He visited the 7th Guards Rocket Rezhitskaya Red Banner Division (military unit No. 14245), which is located in the Tver region. Before the start of the trip, Comrade Major, accompanying the team of bloggers, handed everyone a printout with the text of articles about responsibility for espionage, disclosure of state secrets, participation in high treason and other pleasant events. Warning that in which case further communication with the violators will pass into the competence of a completely different department. Step to the right, step to the left - and specially trained people, they say, will definitely be interested. So come along as partners!

Jumping ahead a bit, I'll tell you: troops of the Strategic Missile Forces, of course, special, secret, sensitive. There is no dispute here. But in connection with these epithets, almost nothing was shown to us in the missile division. I mean, unusual. The texture was frankly not enough for me personally, time - even less. The accompanying officers vigilantly watched every step, sincerely surprised at the interest shown. For the first time, this is, of course, normal, I hope that in the next “blogger tours” I will be able to learn more than anything interesting. Well, to the heap, I myself relaxed somewhat, because the pictures turned out to be some kind of “unimportant”, attempts to save everything by thermonuclear processing, it seems, only aggravated the situation. Well, okay, what is - then I'll show. Science will be for me :).

The Strategic Missile Forces division is deployed in ZATO "Ozerny". Entrance to the military camp - through the same checkpoint as. On shameful in all respects Moscow-Peter highway we raced for several hours before Vypolzovo, there was a turn and a checkpoint. After the checkpoint, we moved to the army PAZ-ik and went to refresh ourselves in a very nice-looking “Atelier-Dining Room”. Local communism reigns inside the institution - for 170 rubles they are fed heartily with soup-potatoes-patty-peach juice. All of the above are quite edible, even tasty. One of the rocket officers also explained about the prices: they are really lower in ZATO than outside the perimeter. The difference is especially noticeable in the restaurant hall :).

Satisfied, they moved to combat positions. We entered through several gates. In front of the very positions there is a postern (from French poterne - an underground corridor (gallery) for communication between fortifications, fortress forts or strongholds of fortified areas. Usually the postern in front of the positions acts as a gateway: you entered, the door closed behind you, only then the next one opens. The door is opened and closed by a guard fighter with a special metal "steering wheel", as in the picture.This is a serious matter, such combat positions, in which case, will be a desirable target not only for missile and bomb strikes, but also for groups of all kinds of saboteurs of a potential enemy. Therefore, the entire perimeter will be covered with the usual "thorn", "rigid" and MZP. Guards with weapons, helmets and bulletproof vests. Everything is grown-up.

Directly at the positions they showed the combat duty support complex. In such machines, it is possible to organize a command post or a resting place for a whole shift of rocket soldiers right “in the field”. They were not allowed to shoot inside the MOBD (combat duty support vehicles), although what could be secret in neatly tucked bunks, a shoe dryer and a machine gun turret? Anyway, arrived to visit - follow the instructions of the owners.

Hangars in which there are missile systems with missiles RT-2PM "Topol"(missile index - 15Zh58, START code - RS-12M, according to NATO classification - SS-25 Sickle), have sliding roofs. If necessary, you can carry out a rocket launch directly from the "parking lot". And so, in general, vehicles with missiles patrol the routes assigned to them, being in constant several-minute readiness for a missile launch. The launch itself is impossible without the physical participation of several responsible persons, so "accidents" are practically excluded. According to the rocket scientists, a potential adversary in this time period cannot reliably defend itself against our missile attack in any way. As, however, we are from their missiles.

Then the whole team moved to the barracks, where the personnel live. The “composition” itself was in the leisure room, reading some books and constantly smiling. From the barracks we arrived at the training position. Position - "concrete" with a circle for a turn and a training rocket tractor. A built-in tank is installed on top of the tractor, imitating the dimensions of a combat missile. If necessary, water is poured into the layout, which allows increasing the mass of the complex to values ​​comparable to a combat specimen. The training machine is used, which is typical, for teaching the driving skills of novice drivers. With a skillful approach and diligence, such training takes about six months. The car is huge, heavy, the dimensions are completely unusual. But it is easy to manage: an automatic transmission and a pair of pedals.

Everyone could get behind the wheel and try their hand at driving a training car. An experienced and very friendly senior mechanic-driver-instructor and at the same time senior warrant officer Sergey Oleinik acted as an instructor, skillfully avoiding any questions regarding the performance characteristics of the equipment entrusted to him :). Just flint. But he kept smiling. His training vehicle is designed for reconnaissance of combat patrol routes and can be used as an evacuation tractor. In "peacetime" - a training manual for those preparing to take up combat duty. Driving a car, according to a comrade senior warrant officer, is not difficult. But you need to get used to the overall dimensions, master all the performance characteristics and just “get into it”. The passability of the car is very high, water barriers and soil are not a hindrance for it. For combat patrols - that's it.

By the way, similar machines are also used in parades. They come to Moscow on their own, 400 kilometers from Teikovo, in the Ivanovo region. "Showy" vehicles do not participate in combat duty, so that the defense does not fall during the parades.

Separately, he took an interest in the attitude of rocket men to lovers of independent visits to various kinds of military "casts", in particular,. They say - it is better to inform about your desires in advance than to fall under the fire of the guard. Maybe times are changing?

I can hardly be called a blogger in the sense that was needed for this press tour. My readers are colleagues from a previous job - 4 pieces, my best friend - 1 piece and my mother is the only one in the whole world. Sometimes Ovseychuk also comes in, whom, along the way, I just amuse.
In general, the number of my regular readers is minimal, and I do not write on military-patriotic topics either. So I was denied accreditation as a blogger, but not as a journalist. After all, not with a pen, but with a camera.

It all starts in the dining room. Is always. After 5 hours of the road there were no other desires. Well, there were, of course, but still I also wanted to go to the dining room.

While people were queuing...

I have talykova asking for a hero.

And here is the food. Tasteless, according to the assistant whose tray I photographed.

Part is located in ZATO "Ozerny". Consequently, we left our cars right behind the checkpoint, and moved to a military PAZik, on which we were transported through the territory of the town and the unit itself.

I will support the anger of other bloggers: we were promised to show "Topol". And they didn't show it. Although I, as a person in the military field is not very sophisticated, it was still interesting.

See the wire? It's 3000 volts.

There were, it seems, 17 bloggers. From Moscow, we were accompanied by a colonel from the press service of the Strategic Missile Forces and a major from the service for the protection of state secrets. A few more people joined in.

