In 1906, the Imperial Garage was created at the court of Nicholas II. He was in Petrograd. Subsequently, it became the motor depot of the Soviet government. In 1917, the fleet of this motor depot consisted of 46 cars: among them are cars of the most famous foreign brands - Mercedes, Delaunay-Belleville, Rolls-Royce, as well as Russian models Lessner and Russo-Balt.
In 1918, the Soviet government moved to Moscow, and all automotive equipment serving Lenin and his associates was transferred to the Kremlin. It was these cars that became the basis of the special-purpose garage, the order for the creation of which was signed personally by Lenin in December 1920. The first head of the Kremlin garage was Lenin's personal driver, Stepan Gil. The Russian government has been generous in upgrading special purpose garage vehicles. After the First World War, the production of Russian cars ceased. Therefore, fifteen Rolls-Royces were bought in England, each of which cost about five thousand dollars. The garage cars served Lenin, Trotsky, Lunacharsky, Stalin and other members of the government of the new Russia. At that time, a fabulous sum - one million dollars - was spent annually on the maintenance of the garage. At the time when Stalin ruled the country, his motorcade included such luxurious cars as Packards, Pierce Urow, Lincolns, Cadillacs, Rolls-Royces. Stalin's favorite car was a gift from US President F. Roosevelt - "Packard Twelve", which was repainted from white to black on Stalin's orders.
Foreigners were surprised that Rolls-Royces were the main vehicle of Russian officials. But it was not only the brand of the foreign car, this car was at that time the most perfect and safe. She was the epitome of respectability and armored protection.
Even then, the drivers of the special purpose garage (hereinafter referred to as GON) possessed unique skills and professionalism. During the Great Patriotic War, GON drivers had to develop such routes for the movement of government vehicles in cooperation with the special services in order to minimize the likelihood of enemy sabotage against senior officials. The GON drivers worked at the Tehran conference, accompanying all the movements of Stalin, Voroshilov and Molotov, and in 1945 and at the Yalta conference - transporting Stalin, Molotov, Roosevelt and Churchill.
After the war, Russian ZIS-110 cars appeared in the Kremlin garage along with German captured Daimler, Horch and Mercedes-Benz cars, which laid the foundation for a domestic series of executive cars.
Already in 1967 at the plant. Likhachev, to replace the ZIS-110, the ZIL-114 limousine was developed, which became the leader of the Soviet automobile industry. By 1978, this soap model was improved and received the name ZIL-115. There were two such cars in Brezhnev's motorcade - a station wagon and a sedan. Although Leonid Ilyich preferred all the same cars of foreign production - from "Lincolns" to "Mercedes".
In the 70s, GON was headed by the head coach of the Soviet national motor sport team - E. S. Tsygankov. He raised the professionalism of special garage drivers to unprecedented heights. Until now, old-timers remember the "Gypsy school", which is rightfully considered the standard of quality and reliability.
Foreign and Russian specialists and employees of law enforcement agencies highly appreciate the professionalism and level of training of GON drivers: they are not afraid of any unexpected situations.
For example, while escorting the President of Yugoslavia to the airport, a passenger car unexpectedly jumped out to meet the motorcade, having lost control due to wet asphalt. The driver of the GON, from the accompanying car, decided to substitute his car. He managed to do this in such a way that everyone remained alive and the equipment suffered minimal damage. The cortege continued on its way.
A special purpose garage is located in the former boyar chambers of the 17th century, not far from the Borovitsky Gate. It is here that all the cars of the first persons of the state are located. The doors of garage No. 10 are always half open, since they are an exit for operational vehicles. There is a long-term tradition that GON cars are washed only by women and only by hand.
The GON has its own spare parts warehouse and auto repair shops. In the yard of the special garage there are armored ZILs - the national pride of the Russian car industry. I must say that much later in the West they guessed to build a car frame around an armored capsule. Now in the garage there are mainly Mercedes S, E and G-classes. The total number of cars registered in the GON is about one hundred units.
Most people know about the GON only that at the May 9 parade, the Minister of Defense and the parade commander are driving from the special purpose garage. The precise, uniform and beautiful movement of these machines is admired by everyone. This is how specialists of the highest level can operate the machine.
But in fairness, I must say that not only GON drivers have the highest professional training. At the parade, many drew attention to the powerful military equipment moving smoothly to the sound of military marches.
For example, junior military specialists of the Strategic Missile Forces are being trained at the Kapustin Yar training ground in the Astrakhan Region. At this training ground (the 161st school of technicians), it is precisely the mechanics-drivers of vehicles on multi-axle chassis for the Topol, Topol-M and Yars PGRKs that are trained. Future drivers of missile systems learn to drive on limited passages, overcome artificial and natural obstacles, and the ability to move quickly and accurately in any conditions. The training course lasts about three months. In addition to practical driving, it includes theoretical training and training on simulators. Note that the training complex is the pride of the 161st training center. It consists of two modern computer simulators, with the help of which future mechanics-drivers of multipurpose tractors and self-propelled launchers gain driving skills. Simulators allow you to recreate different difficult situations on the simulator: driving on off-road and difficult roads, in various extreme conditions and at any time of the day and under all kinds of weather conditions. The training ground is equipped with an autodrome, which allows cadets to acquire practical skills in driving complex military equipment on wheeled chassis MAZ-7917, MAZ-543.
The cadets of this school of driver mechanics study not only technology, but also humanitarian subjects. Their curriculum includes about 30 disciplines: higher mathematics, mechanics, sociologists, philosophy and much more.
Future specialists master such subjects as car design, maintenance, as well as methods of driving and operating special military vehicles. Every year, two thousand cadets of this unique school join the ranks of the Russian missile forces.
It must be said that the drivers serving in the missile forces are obliged to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the equipment entrusted to them. They are required to economically use fuel and lubricants, to carry out maintenance of equipment in a timely manner, to maintain a vehicle in constant combat readiness. A driver-mechanic must have the following skills: be able to eliminate a breakdown as soon as possible, drive a car at any time of the day, in any weather conditions, on any terrain. The more the driver is engaged in the maintenance and operation of vehicles, the faster he masters his specialty.
The work of the driver of multi-axle trucks is quite laborious: he is required to control the movement of the vehicle and the mechanisms of the rocket complexes, while simultaneously monitoring the readings of the instruments and determining the operating mode of the engine by ear. The driver has to process a significant amount of information, he is constantly subjected to dynamic and static loads. Drivers often go on long business trips related to the specifics of their service. Drivers spend most of their working time in the cab of the vehicle. And this is in the presence of vibrations, gas pollution due to exhaust gases and constant noise from a running engine. The greatest stress of the driver's forces falls on combat duty, the occurrence of pre-emergency situations on a given route of movement, responsibility when transporting personnel in difficult weather and road conditions. The driver-mechanic of multi-axle vehicles has to make decisions in any situation in the shortest possible time, maintain efficiency with increasing fatigue, maintain attention even under the influence of external influences or fear. An important quality of the driver is the ability of quick visual adaptation, psychological stability, the speed of switching attention, as well as excellent coordination of movements of the legs and arms.
But not only the drivers of the GON and the Strategic Missile Forces are worthy of respect. The list of military registration specialties of the Russian armed forces includes tank driver mechanics, armored personnel carriers drivers, self-propelled anti-aircraft gunners with radar, radio driver drivers, multi-axle diesel vehicle drivers and senior driver mechanics. And from all these specialists serving for the benefit of defending their Motherland, it is required to manifest all those qualities that helped our fathers and grandfathers to save the Russian State from destruction and enslavement.
