred to Parchim, were sent to Shindand. Part of the flight crew, almost all the flight technicians and a significant part of the ground technical staff were from this squadron. In 1984, the remnants of the squadron were sent to Tskhinvali, and, after being recruited from other units, in August they were sent to 50 Osap (Kabul). ). In the same year, the remaining 2 VE in Malwinkel was also sent to Afghanistan, to 280 airborne forces (Kandahar). Thus, in 1984, the regiment’s personnel simultaneously worked in Shindand, Kabul and Kandahar. Of course, during this time the composition of the regiment underwent changes, but a significant part of the personnel in these squadrons were precisely those young guys who took part in the formation of the 377th regiment in 1979.

In combat conditions, the squadron's soldiers had to perform a variety of tasks. Dozens of officers, warrant officers and soldiers were awarded orders and medals for courage and heroism: Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Zolotukhin and Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Kolmakov - two Orders of the Red Star, Lieutenant Colonels S.N. Potanin and A.P. Bukharov - Orders of the Red Star...

Being part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, and then part of the 20th Separate Army of the Western Group of Forces, the 337th ORP constantly occupied advanced positions in combat training. In 1989, for high performance in combat and political training, the regiment was awarded a challenge banner; in 1992, it was awarded a challenge pennant of the Military Council of the Western Group of Forces “For Courage and Military Valor.”

On May 16, 1994, a minute after takeoff from the Malwinkel airbase, the Mi-24 helicopter No. 36 belonging to the 337th Airborne Forces crashed.

On May 24, 1994, the regiment was relocated to the city of Berdsk, Novosibirsk region and became part of the Siberian Military District with the assignment of the code name "Military unit field post 12212". A. Chibeskov (graduate of SarVVAUL 1983 and Gagarin Military Academy 1990) becomes the commander.

In August 1996, on the basis of the regiment, a squadron was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A. A. Zolotukhin, which departed for Georgia to carry out peacekeeping missions. The result of this six-month mission of the Siberian aviators was an order to encourage the squadron personnel, issued by the commander of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasia.

The regiment's soldiers took and are taking part in counter-terrorism operations in Chechnya. For courage and heroism, Majors V. G. Shumsky and O. P. Kozinchenko were awarded the Order of Courage. The names of nine servicemen are listed in the unit’s Book of Honor. Colonel Yu. M. Leus and Lieutenant Colonel O. A. Panyushkin received this high honor already on Siberian soil.

On May 7, 2002, on the northern slope of the Ak-Tru glacier in the Altai Mountains, during an attempt to land on a site at an altitude of over 3.5 thousand meters above sea level, the Mi-8 337 ORP helicopter caught a rocky ledge with its main rotor blades, capsized and rolled down into the abyss from a sheer cliff about 800 meters high. Deputy regiment commander Alexander BUKHAROV, squadron commander Sergei IVASHENKOV, on-board technician Vyacheslav YURYEV and eight passengers were killed. With the wording “For violations in the organization of flights,” the regiment commander was removed from his position p-k Alexander Chibeskov.

From 2000 to 2006, the regiment's personnel took part in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sierra Leone and were based in the capital, Freetown. Since 2006 in the Republic of Angola /Luanda/ and Sudan /g. Juba/, and since 2009 in the Republic of Chad/. Abeshe/.

As of 2001, the regiment's strength was 600 people, of which 300 were officers and 121 warrant officers.

According to the Directive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated November 29, 2002, the regiment becomes subordinate to the 14th Air Force and Air Defense. In December 2002, the VZPU link was reduced in 3 VE.

According to the TLG of the Air Force Civil Code dated January 22, 2003, since February 24, 2003, the regiment’s personnel have been part of the United Forces (GV) to conduct a counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus region. In number: 131 officers, 25 warrant officers, 25 soldiers.

On April 1, 2005, during an exercise at the Yurga training ground, the Mi-24p helicopter No. 08 crashed. The crew received various injuries, but survived.

Since March 8, 2006, the regiment's personnel are again sent to the North Caucasus region. Business trips there become annual.

From June to September 2009

While stationed at the airfield of the city of Berdsk, the regiment changed its structure several times. The number of squadrons was reduced to two in 1998 (reduced VE on the Mi-24), then restored to three (in 1999-2000?). In 2005, according to the DGS, the air cost on the Mi-24 was again reduced. And until 2009, the regiment included: the 1st VE on Mi-24v/p/k helicopters and the 2nd VE on Mi-8mt helicopters.

While on Siberian soil, along with the USP, the regiment solves various problems. This includes the transportation of management personnel, and the implementation of urgent medical flights, and the parachute landing of cadets of the Novosibirsk Military Institute and the Berdsk Special Forces brigade, and the provision of training for a detachment of cosmonauts, and the provision of PSO flights and civil aviation flights and spacecraft launches with the relocation of search crews to the Gorno- Altaisk".