What they showed there was a missile division deployed in the field. But only in garages and under camouflage.

Since at the very beginning of the press tour we signed for knowledge and compliance with the laws on state secrets and the media, it was possible to shoot the proposed objects only from certain angles. It's a communication machine hiding.

But this is a combat duty support vehicle. In the garage.

All bloggers have photos inside the car. The camera was not allowed in. Therefore, I didn't climb.

And here is how we overcame the high-voltage line - a secret passage under the ground under vigilant guards.

And here is the way out. There is no security, because the door opens only from THAT side.

The second destination is the barracks.

In my opinion, of course, ascetic, but knowledgeable people they said: they saw it even more severely.

When I made plans with a sports corner in the story, the editor noticed: if we show this, PR will definitely not work.

We were allowed to talk to the privates. Well, more to me. Hardly anyone recorded them on a camera.

The private, who was given to me for an interview, said this: the Internet and television are what they are watching now. And the guys in civilian life will see how they are here, in the Strategic Missile Forces, and they will also join the army.

But it still seems to me that their boots have an uncomfortable last.

The most interesting part of the press tour is interactive. This is when the exhibits can be touched.

Before we were allowed to feel this - a training launch complex ...

We were explained in some detail how difficult and at the same time easy to operate this machine. Dimensions - about 20 meters long. How much it weighs, I'm even afraid to guess. They say 40 tons. Up to a hundred, it probably never accelerates at all. Yes, this is not necessary if you are carrying an intercontinental ballistic missile RT-2PM. The real, senior warrant officer, Sergey Oleinik, explained the most, whatever to eat.

Not a bad little wheel, considering that in this photo I'm 180 cm tall.

And now that very interactive part of the press tour. We were all allowed to drive this colossus ourselves. I understand it's hard to believe. I am a rather mushy young lady with a driver's license sold at most 10 times. But I had Senior Ensign Sergei Oleinik behind me ... and a cameraman, in front of whose camera it was impossible to disgrace.

Bologovsky district of the Tver region of Russia.

7th Guards Rocket Rezhitsa Red Banner Division 7th Guards Division
Small emblem of the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Armed Forces
Years of existence	1961 - present (present)
Country	USSR USSR: - Russia Russia: 1991 - present
Subordination	division commander
Included in	27th Guards Rocket Army
Type of	missile division
Includes	control and parts
Function	protection
population	compound
Dislocation	ZATO "Ozerny" (village settlement Vypolzovo)
Marks of Excellence	honorary name: « Rezhitskaya»

In accordance with the Directive of the Minister of Defense of the USSR, of May 25, 1960, in June 1960 on the basis of 19th Guards Cannon Artillery Rezhitsa Brigade, relocated from the village of Gatchina, was formed 7th Missile Engineering Brigade with deployment in the village of Vypolzovo, Kalinin Region (Bologoe-4). The formation took place on the housing stock of the 25th mixed aviation division of the 6th separate air defense army. Colonel P. P. Uvarov was appointed commander of the missile brigade. The number of the brigade reached 9,000 people (soldiers and sergeants). Initially, the brigade was part of the 46th training artillery range, and on March 10, 1961, it became part of the 3rd separate guards missile corps.

The first missile regiment (military unit 14264) was formed from three divisions: two with ground launchers and one with a silo launcher. On November 30, 1960, the brigade commander reported to the commander-in-chief about the completion of the formation of the missile brigade - military unit 14245. From the beginning of 1961, planned training began with the R-5 missile.

On February 11, 1963, the first division (BSP-12) took up combat duty (BD) with two R-16s with ground launchers. In total, in 1963-1964, six divisions (BSP) entered the database: four with ground launchers and two with mine launchers.

Since 1965, the division began preparations for the construction of the BSP missile systems a new generation with silos of individual launches ("OS"). In pursuance of the directive of the General Staff of March 31, 1966, 6 OS missile regiments with UR-100 (8K84) missiles were formed. In 1967, the first "OS" regiment entered the DB (military unit 97688).

Since 1973, work has begun on removing the UR-100 from combat duty and placing new 15P015 complexes with the MR-UR-100 (15A15) missile on the DB (since 1977 it has been replaced by the 15P016 complex with the MR-UR-100U). The first regiment with the 15A15 missile entered the DB on May 6, 1975. During the period from October 15, 1975 to October 3, 1978, 8 more regiments took up duty, replacing the Chelomeevskaya UR-100 with the Yangelevskaya MR-UR-100.

Since 1982, according to the plan of the General Staff, part of the "OS" regiments with MR-UR-100 were taken off duty and disbanded, part was transferred to the improved complex 15P016.

In 1994, the last "OSovsky" missile regiment was removed from the database. In accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers of Russia, on the basis of one of the combat launch positions (silos) of military unit 14264, Museum of the Rocket Forces, now disbanded for undisclosed reasons. On December 30, 1994, the first OSovsky regiment (military unit 14264) was transferred to the Topol PGRK with the RT-2PM (15Zh58) missile. On December 27, 1996, the second regiment (military unit 52642) of the Topols entered the database. In the fall of 1996, the combat crews of the missile regiments of the division at the Plesetsk training ground conducted two successful combat training launches.

Command

Composition of the compound

The division included:

• Control;

11 missile regiments:

• 129th Missile Regiment (military unit 97688) - disbanded on 12/01/1989
• 222nd Missile Regiment (military unit 95835) - disbanded on 07/01/1990
• 319th missile regiment (military unit 52643) - disbanded on 12/01/1989
• 320th Missile Regiment (military unit 52644) - disbanded on 12/01/1989
• 509th missile regiment (military unit 52641) - disbanded on 01/30/1990
• 510th missile regiment (military unit 52642) (site 3k)
• 818th Missile Regiment (military unit 74201) (51st site), - disbanded on 12/01/1993
• 272nd missile regiment (military unit 68528) (42nd site), - disbanded
• 342nd Missile Regiment (military unit 57338) - disbanded 10/30/1990
• 256?-th (526) missile regiment (military unit 07382) (11th site, 12th site), - disbanded on 01.10.1993
• 41st missile regiment (military unit 14264) (site 1C)

other formations:

