Today, in the Armed Forces of the country, those people celebrate their professional holiday, without whose successful work it is truly impossible to carry out a single modern operation, whether it is a training operation or the most combat one. We are talking about military communications. It is they who ensure the uninterrupted exchange of information both between individual units and between entire military formations - exchange at various levels, at any time of the day, in any weather, including political weather.
Officially, the modern service of military signalmen has been counting down its history since October 20, 1919, when a communications department appeared as part of the Field Headquarters of the Red Army in the midst of the Civil War in Soviet Russia. It was formed by order of the Revolutionary Military Council No. 1736/362. We are talking about the so-called USKA, which was deciphered as "Communications Department of the Red Army."
The tasks of USKA included control of all communications equipment available at that time in the troops. Since 1920, USKA representatives have received the right to inspect units using these and newly received funds. These are telephone and telegraph equipment, cables and related electrical fittings. USKA in its original form did not last long.
By order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR No. 446/96 of March 28, 1924, USKA, as they would say now, was “optimized”. It was merged with the Main Military Engineering Directorate (Main Military Engineering Directorate) with the transformation into the Military Technical Directorate (VTU) of the Red Army, subordinate to the chief of supplies of the Red Army.
A little over seven years later - a new reorganization. The 33rd order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR of May 17, 1931 divides the VTU into two directorates - the Red Army Communications Directorate and the Military Engineering Directorate. And in 1934, according to the regulations on the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, the USKA, as the central body of the People's Commissariat, was entrusted with providing communications for all units and formations of the Red Army. Three more years - and a new reorganization: by order of the NKO No. 0114 of July 26, 1937, a merger with the Technical Directorate of the Red Army was made into the Communications Directorate of the Red Army. That is, the name is the same, but there are significantly more functions and rights.
This, incidentally, refers to the question that the reform "in both directions" (with the creation of one of the two, and then the division of one into two) is being carried out, as the history of the USSR Armed Forces and the RF Armed Forces testifies, quite actively not only in our time. Each time cycle dictates its own tasks. And the extent to which mergers and divisions become effective in the end is a topic for a separate conversation.
A significant contribution to the development of the signal troops was made by the Soviet military leader, a native of the city of Gorlovka, Ivan Peresypkin. On his shoulders lay the most difficult task of providing communications for the country, front and rear, during the Great Patriotic War. It was Ivan Peresypkin who was the People's Commissar of Communications of the USSR from May 1939 to July 1944.
In 1941, Ivan Terentyevich became at the same time the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union. It was under him that, in a very difficult period for itself, the country coordinated actions in different areas of the front-line and long-distance evacuation management, during battles on the front line, in rear units and formations, in government structures and in other areas using the means of communication available at that time.
Ivan Peresypkin personally went to the front 21 times to ensure the reliable operation of military communications structures. Battle of Moscow, Kursk Bulge, liberation of Ukraine, Belarus, Baltic states. In February 1944, Ivan Terentyevich became the first serviceman in the history of the country to hold the rank of Marshal of the Signal Corps of the USSR. At that time, he was not even 40.
An invaluable contribution to the Great Victory was made, of course, not only by the generals of the signal troops. A total of 304 military signalmen became Heroes of the Soviet Union during the bloodiest war in the history of mankind. 133 military signalmen are full holders of the Order of Glory, up to 600 signal units received military orders as a reward for their huge contribution to the defeat of the Nazi armies, and the 58th formations became guards.
Speaking on the Day of the military signalman about the people who forged victory, one cannot but mention the equipment they used to provide communications on the front line and in the rear. One of the most popular radio stations during the Great Patriotic War was the RBM (modernized battalion radio station). This is an improved version of the radio station RB (3-R). Radio stations with the factory code "Levkoy" were produced from 1942 to the beginning of the 50s. The start of production was laid at the plant No. 590 - "Electrosignal" evacuated to Novosibirsk from Voronezh. The RB and RBM radio stations are the brainchild of Soviet radio engineers K. V. Zakhvatoshin, I. S. Mitsner, I. A. Belyaev, A. V. Savodnik, A. F. Oblomov and E. N. Genisht. All of them were awarded the Stalin Prize for their invention.
From the RBM kit: transceiver, food packaging, telephone receiver, headphones, telegraph key, collapsible small whip antenna, horizontal dipole antenna, collapsible vertical antenna mast 7 m high with counterweight.
The radio station operated in two frequency ranges: from 1.5 to 2.75 MHz and from 2.75 to 5 MHz.
The RBM may well be called the "grandmother" of modern technical means of military communications.
In modern conditions, when new forms of warfare are constantly being introduced, based on the use of a network-centric method of command and control of troops, the role and importance of signal troops is significantly increasing. This places special demands on both the technique itself and the training of specialists.
From the release of the Russian Ministry of Defense:
This year, the signal troops continued to receive the latest equipment, including command and staff vehicles
R-149AKSH-1 based on the KamAZ-4320 vehicle. These KShM allow you to establish communication over closed Internet channels and carry out topographic referencing through satellite systems. The development of the signal troops continues as part of the modernization program for the Russian Armed Forces.
Voennoye Obozreniye congratulates military signalmen on their professional holiday!