Every year, the regiment's personnel were involved in air support various teachings, at the Shilovo and Yurga training grounds.

Every year in the spring on the rivers western Siberia Ice jams form. Crews of the 337th Regiment were often brought in to eliminate them.

From September 30 to October 19, 2009, a group of 4 Mi-8mt helicopters (No. 58, 65, 67, 55) flew to the Republic of Kazakhstan, to the Matebulak training ground. Senior - deputy commander of the 2nd VE, Major A.G. Sabitov. The personnel took part in the CRRF exercise "Interaction 2009". Based on the results of the exercise, Russian pilots received high praise.

The names of nine servicemen are listed in the unit’s Book of Honor. Colonel Yu. M. Leus and Lieutenant Colonel O. A. Panyushkin received this high honor already on Siberian soil.

In connection with the reform of the Armed Forces, in October 2009, a “farewell” to the banner of the 337th BiU military unit took place. In the new look of the army, from December 1, 2009, 337 OVP BiU (together with 37 OSAE - the city of Ob) became part of the Aviation Base. On November 2, 2009, the 2nd VE flew on Mi-8 helicopters to the Tolmachevo airport in the city of Ob, which became its home base. The 1st VE on Mi-24 helicopters remained at the Berdsk-Tsentralny airfield.

For courage and heroism, the regiment's personnel were awarded orders and medals:

In accordance with the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 7, 1982 and Order of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. 0673 dated July 26, 1986, Lieutenant Colonel Evgeniy Ivanovich Zelnyakov was awarded the title of “Hero” Soviet Union" (Medal No. 11474). Later he served as deputy commander of the 337th airborne regiment.

Also awarded orders and medals:

Order of Lenin - 1 person;
Order of the Red Banner - 3 people;
Order of the Red Star - 67 people;
For service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces IIIdegrees - 17 people;
Order of Courage - 32 people

In total, 372 military personnel of the regiment were awarded government awards.

The commanders of the 337th regiment were:

Colonel Dmitriev Nikolai Afanasyevich 1978 - 1984;
Colonel Bigeev Marcel Samatovich 1984 - 1987;
Colonel Mukhamedzhanov Rajap Rakhmatulovich 1987 - 1988;
Colonel Borodii Igor Vadimovich 1988 - 1990;
Colonel Safonov Nikolai Gennadievich 1990 - 1992;
Colonel Shilovsky Nikolai Stepanovich 1992 - 1994
Colonel Chibeskov Alexander Petrovich 1994 - 2002;
Colonel Yavorenko Evgeniy Viktorovich 2004 - 2006;
Colonel Obukhov Ruslan Mikhailovich; 2006 - 2007
Colonel Martsinkevich Eduard Evgenievich 2007 - 2009.

It was formed as part of 57A in the North Caucasus Military District in October 1941. The formation of the division took place in the village of Krasnoarmeysk near Stalingrad. The division is replenished with people from the Rostov region.

In November 1941, the 57th Separate Army, by order of Headquarters, was subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief of the South-Western Direction, Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko, and on December 18 began to be transferred to the front along two railways: Stalingrad - Likhaya - Starobelsk and Stalingrad - Povorino - Liski - Valuyki - Starobelsk. On January 1, 1942, it was included in the Southern Front.

Despite frequent bombings, the railway workers worked exceptionally efficiently and harmoniously. All units and formations of the army, amounting to 153 echelons, were concentrated in the indicated places on December 28 without losses. After unloading, each division made a march to the concentration area. There were severe frosts with winds and snowstorms, the air temperature dropped to 25–30 degrees. The troops marched on foot across the impassable terrain, drowning in the snow, exhausted. We had very little motor transport; there were not enough camp kitchens and bakeries. All this greatly complicated the supply of food and the organization of meals for units. On January 5, the formations were completely concentrated in the areas indicated by them. The army headquarters was located in Starobelsk.

After unloading from the echelons, the 337th Rifle Division became part of the 6A SWF, which was preparing for an offensive in the Barvenkovo ​​direction south of Kharkov. By January 12, 1942, units of the division (1127th, 1129th, 1131st Rifle Regiments, 899th Artillery Regiments) occupied a defensive line along the western bank of the Seversky Donets River.

Early in the morning of January 18, 1942, the division as part of the 6th Army went on the offensive. At dawn, its units were subjected to air raids, followed by counterattacks by enemy tanks. The division's repeated attempts to break through the enemy defenses at the Morozovka, Olkhovatka line were unsuccessful. However, success came in the 411sd sector, where they managed to break through the enemy’s defenses. Taking advantage of the success of its neighbor, the division captured Zhukovka with an energetic blow, and on January 20 liberated Gusarovka, Volobuevka and Shurovka. In four days the division advanced to a depth of 10 km. Its units began fighting for the Balakleya bridgehead. Until the end of January '42. The 253rd and 337th Rifle Division, with the support of the 7th and 13th Tank Brigades, stormed the strong enemy resistance center Balakleya, but were unable to capture it.