• 281st communication center (military unit 03394) (since 2012 military unit 14245-V (US)
• 212th separate group of funds regulation combat control and communications as part of the 1193rd Combat Control Center (military unit 49494) 606310, Nizhny Novgorod region, Dalnee Konstantinovo-5
• 2423rd technical missile base (trb) (military unit 96778) (sites 5, 6)
• 1501st repair and technical base (military unit 33787)
• 509th separate engineer-sapper battalion (military unit 03071)
• 41st operational and technical commandant's office (military unit 63627) Ozerny, st. Sovetskaya, 7
• 29th separate helicopter squadron (military unit 65177) - disbanded in December 2001
• Separate security and reconnaissance battalion (military unit 14245) (OBOR)
• 61st station (FPS military unit 80253)
• Separate operational and regulatory group (OERG) (military unit 14245-R) - disbanded
• 3rd separate medical and sanitary battalion (military unit 46181)
• 9th mobile automobile repair shop (military unit 14245-D)
• 261st complex technical control unit (military unit 14245-R)

Yesterday, all worthy citizens were shown the 7th Guards Rocket Rezhitsa Red Banner Division, which guards the dream of the Motherland with strategic mobile complexes with the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile.

Many thanks for the comments (in italics) to Dmitry Shchedrin d_schedrin - http://d-schedrin.livejournal.com/7286.html

As expected, a visit to the military unit begins with lunch. In the military town of Ozerny, our carnal needs were satisfied by this pretty dining room
1.

Catering workers offered everyone to try a cutlet with potatoes, but for some reason they put rice with a chop
2.

While the others were eating, I explored the town a little. As it should be in my journal, you will see only the dirtiest streets and shabby houses.
One of the first houses built in the early 60s, and also one of the most dilapidated. But the barracks, converted into officer dormitories, both for families and for bachelors, remained behind the scenes. They are located on the territory of the division itself, in order to get into them you need to go through one more checkpoint. For obvious reasons, journalists were not taken there. It is unsuitable for the whole country to show dilapidated barracks divided by plywood into rooms, in which families of officers are forced to exist. Russian army. Plywood partitions are not the biggest problem in those dorms. The electrical wiring laid in the barracks at the same Khrushchev time was intended to ensure the operation of a maximum of one barracks TV, two irons and the burning of about 20 light bulbs. The electricians of that time did not think that in decades the barracks would be divided into rooms and officers and ensigns with their refrigerators, computers, irons, microwave ovens would live in each. The command of the unit decided to deal with the problem of a constant power outage in the dormitory due to network overload in an unexpected way, namely by issuing an order "to prohibit the use of irons, TVs, computers, microwave ovens in the dormitory", leaving only one refrigerator in the permit.
All this reminded me of one cadet anecdote:
Cadets to the officer: "Comrade lieutenant, would you mind watching TV after lights out? Look, just don't turn it on," came the officer's reply.
4.

Local journalist girls from the local newspaper "Lake Dawns over the Lakes" (or something similar) confirmed that I was really lucky to find the oldest and most ragged part of the town.
In general, they said that they live much better in Ozerny than in any other neighboring cities (not military ones). There is nothing to do here, but calmly. The birth rate is much higher than in normal settlements. Few hooligans.
All living creatures periodically die on fences under voltage at strategic facilities, so there are no problems with fresh elk, wild boar, hare, etc.
Moskovskaya street, as well as Leningradskaya and Kyiv. Most of the shops are located in such cozy basements.
For those living in dormitories on the territory of the division itself, the chief of staff established truly draconian rules. More specifically, the passage through the checkpoint was allowed for 10 minutes without 10 every hour. Those. if the mother took the child to kindergarten at 8.50 and did not have time to return by 9.00, then she was offered to take a walk somewhere else for 50 minutes before 9.50. The severity of this order was offset by the courage of the checkpoint duty officers, who directly sabotaged such instructions.
5.

The only thing that upsets them is the lack of fashion stores (for this you have to go to Moscow or St. Petersburg) and the impossibility of traveling abroad (due to secrecy)
5-2.

Lunch came to an end and we were shocked on the army path towards the most closed and secret places.
6.

Now I will tell you how to overcome the barriers and enter the Poplar parking lot.
In a straight line, the path will be closed with gates, barriers, barbed wire, live wire, sharp stakes and wolf pits. In general, it is necessary to bypass
Electrified barrier - grid "P-100" (please do not call names an electric fence!). Works in three modes: 765, 1500 and 3000 volts. In order to die, it is not necessary to touch it with your hand. Kills when a person is already at a distance of 1 meter from her. During the entire existence of the Strategic Missile Forces, not a single enemy has died on it, but cases of death of our military personnel and civilians regularly occur. Mostly conscripts who decided to "drive fast" into a self-propelled gun and hope that two pairs of OZK put on themselves will save them. In another division in the 90s, there was a case when a tractor driver from a neighboring village, who got drunk on the board, decided to plow the BSP with his tractor. Stumbling first on the grid, then he was shot with a burst from a turret machine gun. In the 7th division, the last case of death occurred, in my opinion, in 2000.
7.

To avoid bypassing, you need to catch someone from the authorities and ask him to call on the phone to let them through
8.

The soldiers will come out to the call and let them inside
The chief of the guard reports to the arrived chief. During my service in the division, there were about ten such helmets and unloadings for the entire division. So they were dragged from unit to unit for the period of verification. The last time I put on such uniforms was in 2007 during a combat readiness check after the explosion of the Nevsky Express, which occurred nearby. I would like to believe that such uniforms arrived in every regiment
9.

Next, a formal check of documents, a turntable ...
Entrance to the terrace, checkpoint. The list of persons with the right of passage is strictly limited and strictly at a certain time. Some conscripts could serve for two years without ever getting to the BSP (cooks, for example, firefighters, doctors). During the passage, the usual pass for passage to the regiment, division is changed to a token that has the right to enter the BSP. There is no pass or the token is not issued, goodbye, go back to issue. They made an exception for bloggers. On the right side of the mesh chain-link there was a poster with a visual reminder (photo) of what mesh-100 can do to a person. Apparently, in order not to injure the psyche of bloggers, the poster was removed. There is also a rule to hand over smoking and incendiary accessories to the guard when entering the BSP. This is reminiscent of a sign on the window, which is now gone. But the personnel are at the BSP for at least 6 hours, or even several days, so the rule is violated everywhere ...
10.

And we go underground
11.

This tunnel runs exactly under all the fences and wires. There are no turns here, go straight all the time, but if something happens, the soldiers who are on duty here will always tell you the way
12.

