Today there is a lot of talk about improving the conditions of service of officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, about increasing their salaries and providing them with housing. But this is not enough if we want Russia to have a highly professional army. From time immemorial, a good warrior was brought up from an early age on patriotic images, epics, stories and personal example.
I believe that the time has come to focus the main reform efforts on the formation of a first-class ("commander") officer corps. Since the time of Peter the Great, it is the officer's service class that has been the backbone and driving force for the development of the Russian army. In the 21st century, military affairs are becoming extremely complicated, going beyond their usual framework. Wars of a new type also require officers of a special, in some ways even universal quality, cultured and well-trained specialists in their field.
In pre-revolutionary and in Soviet times, there were many such people among the officers. You can count a whole cohort of teachers and mentors. Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov is the first of them. Directly and without false modesty, the great Russian commander bequeathed his not very reasonable (had a presentiment!) Posterity to take an example from him. Unfortunately, descendants still ignore Suvorov's science of winning with inexplicable stubbornness. And these are hundreds of orders, letters, instructions, many original ideas, rules of military art (including the "laws of suppressing rebellions"), perspicacious thoughts. Not to mention the rest of the rich spiritual capital left to us as a legacy by other commanders, naval commanders, outstanding military officers, and brilliant military thinkers.
As for the cherished officer traditions, today, in my opinion, it is necessary to pay attention to the following of them.
Not mercenaries and not guardsmen
Modern officers must follow the ideal of victorious service to Russia. In the officer corps, it is important to form a state-national consciousness, historical memory and patriotic worldview (the absence of all of this has already led to many troubles), to develop a desire to be victors, "powerful defenders" of the Fatherland. Such was the military nobility at the time of Peter I, Suvorov, Kutuzov and Pushkin.
The high rank and vocation of a Russian officer has traditionally been determined by this very attitude. He always considered himself a "patriot" - not a mercenary and not an oprichnik. I was driven not by material incentives, not by service because of money, but by conscience, duty and honor. Russia and its Armed Forces relied on his loyalty and devotion to the Motherland, on asceticism and heroism. Officers were not only the soul of the army, the organizer of victories on the battlefield, but also the permanent guard of the Russian state, its main protective and creative force.
Noble representatives of this class served Russia not only in the military field. The officers glorified the country on the battlefields, in the fields of education, science, culture and art. When honest and patriotic officials, governors-general, governors, and other guardians of the state interest were required, they were usually recruited from among the officers. All Russian emperors proudly wore officer's shoulder straps.
Let us recall once again Peter the Great, the first real officer in Russia. The creator of the officer corps deservedly and perspicaciously appreciated the outstanding officer's role in society and in war. In 1718, he wrote "for the memory of the Senate": "Officers - the nobility and first place." Subsequently, for centuries, he fixed this much-binding status in the Table of Ranks.
Generalissimo Suvorov - "Russian Army Victorious" - advised the officers to conclude "their good name in the glory and prosperity of the Fatherland", to think "about the common benefit", not to forget the most important: "Russia fed on my service, it will feed on yours …"
At the beginning of the 20th century, the public proposed to temporarily call for the rule of the country as a viceroy of the tsar a military officer in order to curb the revolutionary forces. This was discussed, for example, in the political fantasies of Sergei Fedorovich Sharapov. Another well-known publicist of that time, naval officer Mikhail Osipovich Menshikov, on the eve of World War I called: “All Russia's hope is in the army, and this army needs to be prepared for battle day and night. All the hope of the Fatherland is on the leaders of the army, on the noble corps of officers … An officer - a battle specialist - must be a winner in a war. And this wonderful thought should be kept in the minds of every modern officer.
Life is ministry
All previous officer generations bequeathed to the modern officer to love military affairs, his profession, "remember the war" (Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov), seriously prepare for it, be able to fight skillfully and with little blood. In the past, violation of this tradition has more than once led the country to military defeats, more dangerous for it than any aggression.
Russian officers have always been distinguished not only by general, but also by their own military patriotism. They did not think of themselves outside of military affairs, they tried to improve both it and their professional qualities. They felt responsible for the development of the army as a whole. They studied at the lessons of Russian history, on the advanced foreign experience. They actively worked for the "military renaissance". We prepared creatively for war already in peacetime. In the event of the beginning, they tried to distinguish themselves in hostilities (to win, to earn honor and glory). They subordinated their lives, talents and general culture to military service. Of the many examples of this kind, I will point out only two of the most remarkable.
Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Lieutenant-General Denis Vasilyevich Davydov did not consider himself a poet, but "a Cossack, a partisan, a soldier." Being not in the best health, in very strained relations with the rulers, being either in the service or in retirement, he nevertheless did not miss a single lifetime combat case. Each time I literally “fought my way” to the war (“I want nothing but a command and an enemy”). To his friend, the poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, he lists the milestones of his combat biography: “Wars: 1) in Prussia in 1806 and 1807; 2) in Finland in 1808; 3) in Turkey in 1809 and 1810; 4) Patriotic 1812; 5) in Germany in 1813; 6) in France in 1814; 7) in Persia in 1826; 8) in Poland in 1831 ".