Until May '42 held the river bank North Donets south of Balakleya. 12 May 42 6A went on the offensive against Kharkov from the Barvenkovo ​​ledge. By the beginning of May '42. The division consisted of 7151 people, 30 guns, 85 mortars, 4 anti-tank guns. The 337th Rifle Division continued to hold its previous line of defense. Despite our successful offensive on May 17, the enemy struck and, having broken through the defenses of the 9A Southern Front in the area of ​​Barvenkovo ​​and Slavyansk, began to develop an offensive with motorized formations to the rear of the SWF strike group.

The countermeasures taken by the command of the Southwestern Front turned out to be insufficient. The enemy also crossed the North. The Donets west of Balakleya in the 337th division section and connected with the 14th and 16th divisions that had approached from the south. On the evening of May 22, the Germans closed their pincer encirclement south of Balakleya. 6 and 57A and Bobkin's OG were surrounded. The 337th Rifle Division was also surrounded. Our troops made fierce attempts to break out of the encirclement both from outside and from inside the cauldron. However, only 22 thousand people managed to break out of the encirclement. By May 26, the remnants of the encircled group were trapped in a small area to the west and west of Lozovenka. On May 30, the encirclement was finished.

Division commander, Major General Vasiliev I.V. died on May 25, 1942, surrounded in the area of ​​the village. Protopopovka.

Continuation of the story about my father Nikolai Alexandrovich Lyshkov

In 1942, he studied at the Mining and Metallurgical Institute in Vladikavkaz, had a deferment (reservation) from conscription into the army, and completed the 3rd year with honors. Voluntarily joined the Red Army. Having asked to go to the front, he was enlisted in the 337th Infantry Division.

In 1985, at a meeting with veterans in Lubny in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory, fellow soldiers received as a gift a book of memoirs of soldiers of the 337th Lubny Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Rifle Division.

PREFACE

337th Lubny Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky rifle division was born in the Caucasus. The sons and daughters of the peoples inhabiting the Caucasus, representatives of our entire multinational Motherland, fought in its ranks. In the Caucasus she received a baptism of fire. Then, during the defense of the Caucasus, Soviet troops were inferior to the enemy in tanks by more than 9 times, in aviation by 8 times.

But it was necessary to counter the enormous, heavily armed force of the invaders with courage, stamina, and skill. The defenders of the Caucasus knew one thing: they had to hold out!

Formed in August-September 1942, the 337th Division took up defense near Mozdok, in the Malgobek area, from height 390.9 to brick factory, located south of the Voznesenskaya - Malgobek highway. The 1131st Infantry Regiment straddled the highway, blocking the Nazis’ path to Voznesenskaya, the 1129th Infantry Regiment defended height 478.8, and the 1127th defended height 390.9.

Along the Voznesenskaya-Malgobek highway there were not sufficiently wide and relatively flat sections of terrain along the front, which did not allow the enemy to deploy a large number of tanks. The approaches to height 478.8 were replete with steep climbs, overgrown with forest, and were difficult to access for enemy tanks. But the approaches to height 390.9 were treeless and convenient for tanks.

Height 390.9 was a kind of key in our defense system; having mastered it, the enemy could successfully advance to the village of Voznesenskaya, to the Alkhanchurt valley and, ultimately, to the city of Grozny. Therefore, the enemy concentrated his main forces on capturing this height.

Height 390.9 and its spurs will long become the front line of defense of the 1127th rifle regiment. Its southern slopes were defended by a rifle battalion under the command of Senior Lieutenant B.I. Skatkov, the western slopes and the top by the first battalion of Senior Lieutenant V.A. Egorov, and the northern slopes by the second rifle battalion of Senior Lieutenant V.D. Yatkovsky.

The 337th fought fierce defensive battles in the Novorossiysk region near the village of Shapshutskaya.

In March 1943, by order of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the 337th was sent to the Voronezh region (south of Rossosh). Accepts replenishment here. Intensive mass political work is underway, communists and Komsomol members are setting an example in combat training, helping commanders prepare soldiers for new battles.

And again the 337th is on the march, again there are battles, again the pages of the division’s history are full of soldier’s courage, examples of loyalty to military duty, and soldier’s skill. A glorious milestone in the history of the 337th is the Battle of Kursk - one of the decisive battles of the Second World War.

The victory in the Battle of Kursk became the most important stage on the path to complete victory over Nazi Germany. The strategic initiative finally passed to the Soviet troops. In this battle, the enemy lost about 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks and over 3.7 thousand aircraft.

The Battle of Kursk and the exit of Soviet troops to the Dnieper completed a radical turning point during the Great Patriotic War.