Poterna. Its disadvantage is the passage of water. Can be seen by drops on the ceiling and dew on the walls. In rain and spring, very solid puddles form in the rubble, which the fighters successfully dry periodically and especially before checking with rags.
13.

That's it, we are warmly greeted at the exit, the security system has been overcome
On the background: Guardroom with a machine gun turret above it. Sometimes MTLB is enhanced.
14.

Passage through the curtain is carried out by a lock method. If one door is open, the other must be closed at this time.
15.

Now two steps to the garages where Poplars and other related cars live
16.

MOBD lives in this garage - a combat duty support vehicle. Essentially a living quarters, a kitchen, an emergency power plant and a security machine gun nest
And here is my any MOBD (combat duty support vehicle) based on the MAZ 543M. Designed to provide electric power to the launcher in the field and for its own needs, as well as to accommodate personnel. Consists of two unconnected compartments. In the first (entrance on the right) there are two diesel generators of 50 kW each. From it are visible two exhaust sleeves stretching to the roof. Behind him is a fuel tank, if my memory serves me for 1960 liters. Behind it is a household compartment, this is where bloggers were allowed. Soviet-style air conditioning in front of the cab. Powerful and reliable thing, albeit bulky.
I will never forget how we washed it with FAIRY (it turns out it is used not only for washing dishes!) before checking. And then a thin layer of diesel fuel to make it shine like in this photo.
17.

Inside, it's like in a railway car, only much closer. In the wall of the corridor there is a washbasin and a heated compartment for drying clothes
Actually household compartment from the inside. One quadruple coupe and one double. In this photo, the aisle, on the left is a wardrobe for drying clothes. According to the full staff, there are more than 30 people in the preparation and launch group. In the field, personnel are placed to sleep not only in the compartment, but also in the dining room and on this floor. The 7th division is a reduced strength division or, as they say, "castrated". In groups of 10-15 people.
18.

Three compartments are used to accommodate people - a four-seat compartment for the rest of personnel and a two-seat compartment for the rest of the commander and his assistant
Mattresses and bed linen were never issued. Usually they sleep with an OZK under their heads and covered with a pea jacket.
19.

There is a compartment-dining room for meals by personnel - 4 people can eat at the same time. The compartment-dining room is equipped with one folding berth for the cook
Canteen. It's the first time I've seen such a display. Plus, during the march, plates and mugs must be removed to the kitchen and fixed there. Off-road, the body shakes strongly and all this window dressing will scatter around.
20.

The kitchen compartment has a stove for cooking, food storage cells, a refrigerator, a place to store dishes and wash them.
Actually the kitchen. To the left is a large refrigerator. At the bottom right you can see a stove with a saucepan (aka a frying pan) and two water tanks. During the march, everything is fixed. It can be seen from the black plastic valves.
21.

Fridge
22.

The rear combat compartment of the operator is designed to accommodate the shift on duty, it contains the operator's combat post and the gunner's post. The compartment is equipped with security system equipment, communication equipment, a safe for weapons. A turret-machine gun mount was mounted, including an NSVT-12.7 machine gun with a 1PN22M sight, a searchlight, an IR searchlight, a night vision device and a loud-speaking system
A shooter sits on this chair, rotates a machine gun and shoots at enemies
23.

This is a communication vehicle based on the MAZ-543A. It is secret, but this angle, in my opinion, does not greatly undermine the state secret
24.

In these garages there are cars so secret that it is better not to look even at the closed gates.
25.

After visiting the secret strategic garage, it's time to relax in an informal barracks setting.
The position officer tells the bloggers that they need to go to the barracks specially prepared for them. To the right is the dining room, apparently unprepared. An officer on the site can be both on combat duty and on duty at the same time. May not change from outfit for several days. Although both are prohibited by law.
26.

A crowd of journalists breaks into an ordinary barracks without warning and finds...
Guards barracks. On a typical day in the daytime, personnel rest here, having changed from their posts in the morning. Duty change of communication for example. During the inspection period, DSS rests in some closed garage box. I never understood the point of showing empty, neatly made beds, instead of soldiers resting quite legally. They have a legitimate rest time during the day, like a company on duty. But the command always decides otherwise.
Cellular communication is prohibited on the site, under beautifully tucked pillowcases, you can see neat cuts in the pillows where the soldiers hide their phones.
27.

comment from sak2sak : "edging, bitch, stuffed, and the sheet sticks out. Refuel 50 times for training"

Drinking water tank.
30.

Suddenly, I walk into the classroom and find out that my TV is worse at home.
There was no TV like this before. Maybe at least something has changed.
31.

Honestly, I specifically looked into the book of each soldier - not a single one had an upside down
Great photo. In the army, even books (this is not a charter!) are read all synchronously on a certain page.
32.

The crowd from Moscow that came to the barracks stuck their noses into all the cracks and behaved so unceremoniously that the soldier at the post called out to the coat of arms of the Russian Federation so that we get out as soon as possible. 10 minutes through the military desire came true
33.

In search of dirt, I climbed into the chests with the sign "Rags", but found only clean rags there. Then I decided to try my luck in the bathroom
34.

Here I had a new discovery - I used to think that shoes are cleaned on hemp, but now it turns out that for such purposes there are special corners with special bedside tables and special posters
35.

Here I was thrown into the heat and I hurried into the fresh April air
36.

On the street, a slightly oversized tank truck was waiting for us.
Tractor MAZ7917. "Poplar" based on such a tractor. According to the performance characteristics, I will not stop, whoever needs it will find it. This instance is most often used to train driver-mechanics before taking up combat duty. To simulate the weight of a rocket, water is poured into the tank or sand is poured into it.
37.

Of course, I forgot the name of this car and what chassis it is made on. I only remember what is used for reconnaissance of the road and other household needs (for example, entertainment for guests of a military unit)
UPD is MAZ-7912/MAZ-7917
38.

Everyone, including me, was given the opportunity to drive this hulk and feel like a driver of a real combat Poplar.
The controls are very simple - automatic transmission (lever on the right), toggle switch "back - neutral - forward" and two pedals. Brake applied with left foot
39.

Parking brake.
40.

Starting the engine with a button. You only need to hold the button for 10 seconds
41.

The driver-fighter had to remind young drivers all the time to keep to the left - out of habit, you don’t feel the dimensions of such a car at all
Management is not difficult, but you need to get used to the dimensions. When driving on a narrow road, you may not get used to it as if you are already driving on the left side of the road. And if you drive like a regular car, observing the interval on the left, then you will definitely trudge through the bushes with your right side. Kochki swallows. Feeling like on a ship on the waves.
42.