And in times of peace, Davydov did not sit idle. He left to descendants excellent military works: "On the partisan war" (the article was first published in Pushkin's Sovremennik), "Experience in the theory of partisan action for the Russian army" (on military partisanship), "On Russia in military terms", "Did the frost exterminate the French Amiyu in 1812”, other works. In all this and, of course, in his beautiful poems, a simple and at the same time great officer's ideological orientation was embodied: "To be truly useful to the Fatherland."
Consciously chose the military profession and remained faithful to it until the end of his life, General Andrei Evgenievich Snesarev - a graduate of Moscow University, an opera singer, a famous orientalist and geographer, Hero of Labor (1928), one of our most respectable and brilliant military classics. You can read about his military and scientific merits in the book “Afghan lessons: Conclusions for the future in the light of the ideological heritage of A. Ye. Snesarev "(20th issue of the" Russian military collection ") and on a special website on the Internet.
Honor is more precious than life
According to the views of Peter the Great, Suvorov, Skobelev, Dragomirov (and not only them), Russian officers should have the highest qualities. Let's list the most important of them: "To keep the state interest." “Be kind, brave, intelligent and skillful”, “knowledgeable and excellent”, “faithful and honest”, “moral, active, aggressive, obedient”. Strengthen the military brotherhood, "stay in love." Take care of the soldiers "like fathers for children." Continuously teach them how to act in battle. Set an example for them in everything. Show initiative, private initiative, “have reasoning” (“under the threat of punishment for non-reasoning”). Avoid cowardice, negligence, "covetousness, love of money and lavishness." Engage in "the incessant science of reading." Learn foreign languages, learn dancing and fencing, love true glory. Make entrusted troops "happy to fight". Know the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. Defeat him with "reason and art", "bold attack tactics", "eye, speed and onslaught", "sword and mercy." "To keep in mind the names of great men and imitate them with prudence in our military actions." "To rise to heroic deeds" …
Basically, the Russian officers have always been distinguished by moral virtues: nobility, heroic spirit, courage and bravery, "love of honor", respect for the dignity of subordinates, readiness to sacrifice life for the good and greatness of the Motherland. For a Russian officer, honor was dearer than life, higher than death. It was obtained not so much in duels as in battles, on the "field of honor". It consisted in serving the Fatherland ("VPK" No. 8, 2010).
Of the 550 Russian generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812, only 133 studied in corps and universities. They were neither geniuses nor "Bonapartes", but in unity with the army they were a powerful force. They defeated the Napoleonic armada, acting modestly, simply, selflessly, fearlessly, heroically, with love for the Fatherland. 483 of them were awarded for bravery, valor and military exploits by the Orders of St. George of various degrees. The main thing is that this heroic tradition was preserved in the future. Including in the Soviet, and then in the Russian army. He continues to live in the hearts, souls and deeds of modern officers.
Do not quench the Spirit
In troubled times, the officers did not lose their spirit, self-deservingly and creatively served the Fatherland, in spite of any difficulties. The sixty-seven-year-old Suvorov remained unbending in his village exile, after which he glorified Russian weapons, the Russian spirit and our military art in Italy and Switzerland. Despite the dominance of soulless parade ground in the army, officers - participants in the Patriotic War of 1812, selflessly continued their military service. The Caucasian army, Russian troops in Turkestan preserved the Suvorov spirit, the best officer traditions. Decembrists, officers of the White Army, "military specialists" of the Red Army - even if each in their own truth, but they all served the united Russian Fatherland. Including in emigration. We will remember this as well.
Let's not forget other important precepts of history. The need to make officer service attractive, and officer work - "meaningful, business-like, creative, progressive, cordially equipped." "To remove from the military ranks everything that spoils, humiliates and insults the dignity of an officer, does not contribute to the development of his independence and creativity." To move to the top of the army "people of real, broad business, personal initiative and thoughtful work." And most importantly: “Don't quench the spirit!.. Take care of the officer! For from time immemorial to this day he has stood faithfully and permanently on the guard of Russian statehood, only death can replace him. "These words were thrown in the face of the "gentlemen revolutionaries" who were doing "Cain's deed over the officer corps" by military general Anton Ivanovich Denikin in May 1917.
And further. It is gratifying that over the past ten years, solid books on the topic of officers have appeared on the army horizon. We list some of them: "The officer corps of the Russian army: the experience of self-knowledge" (17th edition of the "Russian military collection"), "Traditions of the officer corps of Russia" V. E. Morikhin, "Traditions of officers of the Russian army" (a team of authors from the Institute of Military history), "The Time of an Officer" by K. B. Rush, a textbook two-volume book "On Honor and Military Duty in the Russian Army." The traditions of the Russian officers are presented in them in detail, in directions: military leadership, combat, in the field of education, training and upbringing, in the service and in everyday life (regimental family, officers' meetings, courts of honor, etc.) By the way, you can compare them with the traditions of American officers set forth in the book "Officer of the Armed Forces" (Russian-language edition of the US Embassy, 1996). Ours, in my opinion, are richer, more interesting and "cooler".