Our soldiers captured a bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper, southeast of Kyiv, in the area of ​​Velikiy Bukrin. This bridgehead was used by Soviet troops during the Kyiv offensive operation.

On September 19, 1943, the radio transmitted the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief: “Our troops, as a result of a rapid offensive in Ukraine, liberated the cities of Priluki, Romny, Piryatyn, Lubny, Mirgorod, Krasnograd, Pavlograd from German invaders...”

Among those who distinguished themselves in this order, the 337th was noted. It was given the name “Lubnenskaya”.

1944 was an offensive year, marked by new victories of Soviet weapons. The Korsun-Shevchenko operation, the encirclement of ten fascist divisions, numbering about 80 thousand soldiers, up to 1,600 guns and mortars, 270 tanks, will never be forgotten.

The Korsun-Shevchenko operation went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War as one of the brilliant examples of Soviet military art.

The soldiers of the 337th are rightfully proud that the division contributed to this momentous battle, which ended in the historic victory of Soviet troops over the invaders.

from the heroes of the Korsun-Shevchenko battle to Stepan Moroz. To the question “Where did the soldier learn to read and write?” the brave machine gunner replied:

I went through front school

Tempered in the fire of battles

For Zvenigorodka and Shpola,

For Vygriev and for Steblev.

This is what any of the 337th soldiers can say with pride, remembering the famous Korsun-Shevchenko battle.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 26, 1944, for the exemplary fulfillment of command assignments in battles to complete the destruction of the group of German invaders, and for the valor and courage displayed at the same time, the 337th Lubny Rifle Division was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, II degree.

In the same memorable year of 1944, two more orders adorned the battle banner of the 337th: the Order of the Red Banner for breaking through the enemy’s defenses, crossing the Dniester, capturing the city and the important railway junction of Balti and reaching the state border, and the Order of Suvorov II degree for breaking through the defenses the enemy, the crossing of the Prut River and the valor and courage displayed at the same time.

The 1131st Infantry Regiment, which distinguished itself in those battles, was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, III degree.

In August 1944, the division took part in the Iasi-Kishinev operation in which our troops destroyed 22 Nazi divisions.

The collapse of the enemy's defenses on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front changed the military-political and military-strategic situation in the Balkans; Romania came out of the war on the side of Nazi Germany and declared war on it.

In ten days of fighting to destroy the encircled group, the division occupied up to 180 settlements, including the city of Focsani, the 1127th regiment received the name Focsani. The 1129th regiment was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree. Later, for the capture of the city of Orade Mare and access to the Hungarian border, the 1131st regiment was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree.

In December 1944, soldiers of the divisions entered Czechoslovakia and liberated the city of Dilyanovo.

In the history of the 337th, glorious pages will remain in the capital of Hungary - Budapest, near Lake Balaton, where the enemy tried to stop the advance of the Soviet troops, where the courage and skill of our soldiers and officers again won a difficult victory.

In Austria, the 337th celebrated the ninth of May 1945 - the historical Victory Day.

Twenty-three soldiers of the division were named Heroes of the Soviet Union by the Motherland. But not all of them lived to see the Victory. But the memory of them will always remain in the hearts of their fighting friends, in the glory of the people. Heroes of the Soviet Union are the pride of the 337th.

Here are their names:

Mikhail Fedorovich Bakulin,

Ibragim Belyanovich Berkutov, Dmitry Ivanovich Bondar,

Fedor Ivanovich Boriskin,

Yulian Maryanovich Bronitsky,

Ivan Dmitrievich Vichtomov,

Nikolai Evtikhievich Garkusha,

Taras Pavlovich Gorobets,

Ivan Andreevich Dobrikov,

Pavel Grigorievich Kozyrev,

Konstantin Alekseevich Korolev,

Pyotr Nikolaevich Kunitsyn,

Alexey Zakharovich Mashkov,

Mikhail Vasilievich Morkovin,

Ivan Ivanovich Nadtochiy,

Ivan Nikolaevich Nemchinov,

Mikhail Grigorievich Nepomnyashchiy,

Stepan Ivanovich Podkopaev,

Vasily Vladimirovich Fedorenko,

Anatarbek Charticoz,

Boris Vasilievich Shanin,

Vasily Ignatievich Shumikhin,

Sergey Andreevich Shchelkanov.

In the foothills of the Caucasus there are battles of unprecedented scale and ferocity. A serious danger looms over the Soviet Motherland. The enemy has captured important areas of our country. He wants to deprive us of bread and oil. He has set himself the task of cutting off the Soviet South from our country.

Here the most important knot in the events of the second year of the Patriotic War began. The fate of the Fatherland and freedom depends on the outcome of the battles in the South And life of Soviet people.

The defenders of the Soviet South now bear the most important responsibility for the outcome of the summer campaign of 1942. Their responsibility can be compared with the responsibility of the defenders of Moscow in the fall

Dear friends!