The steering wheel turns 4 pairs of huge wheels very easily at once
The launcher enters the turn as if sideways. You need to turn when it seems in the cockpit that the turn seems to have already slipped.
43.

After the rides, we went to see the secret command post, which is located underground in an artificial embankment
44.

To get to the command post, you need to overcome the turntable with the attendant at the entrance to the HF headquarters, then we run into this door and call, asking us to open
45.

We pass another sentry, a turntable "Present a pass!" and go down the stairs to the dungeon
46.

Here we run into a huge door without handles. Please open again
47.

There is a fuss inside and after a minute or two the door swings open and we are greeted friendly and invited further
48.

Three huge steel airtight doors separate the secret part of the bunker from the not-so-secret part.
49.

The equipment located between the doors led some to think that in addition to the bolts, the doors are also kept from opening by air pressure.
50.

Sleep well, your safety is in good hands
The state of affairs in the division leaves much to be desired. Officers have at best 3-4 days off per month. This is with a salary of 15-20 thousand rubles. Therefore, every tenth graduate of a military institute tries to quit before the end of the first contract. Every second officer does not want to extend new contract.
The apple of discord was also introduced by the so-called 400th order. According to which the best ones are allegedly rewarded (about 30%) and monthly bonuses of 30-50 thousand rubles are paid. There were rumors that cars were burned to such "premiumists".
The recruiting staff is also of great concern. With a two-year term of service, a soldier studied for six months in training, six months completed his studies in the army, and only in the second year of service could one feel the impact from him. Now, when he just gets into the exploited equipment, he already needs to be fired.
54.

7th Guards Missile
Rezhitskaya Red Banner Division 11

origins

On December 15, 1942, by order of the commander of the North-Western Front, the formation of the 72nd cannon artillery brigade began as part of the 26th artillery division of the High Command Reserve. The brigade included the 264th and 841st cannon artillery regiments of the High Command Reserve.

The formation of the brigade took place without withdrawal from the battle formations in the area of ​​​​st. Paul of the Staro-Russky district of the Novgorod region and ended on December 29, 1942.

Formed in December 1942 directly at the front, the 72nd cannon artillery brigade began fighting to eliminate the Germans' Demyansk bridgehead.

In the very first days of the fighting, the brigade, consisting of 3 divisions, suppressed 10 artillery and 2 mortar batteries, dispersed large concentrations of enemy infantry. Throughout January and most of February, bloody battles to eliminate the Germans' Demyansk bridgehead did not stop, which was liquidated in the last days of February 1943.

In March-July 1943, the brigade supported the offensive operations of the 34th Army in the area of ​​Staraya Russa. During this period, the brigade suppressed 55 artillery batteries, destroyed 2 ammunition depots, knocked out 3 tanks.

July 14, 1943 on the basis of the ciphergram of the Chief artillery control The 72nd Cannon Artillery Brigade of the Red Army was disbanded. On the basis of the 79th Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, the 19th Guards Cannon-Artillery Brigade was created. It was formed in combat formations in the area of ​​Staraya Russa.

On August 30, 1943, the brigade received the name of the 19th Guards Cannon and Artillery Brigade of the High Command Reserve. Colonel M.I. Sokolov was appointed commander of the brigade.

On the night of December 8, 1943, the brigade withdrew from the battle formations near Staraya Russa, marched to the station. Pola, plunged into railway trains, and on December 11 arrived at Velikiye Yauki station. From Velikie Luki, the brigade marched to the area of ​​Nevel, where it supported the offensive of the 23rd Guards rifle corps 6th Guards Army.

Thus began her battle path.

Staraya Russa, Nevel, Novorzhev, Pustoshka, Ludza, Rezekne, Madona, Ogre, Riga, Mitava, Saldus. These are the names of cities, towns, stations through which the brigade's combat path passed. The soldiers of the 34th Army, 22nd Guards Army, 10th Guards Army saw and knew the brigade's combat style. Thousands of destroyed Nazi soldiers and officers, hundreds of suppressed artillery batteries and individual guns, dozens of broken tanks, ammunition depots - such was the contribution of the brigade personnel to the defeat of the hated enemy.

For successful actions to destroy the Nazi invaders, the brigade was repeatedly noted in the orders of the Supreme Commander.

On July 13, 1944, the personnel of the brigade were thanked by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief for participating in the battles to break through the heavily fortified German defense line called "Panther" east station. Idritsa, where the brigade suppressed 13 artillery batteries, 4 mortar batteries, 2 separate guns.

On July 27, 1944, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the 19th Guards Cannon-Artillery Brigade was thanked and given the honorary name "Rezhitsa" for the capture of the city of Rezhitsa (now Rezekne, Latvia), in the battle for which the brigade suppressed 8 artillery batteries, 1 mortar battery and 4 separate guns.

On October 13, 1944, the personnel of the brigade were thanked for the capture of the city of Riga, in the battles for which the brigade suppressed 12 artillery batteries, 1 mortar battery and 3 separate guns.

Having taken part in the defeat of the Kurland grouping of the enemy, she finished her journey along the roads of the Great Patriotic War in May 1945 in the Baltics.

During the period from July 14, 1943 to May 2, 1945, the brigade destroyed 243 guns, 16 anti-aircraft batteries, 18 rocket launchers, 12 enemy ammunition depots.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War in July 1945, the brigade under its own power marched to the Estonian SSR, where it stayed until 1947. In May 1947, the brigade was redeployed to the city of Luga, Leningrad Region.

Formation and formation of the missile division.
1960-1970

At the end of June 1960, in pursuance of the directive of the USSR Ministry of Defense No. org / 9 / 59003-OV of May 15, 1960, on the basis of the 19th Guards Cannon-Artillery Rezhitskaya Brigade, redeployed from the settlement. Gatchina, at the point of deployment of the village. Vypolzovo, Kalinin Region, on the residential and barracks fund of the 25th Aviation Division of the 6th air army The 7th Missile Brigade began to form. Colonel Uvarov P.P. was entrusted to lead the formation of the brigade.

The task was difficult - by December 1, 1960, to staff, prepare housing and barracks, educational and material base; to form: a brigade headquarters, 4 missile regiments, a mobile RTB, a communications center and several support companies and battalions.

