On October 24, Russia celebrates the Day of Special Forces of the Armed Forces of Russia, or simply the Day of Special Forces. This is a professional holiday for all active and former military personnel of special purpose units that exist (or have existed) as part of the Russian armed forces.
Unlike the Day of the Airborne Forces, the celebration of which is known to the whole country, the Day of Special Forces is almost unknown to the general public - it is celebrated by “their own” and those whose lives, for some reason, turned out to be associated with special forces. Moreover, the Special Forces Day is a young holiday. It was officially established by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation only on May 31, 2006. And the very existence of special forces units was kept secret for a long time. During the Soviet period of Russian history, there was a certain taboo on the word "special forces". It was only in the 1980s, during the war in Afghanistan, that information about the existence of such units in the Soviet Army began to leak out.
October 24 as a memorable date was not chosen by chance. On October 24, 1950, Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky, who was then the Minister of War of the USSR, ordered the formation of 46 special-purpose companies by May 1, 1951. The staffing of each company was set at 120 servicemen. Separate spetsnaz companies were created in all combined arms and mechanized armies, airborne corps, as well as in military districts if there were no army formations in them. A total of 46 companies were created, including 17 companies under the command of the headquarters of the military districts, 22 companies under the command of the headquarters of the armies, 2 companies under the headquarters of the groups of forces, and 5 companies under the headquarters of the airborne corps. Each company consisted of 2 reconnaissance platoons, a radio communications platoon and a training platoon. The total number of special forces by May 1951 was 5,520 servicemen.
This directive marked the beginning of the official history of the Soviet and then Russian special forces. However, in fact, special forces existed in the Soviet Union before - starting in 1918, when the CHON - special-purpose units - were created under the Cheka. During the Great Patriotic War, special forces, which were part of the Red Army and the NKVD of the USSR, operated at the front and in the rear of the enemy. Nevertheless, spetsnaz as a special branch of the army was created after the war. And this was no coincidence.
The history of the creation of the Soviet special forces was closely connected with the beginning of the Cold War and the nuclear confrontation between the great powers. By creating special forces as part of armies and corps, the Soviet command hoped that they would be able to operate behind enemy lines, promptly receiving information and disabling nuclear facilities, headquarters and command posts of enemy armies. Thus, first of all, Soviet special forces were intended for operations in the rear of NATO armies, including in Western Europe and North America.
The Soviet military leadership entrusted the special forces with the tasks of conducting reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines, destroying tactical and operational-tactical means of nuclear attack, organizing and conducting sabotage behind enemy lines, deploying a partisan movement in the enemy's rear, capturing persons with important information - military leaders, commanders formations and subunits, officers of enemy armies, etc.
Spetsnaz immediately after its creation was subordinated to the 2nd Main Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, as in the period from 1949 to 1953. was called the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff. From the very beginning of its existence, the GRU spetsnaz, taking into account the specifics of the tasks performed, had a structure that was different from other types of troops, its own system of combat training and selection of personnel.
Naturally, when recruiting individual special-purpose companies, attention was paid to soldiers and sergeants who had already served in the SA for at least two years out of three years of conscript service. However, in 1953, due to the reduction of the armed forces, the number of separate special-purpose companies was reduced from 46 to 11 special forces. In 1957, the command made the following important decision on the consolidation of special purpose units. This is how separate special-purpose battalions appeared, created on the basis of 8 separate special forces companies, and the remaining 3 separate special forces companies continued to exist in their status with an increase in the number of personnel to 123 servicemen in the company.
In 1957, separate special forces battalions were deployed as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, the Northern Group of Forces, the Carpathian, Turkestan and Transcaucasian military districts. At the same time, the number of personnel in the battalions was significantly different. The most numerous was the 26th separate special-purpose battalion, deployed as part of the GSVG - it served 485 people. In the 27th Special Forces in the Northern Group of Forces, in the 36th Special Forces in the Carpathian Military District and in the 43rd Special Forces in the Transcaucasian Military District, 376 people each served, and the 61st Special Forces in the Turkestan Military District was the smallest. the number was established at 253 military personnel. Each battalion consisted of 3 reconnaissance companies, a special radio communications company, a training platoon, an automobile platoon and an economic platoon.
In 1961, the Central Committee of the CPSU issued a decree "On the training of personnel and the development of special equipment for organizing and equipping partisan detachments", which became the normative and legal basis for further reforming the special forces. In 1962, it was decided to form cadre special-purpose brigades. This task was completed in the shortest possible time - from July 19, 1962 to January 1, 1963, 10 cropped separate special-purpose brigades (obrspn) appeared.
In peacetime, framed brigades numbered 300-350 people, but in the event of the outbreak of war, due to mobilization measures, their number immediately increased to 1,700 people. In peacetime, each separate GRU special-purpose brigade included a brigade command, a special radio communications detachment (a battalion of 2 companies), a mining company, a logistics company, a commandant platoon, 1-2 deployed separate special-purpose detachments (battalion of 3 mouth) and 2-3 cropped separate special forces. In total, 10 special-purpose brigades were deployed.