I continue to post the next chapter of my memories of serving in the Airborne Forces. Today - Part 2. Kirovabad. Chapter I. 337th Regiment.
Photo of my army album. Memories of the Army

Dedicated to my friend, guard sergeant major of the Airborne Forces
Konstantin Borisovich Pavlovich

Part 2. Kirovabad
Chapter I. 337th Regiment

We arrived in Kirovabad by train late at night. From our company, besides me, two more went there. From my platoon it was Valery Serdyukov - our “grandfather”. Even in training, we learned that Serdyukov was married, he had a child (in my opinion, a girl) and for us, mustacheless boys, he was such a veteran. By the way, he really was older, he was about 21-22 years old, and maybe even older. He was wiry, thin, and grumpy in character (needless to say, a year before demobilization in my 3rd parachute company he became a company sergeant major).

They lined us up somewhere near the station. In the light of the spotlights, some high rank, in my opinion, a general, probably from the division headquarters, handed over gray cardboard boxes containing the “Guard” badge. Since the war and to this day, all airborne formations are guards, but the training unit (training) is not a linear unit, that is, not combat, not combat, so they did not give “guards” there. And upon arrival, a guardsman's badge is immediately assigned to the linear units.

Then we were put into cars and taken to the shelves. As I later understood, me, Valerka and also Yurka from another training platoon were sent to the 337th Guards Order of Alexander Nevsky Parachute Regiment.

We were lined up on the parade ground and assigned to companies.
Valerka and I got the 3rd company, which was located in the third barracks farthest from the headquarters. The barracks, in my opinion, were panel (or maybe not?), 3-story. At night the parade ground is illuminated. It was the month of May, very hot, the night was stuffy, cicadas were singing and it was very, very quiet. Having entered the location, the officer handed us over to the company duty officer, but the company commander was already there to meet us. They showed us our bunks; I got one on the first tier. I began to undress and carefully put my uniform on a stool, and then, out of nowhere, demobilizers came up.

Seeing my badges, they said: “Oh, sergeant, cool! Sergeant, let’s take a swing - you’ve just been given a new guard (and, by the way, the badge was in my pocket, I didn’t put it on my tunic), and I have a little bit here.” The enamel has chipped off, you don’t care, but I’m demobilized.” Having thought that I really had to serve for another year and a half and deciding that perhaps there was such a unique tradition here, I answered: “Okay, let’s go.” They waved.

In the morning, out of habit, I woke up a few seconds before getting up and, hearing: “Rota, get up!”, I jumped up, began to pull on my boots, and in the evening I saw that all the beds had boots. They took the company for exercise, and Valerka and I were told to go to the quarters to receive southern uniforms. In the south (this was later seen in Afghanistan) they wore loose-fitting trousers, boots with socks, and a canvas Panama hat on their heads - the brim was even, but it was considered especially chic to curl the brim in such a way that it looked like a cowboy hat. Having received uniforms, we began to get acquainted with the location, and in general with the life of our already native 337th regiment.

On the very first day (it turned out to be a park and maintenance day), we were sent by car to Geranium to prepare the barracks to receive young recruits.
Geran is an educational summer town about 50 kilometers from Kirovabad, not far from Mingichaur and the Mingichaur hydroelectric power station. You had to go there either by train or by car. We were taken in cars. On the way, I looked at the unusual surroundings with interest.

But we need to start with the fact that from the windows of the barracks, and, in fact, from anywhere in the regiment, mountains were visible, in some places even covered with snow. All the vegetation was unfamiliar. Vineyards, apricot and peach orchards grew around the regiment's location. The street that led to the regiment (in fact, the street abutted at the checkpoint) was lined with mulberry trees, before that I had never heard or seen such a tree, otherwise it is also called mulberry, very tasty, sweet berries ripen on it. At one time, when they were ripe, I tried them.

In Geran I began to become more familiar with my calling.
They assigned me to the second platoon of the second squad and appointed me the commander of this squad. As I already wrote, in the Airborne Forces there are 7 people in the squad and in my squad, besides me (the commander), there was a machine gunner (Kalashnikov machine gun), a grenade launcher (RPG-9) and a 4th rifleman. All of them had AKMS assault rifles, just like in training, with folding butts. Well, of course, we went to work near Geranium without weapons.

In general, in my platoon there were 7 people of my conscription - Vaska Antonov (from Riga), Ramazanov (from Dagestan), Valerka (also from Dagestan) and an interesting soldier named Viksna, he was from the Baltic states, spoke with a slight accent, completely blond , probably even reddish, with whitish eyelashes, naturally, covered in freckles. He had the type of skin that never tans, but only turns red. Thin, short in stature, but his palms attracted attention - like healthy guy, for example, a loader. It turned out that Viksna, after turning 8, had already been working as a lumberjack in the forest for two years - as he said: he was cutting off branches from trees. This is where these paws come from.