The conditions for the deployment of a missile brigade were determined by the frenzied effort with which a counterbalance was created to the US nuclear missile superiority over the Soviet Union in the face of a tough confrontation between the two powers.

An echo of the extremely intense pace in eliminating this backlog is the tragedy that broke out on October 24, 1960 at the Tyura-Tam missile range during the test launch of the R-16 rocket, which killed 74 people of the combat crew and testers, including the Commander-in-Chief of the RV Chief Marshal of Artillery M.I. Nedelina. Despite this, the construction of ground launches for the R-16 missiles unfolded in parallel with the completion of missile tests, which made it possible already in 1961 to put 10 launchers on combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces, and another 40 launchers in 1962 - in the year of the peak of the aggravation of relations between USSR and USA, ended Caribbean Crisis. Enhanced development of the missile and the silo-type launcher is underway. The design of the first experimental silo launcher was developed and built at the test site by January 1962, and the R-16U missile was launched from it. And in 1963, the mine missile system with the R-16U missile was put into service.

With the same superhuman tension, rocket launches were created in conjunction. In the memoirs of the participants in those events and the materials of that time, there is a similarity with the situation of the war years: an acute shortage of time, the need to solve previously unknown tasks, everyday disorder. The echelons arrived at the Edrovo station, and the arriving personnel walked to the village. Vypolzovo, there were no cars in the brigade then.

Veteran of the division Andrey Yakimovich Dorosh recalls 12: “It is difficult to describe all these days that we were on the road. The strictest secrecy was kept, and therefore we traveled only at night, and during the day we stood at a dead end somewhere at the station. It was very cold, very hungry. The car accommodated 120 people. Of course, we all survived. There were no patients among us. Although from Yedrovo we walked to the garrison on foot through the snow in 15-degree frost.

Families went. Accommodation - in the barracks, at best they rented rooms in the houses of the inhabitants of the village.

Recalls a division veteran Kuzmin Mikhail Zakharovich 13: “It was very difficult with resettlement issues. There were only two barracks: one - where the polyclinic, the other - next to it, where the hostel is now. People slept and settled down in terrible ... in general, very bad conditions. The third building is where the officer's dormitory is now (160). There was also a canteen where the Vecherniye Dawns soldier's cafe is now. So there were only four buildings for the entire then division. All other barracks, headquarters, club were built later. And the number of personnel reached 9,000 people, only soldiers and sergeants. The headquarters was located in the building where the KBO is now: a photograph, a watch workshop, a hairdresser. The divisional headquarters were located on the second and fourth floors. The office of the division commander was in the room where the watch workshop is now located. There were only nine brick residential buildings, now they are yellow on the street. Moscow. Several wooden prefabricated barracks and small brick houses in a technical town. It was the entire housing stock.

The officers were stationed in the villages of Vypolzovo and Edrovo. And where only the families of officers have not rented apartments. In general, unbearably difficult conditions. People had to drink and feed right on the sites. And the builders! There were only 36,000 builders here.”

The personnel, along with training, preparation and launch of missiles, carried out construction and household work.

“The educational and material base for the training of missilemen was located at the place where the military shooting range is now located,- recalls the veteran of the division Kuzmin Petr Ivanovich, - there the rocket was raised, refueled and prepared for launch. They worked both day and night. A residential town, a boiler room, a headquarters, a hospital, and a five-story school were built at the same time. Roads were laid - 50 km to the settlement. Ivanteevo, where a micro-garrison was also built, roads to the regiments' deployment sites ".

To staff the brigade, sergeants of the 1958 year of conscription, soldiers of the 1958-1959 years and extra-conscripts of the disbanded units were allocated. In October and November, soldiers of the 1960 draft year began to arrive.

On November 30, 1960, in a report addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, brigade commander Colonel Uvarov P.P. reported on the formation of the 7th missile brigade - military unit 14245. The leadership of the brigade of those years: deputy commander of the brigade, Colonel Savchenko Anatoly Maksimovich, head of the political department, Lieutenant Colonel Vlasov Nikita Pavlovich, chief of staff - Colonel Fokin Vasily Yakovlevich, deputy for armaments - major engineer Bardyshev Vitaly Tikhonovich, head of logistics, Lieutenant Colonel Vasiliev Alexander Polikarpovich. In pursuance of the directive of the USSR Ministry of Defense, on May 30, 1961, the 7th missile brigade was reorganized into a missile division.

In parallel with the construction, military equipment was received, the training of the first missilemen was organized. And who only among them was not: artillerymen, pilots, sailors and tankers, cavalrymen and "mother infantry".

In order to preserve the military traditions and memory of military merits committed by soldiers during the Great Patriotic War, the directives of the General Staff No. org / 1/60998 of 04/17/1961 and the Civil Code of the Strategic Missile Forces No. 644873 of April 28, 1961 of the 7th Missile Division the honorary title of the 7th Guards Rocket Rezhitsa Division was given. On July 16, 1961, Colonel-General Nikolsky M.A., Chief of the Main Staff of the Missile Forces, presented the division with the Red Banner of the 19th Guards Cannon-Artillery Brigade.

The positional area of ​​the division is located in middle lane Russia - on the Valdai Upland. Coniferous and mixed forests, lakes, swamps. Colonel A.D. Tarantin, who for a long time was the chairman of the hunting team of the garrison. “... This is a land of abundance and beauty: lakes Seliger, Belye, Valdai, Uzhin, Shlino and a host of other lakes and rivers. There are many different kinds of fish in them, bears, elks, wild boars, wolves, roe deer, foxes and hares are found in the forests. Bird: capercaillie, black grouse, hazel grouse, geese and ducks. Mushrooms and berries: raspberries, blueberries, blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries. In the swamps, cranberries are scattered with a red carpet.

On Lake Valdai deep antiquity built a unique Seversky monastery. Under Peter 1, work was carried out here on the construction of canals connecting Lakes Seliger, Velikoye, Velye, Shlino and along the rivers Shlina and Mstya to Lake Ilmen. Thus, a waterway was built for the export of furs, game, fish, berries, and forests from this rich region. On the shore of Lake Dinner there is a government dacha, where A.N. Kosygin, other statesmen.

