In 1918, in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, it was decided to create the Main Intelligence Directorate, which should engage in intelligence activities both behind enemy lines and inside the country. This activity was necessary to provide the General Staff of the Army with information about a potential enemy.
After the war of 1941-1945, after analyzing the experience of hostilities, it was decided to create a special forces unit on the basis of the GRU to conduct sabotage activities behind enemy lines, as well as conduct deep reconnaissance work during hostilities. Also, the GRU special forces in peacetime must engage in actions to eliminate terrorists and counterintelligence work. Therefore, the special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate recruited the best of the best, those who had to perform difficult and not always unambiguous tasks. A GRU spetsnaz soldier must not only be physically enduring, but also be mentally prepared for any turn of events. Therefore, the training of the fighters was carried out in two directions:
- in terms of physical fitness and endurance;
- in psychophysiological moral preparation.
Selection of fighters
The GRU special forces can choose to serve as a soldier from any military unit, if, according to the indicators, he is suitable for service in this unit. To do this, you must have:
- fitness for service in the Airborne Forces;
- category in military-applied sports (shooting, parachuting, running, hand-to-hand combat).
Preparation
Like sixty years ago, the first thing that begins with the training of a future special forces soldier is physical endurance. At this stage, during six months of training, a special forces soldier has a minimum sleep duration (from 3 to 5 hours a day) and a tough daily routine that takes place in training for:
- shooting;
- I run;
- hand-to-hand combat;
- physical and moral and psychological preparation.
The toughest selection takes place during the first month of classes, when most of the candidates are eliminated.
"Empty" trainings have not been conducted since 1951, each training task is a quest for conditional survival - to destroy the enemy and at the same time survive on your own. Therefore, classes are conducted as close as possible to a combat situation. For example, if classes are conducted in hand-to-hand combat, then a training fight takes place in full contact.
Training
In order to survive and destroy the enemy, the commandos are taught to use any available means as a weapon, such as sticks, stones, fragments of glass and bottles, and much more.
Physical training consists of the following types of activities:
- daily run of 10 km with obstacles overcoming;
- Circuit training with various physical exercises;
- engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
From the third month of special training, classes begin, aimed at the formation of a psycho-emotional portrait of a fighter. So, young people are taught not to react to loud and harsh sounds, to get used to an uncomfortable environment (darkness, prolonged squeak, dampness, bright light). Separate long-term classes are devoted to working with fears, there are also classes on teaching methods of relieving pain, in a word, a special forces soldier discourage a feeling of fear and inspire him that he is stronger than any fear and it is he who needs to be afraid.
In parallel, work is underway to instill a sense of duty to the Motherland and the obligation to fulfill any order received. This is not at all a zombie, as many believe, because the fighters also undergo a course of study in various subjects and sciences, which will give odds to many university disciplines.