In 1976, in connection with the creation of the Central Asian Military District, the 22nd separate brigade of the GRU special purpose was created, and in 1977, due to the aggravation of relations with China, the 24th separate brigade of the special destination. Also, the special forces included the 1071st separate training regiment for special purposes, which trained sergeants for intelligence units. After the introduction of the military rank of "warrant officer" into the SA, a school of warrant officers was created in the regiment, which trained deputy commanders of reconnaissance groups (platoons). The total number of special forces subordinate to the GRU of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, in the period from 1957 to 1977. increased from 2 thousand 235 people to 44 thousand 845 people.
In addition, special-purpose units subordinated to the GRU were also created as part of the USSR Navy. The first special forces unit appeared in 1956 as part of the Black Sea Fleet, then similar units - naval reconnaissance points - were created in other fleets. The naval reconnaissance point in terms of the number of personnel was equal to a special-purpose company in the ground forces - 122 people served in it. In the event of the introduction of martial law, a separate special-purpose brigade was deployed on the basis of each naval reconnaissance point. At the same time, the naval reconnaissance point of the Black Sea Fleet since 1968 was called a separate special-purpose brigade, although it still had a strength of 148 people.
The combat missions of the naval special forces included reconnaissance of enemy coastal facilities, the destruction or incapacitation of infrastructure, combat and auxiliary ships, the guidance of aircraft and missiles at enemy targets, and reconnaissance of the enemy during the landing of marines on the coast. Back in 1967, the 316th separate training detachment for special purposes was deployed in Kiev to train personnel of naval special forces units.
The creation and existence of special forces at that time was kept in strict secrecy. Even information about the presence of nuclear weapons in the USSR was more accessible to the population. Many officers who served in the Soviet Army at that time, not to mention privates and sergeants, did not even know about the existence of the GRU special forces. The lack of their own uniforms was also associated with increased secrecy. If necessary, the special forces used the uniform and symbols of any kind of SA troops - from signalmen to tankmen, but most often they still used the uniform of the Airborne Forces. Since the special forces underwent parachute training, no one ever challenged the right of military intelligence officers to wear blue berets and vests. Moreover, the bulk of the officer corps arrived at the units from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School.
In 1979, the war in Afghanistan began, which became the most serious test for the entire Soviet military machine. The GRU special forces also took the most active part in it, although initially they were created and prepared not at all for these purposes. The 15th and then 22nd separate special-purpose brigades were deployed to Afghanistan, and the 467th separate special-purpose training regiment was created in Chirchik to train conscripts for military operations "across the river".
The participation of special forces in the Afghan war began with the fact that on June 24, 1979, on the basis of the 15th separate special-purpose brigade of the Turkestan military district, the 154th separate special-purpose detachment (154th oospn) was created, which was intended specifically to protect the Afghan President Nur Mohammad Taraki and had to be transferred to a neighboring state. But Taraki was killed and power in the country passed to Hafizullah Amin. On December 7, 1979, the 154th oospn was transferred to Bagram, and on December 27, together with the special forces of the KGB of the USSR, participated in the assault on Amin's palace.
In the Afghan war, the special forces were destined to play a special and very significant role. Taking into account the specifics of hostilities, the special forces, who were actually trained as partisans, were able to quickly orient themselves and turned into the most effective counter-guerrilla formations that inflicted crushing pinpoint strikes on the Mujahideen.
The Afghan war also revealed a new plane of the use of special forces - local armed conflicts in which the special forces had to carry out tasks to find and destroy terrorist groups and armed formations of the enemy. For officers and warrant officers of special forces, Afghanistan became an invaluable school of combat experience, the skills gained in which they soon had to be applied already in the post-Soviet space - in numerous wars and conflicts that shook the former republics of the USSR after the collapse of a single state.
After the collapse of the USSR, not only civilian industrial and transport infrastructure, but also the armed forces, including special-purpose units, underwent division. But most of the Soviet special forces were withdrawn to the territory of the Russian Federation and formed the basis for the formation of the already Russian special forces - the direct heir to the traditions of its glorious predecessor. We still do not know about all the operations in which the special forces of the GRU (now - the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) took part. Tajikistan, both Chechen campaigns, the 2008 war with Georgia, ensuring the reunification of Crimea, the fight against terrorism in Syria - this is not a complete list of stages in the military path of the Russian special forces.
In 1994, on the basis of the 901st and 218th separate special-purpose battalions, the 45th separate special-purpose regiment of the Airborne Forces was formed, on the basis of which the 45th separate guards special-purpose brigade was formed in 2015. This is the special forces of the Airborne Forces, which in their tasks and combat training does not differ much from the special forces of the GRU.
Today, on the Day of Special Forces, we congratulate all servicemen and veterans of the service who have had a difficult, but very honorable share of serving in the special forces - the real elite, the pride of the Russian armed forces.