I was greeted normally.
Those whom I listed (they were in the platoon), in my opinion, only Vaska and Ramazanov were in my squad, and my conscription was called “scoopers” (those who served for six months), the rest were either “godki” (this those who served for a year), or demobilization (those who served for a year and a half were also “grandfathers” - these are those who will have to go to demobilization in a few weeks). We didn’t have “newcomers” (those who had just come to serve); we were just waiting for new reinforcements.

The company commander said that when the young people arrive, I will go to Geran as part of a training platoon and, as a squad commander, I will train the young people for a month and a half.

The first few days in the regiment were remembered for one event.
The platoon commander (in my platoon) was, if I’m not mistaken, Yurka Gradov, in my opinion, he was from Moscow. A cheerful, handsome guy, for some reason I remember him with a golden fixation, or maybe it already seems so to me now. He was one of the breed of impudent impudent people - he always got into trouble, didn’t let anyone off the hook, and, of course, he wasn’t all right with army discipline.

It turns out that on the eve of my arrival, he and several other demobilizers got into some kind of trouble. Literally two days after my arrival, he was removed from the post of deputy platoon commander (and in fact, the platoon commander is also the commander of the first squad, and there are three squads in the platoon) and I was appointed to this position. Yurka, of course, could not forgive me for this and I initially got a lot from him.

Here it is necessary to say separately about the so-called hazing. Of course, our young people for demobilization cleaned badges, glued demobilization albums, someone could iron out a parade shirt, if someone knew how to sew beautifully and neatly, they hemmed something, again, when chores, demobilization workers usually didn’t work, they smoked if There were no officers nearby, the “salagas”, “scoops” and “year-olds” were plowing. But there were simply no passions, which, unfortunately, are often written about, and which are actually happening now in our army, in those years, especially in the Airborne Forces.

By the way, we explained this to ourselves very simply.
Firstly, we have live firing very often. For example, combat shooting of a company or battalion, or even a regiment in a deployed formation, that is, this is when a unit marches in a chain, fires on the move, and a variety of targets appear in front of us in a variety of directions. And it is purely theoretically understandable that if there was some kind of offender, then we could lag behind a little there and, supposedly, the bullet could accidentally fly away in the wrong direction. Everyone understood this intellectually. And, secondly, we had this saying: “Insert a knitting needle.” The fact is that a backpack with a parachute (when the ring was pulled out, the backpack opened due to special rubber bands and the parachute was thrown out) could be pierced with a knitting needle, and the knitting needles were used for installation for a specific operation. And a backpack with a parachute pierced by a spoke would simply not open. As a hypothetical threat, when someone bothered you, you could often hear: “Well, I’ll put a needle in you, you pest, and you’ll fly and crow to the ground.” But still, this is not the main explanation. The main thing is how we were raised by officers and, above all, by our “father” - paratrooper number one, Commander-in-Chief of the Airborne Forces Vasily Filippovich Margelov, because we deciphered the Airborne Forces: “Troops Uncle Vasya."

Let me digress and give a very typical example of what the Airborne Forces are from the point of view of discipline in relation to other branches of the military.
On November 7, that is, it was the autumn of 1972, our regiment, together with other regiments and units of the Kirovabad garrison, took part in the parade on central square Kirovabad, opposite the Central Department Store. They took us to training, although it was probably already the spring of 1973, because it was warm, although no, it’s already forgotten now, after all, it was in November, because it was still warm in the south at that time. So, they chased us and chased us, but we had a consolidated “box” - a company - that is, 8 ranks of 8 people. We were the only paratroopers. There were infantrymen, tankmen, artillerymen, signalmen, and pilots. And at some stage they put us in “boxes” and ordered all the officers to gather to debrief the “flights”. Naturally, we, standing in such a “box”, eight by eight, were left to our own devices. Literally 10 minutes later there was only our “box” standing, and, indeed, standing - from all sides one could see clear rows, clear alignment, young people stood in front, so they were almost standing at attention, demobilization was behind - not leaving the ranks, without taking a single step to the side, but quietly smoking in their sleeves. But still other “boxes” lay on the lawns, sat, wandered, whatever they wanted. The officers were gone for about 40 minutes. And all this time our landing “box” stood, essentially, without moving. It was “wild” for us to see how fighters from other branches of the military allowed themselves to carry out the command “Freely” in this way. By the way, the Airborne Forces are still famous for this, that the spirit of brotherhood, the spirit of mutual assistance, unquestioning execution of the commander’s orders are the essence of our service and our pride in the Airborne Forces.

Returning to Gradov. He is removed from his post, I am appointed, and it turns out that I am already occupying a position that I could have occupied, in principle, only before demobilization. That is, in the absence of the platoon commander (and my platoon commander was Lieutenant Shavrin, a good guy, only a little sick, he spent a lot of time and for a long time in the hospital for some reason), I actually performed his duties. Even during checkpoints, when the command was given: “Platoon commanders, come to me!”, I, along with the officers, ran to the battalion commander or regiment commander. But all this was ahead.