During the Great Patriotic War, there were fierce battles with the Nazis. In the position areas of the missile regiments BRK-6, BRK-7 and BRK-10 in 1943, a large group of German troops was crushed in the Demyansk cauldron. There are still mined areas and explosive objects in the forests. Near the village of Krasilovo on the shore of Lake Shlino, which is 40 kilometers from the 10th site, there is a place where A.P. Maresyev. A memorial plaque was erected at the crash site of the fighter, and a clearing was cut along the path where the wounded pilot was crawling.

The personnel of the brigade began planned combat training on January 1, 1961. Before that, the 1st division of the captain of the 3rd rank Shvygin L.S. military unit 14264 (commander Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Firsanov) left for the 24th Missile Division (Gvardeysk) in order to initially study the 8K51 missile and obtain equipment. In February 1961, the railway By transport, one set of ground equipment and an 8K51 training rocket were delivered to the brigade by the personnel of the division to organize the educational process.

Now it is difficult to imagine what it was like for them, the very first. Everything was new for them - the staffing structure, equipment, management principles, combat use, special training, and job responsibilities. And it is admirable - how quickly, skillfully, competently they mastered rocket technology.

From July 25 to August 25, 1961, the personnel of the missile regiment as part of the 1st missile division and the docking crew were at the Kapustin Yar training ground. On August 16, 1961, he conducted the first launch of an 8K51 rocket in the division. The personnel of the division successfully coped with the task and received a rating of "good".

During the training and combat launches, the following distinguished themselves: the technical battery - commander Captain Fomin V.S., the department of autonomous checks of this battery under the command of Lieutenant Belousov V.V., the department of engine engineers under the command of Lieutenant Gorodetsky V.N. The commission of the range, which accepted the tests, especially noted the electric fire department under the command of Lieutenant Tarantin A.D., whose personnel received excellent individual marks. For the successes achieved in the production of a combat training launch, by order of the division commander, 5 people were granted short-term vacations with a trip to their homeland, 7 people were presented with valuable gifts. Captains Pagulevsky V.V., Fomin V.S., Lieutenant Tarantin A.D. were awarded personalized hours.

Construction and putting on combat duty
missile systems with R-16 missiles

Veteran of the division Peresypkin Petr Timofeevich 14 tells about putting missile systems on combat duty: “By this time, the personnel of the regiment had already performed practical tasks for working at the training and launch pad at the 8K51 complex. At the same time, day and night, equipment for the combat starting positions of divisions under construction was arriving at the access roads of the formation. I remember that on the very first day of unloading wagons of such equipment, I myself sat at the levers of a 10-ton 8T26 crane for 27 hours without any breaks, without sleep, without eating. This was not always the case, of course, but often. In the same flow, with the same tension, this equipment was delivered to construction sites (BSP). This work was supervised by the deputy commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Krugloye P.P. with the chief engineer of the regiment, Captain Khalevin. It was very hard labour for all personnel of the regiment. Everything that was previously difficult seemed incomparable in complexity with the present. The whole of 1961 for the personnel of the regiment and, first of all, for the officers of the unit was marked by the fact that the absolute majority received the first thorough special theoretical training and began to speak deeds in their own “rocket language”. But the practical training was at the level of familiarization and initial. In April 1962, the divisions of the regiment (2 out of three of them were formed) left the military camp for their combat positions - the BSP under construction - in tents set up in places cleared of snow. Combat training began in camp conditions, directly combining theoretical studies with the practical development of the launch complex during its construction.

Our 1st division of Lieutenant Colonel Vyunik A.I., located on the 2nd BSP, mastered the mine version of the 8K64 missile system. These are very bulky and complex structures, both for construction and for operation. But the combat readiness for this complex is almost 1-2 times higher compared to ground-based options, its security is more reliable. The BSP-1 of the other part was the same. The remaining six BSPs are ground variants. They were built faster than mines. And already somewhere by the fall of 1962, BSP No. 12, the division of Lieutenant Colonel Ilyin E.V., was the first to take up combat duty. An event of special importance and significance. The first experience of passing through all stages, up to taking up combat duty, was successful. The connection was considered in the combat formations of the missile forces. All this instilled confidence in the personnel of the regiments, which is visible to everyone and his line of victory. Of the mine options, the BSP-1 took up combat duty earlier than others, on which construction and testing were completed earlier. The course of all affairs in the formation of the connection was influenced by the international situation. In connection with the Caribbean crisis, its tension reached a critical state by the autumn of 1962. During this period, most of the ground complexes of the formation took up combat duty. Together with them, the BSP-3 of our regiment - Major Orlov's division. During the formation and formation of the formation, all the Commanders-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces (except Nedelin M.I.), eleven members and candidate members of the CPSU Central Committee visited combat posts here. The Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU D. Ustinov arrived twice. The task was to put all BSPs into operation by winter; to put into operation the BSP-2 at the minimum-launch mode by this date with subsequent refinement. The work went on around the clock, to the limit of what was possible. By that time, I was the head of the department of transportation, assembly and installation of missiles. At the beginning of the testing of launchers, for three days in a row without sleep and rest, with the head of the calculation, Lieutenant Ryabov, they carried training missiles, test filling models, rearranged them from one mine launcher to another. It seemed to us that the earth began to rotate somehow incorrectly, with tremors, and this was the usual dizziness from insomnia and fatigue. On November 10, 1962, our crew put the first training rocket into the mine. With this, the BSP-2 readiness countdown began in the minimum starting mode. Mission accomplished. After completion in 1963, the BSP was approved for combat duty by the commission of the Civil Code of the Russian Revolution.

Zinaida Milkina 15 tells about the heroic work of military builders in those years: “In 1962, after graduating from the Pskov Industrial College with a degree in Industrial and Civil Engineering, several of us were sent to build strategic missile bases. We traveled by train, then at the railway station we were met by a military covered truck with benches for seats in the back. It was August 6, 1962. We have arrived at the facility. The first impression: the expression on the people's faces was concentrated, they were deeply preoccupied with the matter.

Just a few weeks later, Lieutenant Colonel Reznichenko (he was the head of the engineering works) called me: "I am appointing you as a labor engineer."

So I was appointed to the post and found myself in the thick of it, among the military builders. They, conscripts, were called up for three years. Immediately upon arrival, they were trained in the specialties: painter, plasterer, bricklayer, concrete worker, fitter, welder, etc. Three months later, they began to calculate from their accrued earnings for food and uniforms. It was practically impossible to earn any money. But after all, everyone wanted to come with gifts to their mother, father, beloved girl upon dismissal. They were still children of 18-20 years old. Every day they went to work, to the service of the Motherland, in boots. Their clothes were dirty. When I came to the object, they were shy and walked away. But how to be clean if you deal with mortar, concrete every day? There were no auxiliary equipment at the facility: mechanized plastering, a spray gun for painting the surface. Everything was done manually, and it took more than the standard time to work. Especially if the object needs to be prepared for surrender, then there were so many personnel that they could not disperse at a meeting. The property was delivered on time! At any price!