This summer I saw grapes growing for the first time, and I tasted them straight from the vine for the first time in my life. I saw how peaches, apricots, persimmons grew (there was a variety called “Korolek” for some reason), and pomegranates. I remember once, but it was already, in my opinion, a year later, we were driving to an exercise in an open GAZ-66 in absolutely wild place. And suddenly we saw (and this was apparently at the end of September): there were bushes, there were practically no leaves on them, only huge, red balls - grenades - hanging. We were moving in a convoy, it was impossible to stop, but the driver of our GAZ-66 had a great idea: he drove off the road, shook us a little on the bumps, drove up close to a bush, braked and skidded the body so that the side hit the bush and grenades fell straight to our body. They immediately burst, we were all red, as if in blood, but we ate plenty of pomegranates.

Every year, somewhere in August, our entire regiment took part in the grape harvest.
There was no need to go far - the vineyard was literally behind the fence. At first, of course, they ate “from the belly”, but they soon got tired of the grapes and looked for other varieties in distant plots - they still got tired of it. Well, we, enterprising soldiers, very quickly learned how to make mash. This was done very simply: they took the grapes, strained them, squeezed them into some containers, then these containers were placed in a warm place and after some time they could drink the so-called “bragulka”, but for this they had to wait several days. And working in the vineyard was relaxing; sometimes it felt like you were in civilian life. The commanders came in from time to time - the norm was clear to us and, in general, the work was “don’t hit someone who is down.” By the way, I still have a photograph where I hold two bunches of grapes, like mice by their tails.

Next to me is Valerka Serdyukov.

So, one day we decided to find somewhere " agdamchik". The local Azerbaijanis always had their own wine in every house. I don’t know, maybe specifically for soldiers, or maybe so, they made “Agdam”. It was fortified wine, to be honest, I don’t know what was added to it, but the strength was “atomic”. And, of course, I wanted to feel like a civilian and take a sip of this very “Agdam”.

And so we chipped in, whoever had what money, and by the way, in the entire Soviet Army we paid privates 3 rubles a month, paratroopers - 4, we were also paid for jumping (up to 10 jumps we were paid, in my opinion, 4 rubles, and after 10 they paid 10 rubles - it was “serious” money). As a sergeant and platoon commander, I was paid as much as 8 rubles, plus jumping. In a word, we had some money, but most often we ate it very quickly in the soldiers' teahouse. And so, having reset, we realized that there was not enough, and one of ours had an old wristwatch. Let's encourage him: “Why do you need a watch? It doesn’t work well anyway, let’s sell it.”

So we sold this watch, bought an Agdam, sat down between the rows of grapes and had a picnic.
And the deputy company commander for drill training (as we called him “zampostroyu”) was senior officer Pozdeev. Quite recently, he was a company commander in another company of our regiment, but there was a check, he had a shortage (either pea coats, or overcoats, or blankets) and he was transferred to a lower position “deputy” in our company, and most importantly - ordered him to compensate for material losses. I remember at ceremonial divorces, when all the officers put on their dress uniform, he always stood in field uniform. When they reprimanded him, he angrily replied: “I pay out of my salary what they “hung” on me and I don’t have the opportunity to buy myself a new uniform.”

In general, the man was very “cool”, but actually fair.
He was probably the main educator in our company, despite the fact that we also had a political officer. (By the way, in our battalion there was a political officer with the interesting surname Sasonny, his rank was captain, for some reason I remember him. In fact, he was a sincere man.) By the way, “Pozdeich” (as we called him among ourselves) was really he was cool, and if someone was rude or did something wrong, he could take him aside so that no one would see, and simply punch him in the teeth without any fuss, and he did it professionally - the jaw only clanged and then the offender’s cheekbone ached for a long time. Surely an attentive reader will understand that such details cannot be retold without experiencing it yourself, which means that I once fell under his “hot” hand. I’ll digress and tell you under what circumstances this happened.

Here I need to say a few words about packing the parachute; I already wrote about this when I talked about the training. The fact is that there is such an element of packing when the pilot chute cover was tied to the main parachute cover with a special thread (which in no case should be nylon, but only hebash) with a special knot, which we called the “prosecutor’s knot.” If something happened to the parachute, very often the cause was this part, and then they carefully looked to see if someone had replaced the hebash rope with a nylon one, or the knot was tied incorrectly, or something else. And we were taught that even if for some reason the rupture did not occur, it was never possible to break this knot on earth. And if this thread did not break, then the cover from the main canopy would not be pulled off, because the exhaust stabilizing parachute did not open, but in this case, the parachute designers came up with two huge pockets on the side of the cover. When a parachutist flies to the ground, the oncoming air flow inflates these pockets and, like a stocking, pulls off the cover.

One day a young recruit came to Geran, I even remember the soldier’s last name - Lunin, in my opinion, a Muscovite. He was somewhat similar to Viksna, with the same blond hair. This Lunin gave me a lot of trouble - he was not very physically developed. And now it’s time for the night jump. I jumped with everyone... And already at the landing site I’m running, holding a candle with a flashlight, questioning and counting all my fighters to see if everything is okay. And suddenly one of my friends says to me: “There’s Lunin, something’s wrong with him.” I got scared and screamed: is it broken or what? They answer me: “No, everything seems to be fine, but something didn’t work for him.” I ran to look for Lunin. I found it, I see that the dome is open, thank God, he is safe and sound, though he is all pale (and so pale), there are only eyes on his face and, in my opinion, he even stutters. I ask: "What happened?" He replies: “I flew for a very long time.”
- We all flew for a long time.
- No, I flew for a long time and the parachute did not open.
I'm asking:
-Did you pull the ring?
- Pulled.

Suddenly I see that the same situation happened, that is, the cover was pulled off by a stream of air and, of course, instead of the prescribed 5 seconds, it probably flew for about half a minute. It’s good that the cover managed to come off, the canopy opened and he landed. Lunin confirmed that when the dome opened, it jerked and after a few seconds there was already ground. I looked: everything was fine with him, but if they found out what had happened, they would look into it and pin this emergency on our training platoon. And without hesitation, I tore off the two covers, tore the lock between them, and pulled the cover off the pilot chute. In a word, I made it look as if everything worked properly.

And my “bulls” had already managed to tell about what happened with Lunin not only to me, but also to “Pozdeich”, who also ran and examined the entire company (he was the commander of a training company). And so he “flies up” right up to Lunin and me, shouting: “Where?” I answer: “Everything is fine, Comrade Senior Lieutenant, I’ve already done it.” And then “Pozdeich” silently turns around and hits me on the cheekbone with a hook, I hit him head over heels. He immediately extends his hand to me, helps me get up and says reproachfully: “I thought you were smart enough. Do you even understand that this is a judicial matter?” I say: “Comrade Senior Lieutenant, no one knows.”
- How does no one know? Everyone is already chatting.
“Now we’ll build it, give instructions, and say that it happened.”
He said:
- Still, you’re a fool, Mironov.

In fact, we hushed up this matter. By the way, bending down and taking the thread, I saw that it was nylon. Where did she come from? - unclear. Well, that's a thing of the past.

So, back to the vineyards.
In a word, “Pozdeich,” when we arrived at the company’s location, noticed with his experienced gaze that some of the fighters were “behind the scenes” and gave us a “debriefing.” “Pozdeich” knew as well as we did in which houses one could buy “Agdam”, and probably the locals also informed him that the soldiers had sold the watch. For some reason, he thought that we had either stolen this watch from someone or taken it away, and decided to organize a whole investigation. He called each of the participants of the feast one by one to the office and talked.
Left me for last.

Moreover, when someone came out, he did not allow them to approach us, but sent them to different places under the supervision of the company duty officer, so that we would not tell each other anything. It was my turn. I go into the office, “Pozdeich” asks: “Well, Sergeant Mironov, you’re the commander, your soldiers here have completely laid you down, if you don’t tell me now how it really happened, then we’ll pin it all on you.” . To be honest, I got a little scared, because they can lead to a disbat, but it’s not in my habits to “hand over” my own people - I stand there, silent. “Pozdeich” continues: “Why are you silent? Don’t you want to hand over? So you were “handed over” by your own people, I just need you to retell how it happened and that’s all, to complete the picture, consider that we are even.” I'm silent.

Ah well! - And suddenly he takes a leather glove from the table, puts it on right hand and with pleasure, stretching, squeezing and unclenching his fist, he comes up to me, and his face is angry, angry, breathes into my face and says: “Okay, since you’re such a silent person, I’ll have to teach you a lesson” (and this was after that story with the parachute and I knew firsthand what “Pozdeich’s” fist was).

It’s unpleasant, of course, but I think, okay, I’ll have to feel this “pleasure” again. I'm silent. “Pozdeich” looks intently into my eyes, apparently looking to see what is more there: fear or the will to say nothing (to be honest, there was an equal amount of both) and says: “Okay, free.” I exhaled: “Permission to go, comrade guard senior lieutenant?” - “Go.” I headed towards the door, but heard: “Stop!” I look around, and he says to me: “You’re nothing, a normal lad. Go, just don’t be naughty anymore.”

And having already left the office, I realized that, of course, all these stories about my “surrendering” me were what is called “getting caught.” I also realized that “Pozdeich” is a real officer and knows what soldier’s and officer’s solidarity is. And, by the way, he really didn’t have enough of an officer’s job in his difficult situation.