There I saw a large rampart of earth as high as the sky, around there were military builders with shovels, there were many of them, like ants near an anthill. And for the first time I felt the full power of construction and its laboriousness! And yet - some inexplicable anxiety ...

In addition to military facilities, the builders of the department also built others: a hospital, division headquarters, a school, a swimming pool, a communications center, kindergartens and residential buildings.

Young people of different nationalities were called up to the military builders: Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians ... At the facility under construction, where the frame of the load-bearing structures stood, there was no room where one could hide from the frost. When I went to the object on foot in severe frost, I thought: “Where am I going, because such a frosty wind, the cold penetrates the clothes?” But it was necessary to see what is being done at this facility. I went into the trailer, there were soldiers - builders with frostbitten heels and toes. I asked them: “Why didn’t you change your shoes into felt boots?” “We wanted to be beautiful,” the guys replied.

The objects were located far away, within a radius of 60 kilometers. It was necessary to get on the passing transport. Once an order came out: do not take fellow travelers! Here I am standing 20 kilometers from the residential area, at a crossroads in the forest, voting, and the cars all pass by on the concrete road, incl. and "Gaziki" with the command of the units. A MAZ dump truck suddenly stops near me, I get into the cab and ask the driver why he took me, because he knows about the order. Then he answered me: “You stand at this crossroads every day, I know you.”

These were the military builders - honest and noble. With such a congestion of personnel, neither banditry, nor hooliganism, nor crime was observed. After all, it was not I who moved alone, but many women, girls - employees of military units ...

By 1967, the construction was fully developed, additional capacities were needed to carry out the work. By this time, the restoration of the city of Tashkent from the earthquake had ended, and the head of the department, Yuri Tarasovich Drin, arrived from there to carry out construction and installation work with a staff list and a seal. He did not have engineering and technical personnel; he had to select personnel on the spot. By that time, I had some seniority and work experience, and, for lack of a better one, he accepted me. At the first meeting, Yuri Tarasovich delivered a fiery speech. He expressed his faith in the collective he formed. He urged us to help each other, if anyone does not understand or does not know something, contact him, because the task was not at all easy: to translate engineering into objects made of brick and concrete, glass and reinforcement. At that meeting, he presented us with medals for the Builder of Tashkent.

This medal is very dear to me. And I also have a medal "50 years of nuclear power in the USSR." Such a medal was awarded to nuclear scientists, rocket scientists. There is also a medal "Veteran of Labor".

Forest secret garrisons, backyard corners... In those years I got married. Of course, my husband, a missile officer, began looking for an easier job for me. To which I replied: “You must understand that I am not a doctor or a teacher, I am a builder and I will not do anything else.” And I continued to work with other women. She especially became friends with Valentina Yashina, Galina Travina, Valentina Maslova, Valentina Filippova. I admired and continue to admire the diligence, deep knowledge, and professionalism shown by Nelly Lapta, Tamara Ivanova, and many other graduates of our college. Their destinies developed differently, their life paths lay. But all of us were united by love for the profession of a military builder, the interests of protecting the Fatherland.

February 9, 1963 was a significant date for the unit - on this day, the 1st missile regiment took up combat duty for the first time. Then, at short intervals, more and more new divisions and regiments became operational, the combat power of the formation grew stronger, experience came, new traditions were born.

Witnesses and participants of those turbulent years are veterans who still live on the territory of a flourishing and well-organized missile garrison - these are Gusarov Vladimir Anatolyevich, Dorosh Andrei Yakimovich, Drofich Anatoly Kirillovich, Peresypkin Petr Timofeevich, Kuzmin Petr Ivanovich, Yukhatov Mikhail Petrovich, Prokofiev Yuri Filippovich, Fedotov Nikolai Ivanovich, Kuzmin Mikhail Zakharovich.

Colonel A.D. Tarantin, commander of the duty forces of the 50th RA in 1978-1988. 16: “It was a memorable 60s. Remembering those distant bastards, one wonders how we, regardless of any difficulties, regardless of personal time, built combat positions, participated in the installation and put missile regiments on combat duty. And, despite this, I feel great satisfaction that my service began in August 1960 precisely in the 7th Guards Rocket Rezhitskaya Red Banner Division (then still a rocket brigade), which was commanded at that time by Colonel (later Major General) Uvarov Peter Petrovich. It was he, with his headquarters (chief of staff, Colonel Venediktov I.N., and then Martynov V.A.) and the missile armament service, led by the chief engineer of the division, Lieutenant Colonel Zagatim V.P., who brought us up to be real professionals, missile officers, giving it all his skill and knowledge.

Already in August 1961, I, still a "green" lieutenant-head of the electrical fire department, had a chance to participate in the launch of the 8K51 transition missile at the Kapustin Yar training ground. The launch of the rocket was scheduled for noon, the side of the rocket heated up to such an extent that it was impossible to touch the rocket with bare hands (45 degrees in the shade), it was especially hard in gas masks. The water that was poured over us from the "neutral" (an 8T311 machine, indispensable for every rocket launcher), instantly evaporated, not having time to bring relief. But the soldiers and officers stubbornly prepared the rocket for launch. Due to the high temperature, the launch was postponed to the next morning. It was a success, and many participants in the launch ran up to the still hot launch table to sign on the soot with their fingers, laughed, smearing their comrade in the face with a soiled hand, performing, as it were, some kind of mysterious rite of passage into rocketmen.

So they stood in the ranks, wet with sweat, stained with soot, but satisfied and happy from a job well done. After some time, the battalion commander captain 3rd rank Shvygin reported that the warhead hit the “count”, i.e. came to a given square, and congratulated us on a successful combat training launch. Regiment commander lieutenant colonel Firsanov A.A. summed up and noted that the electric fire department, which I, Lieutenant Tarantin A.D. commanded, and the starting department, where Lieutenant Kabatsky Volodya was the head, were rated "excellent" by the instructors of the training ground.

Having not had time to taste the joy of the consciousness of our own significance, as accomplished rocketmen, we, having returned from the training ground, were plunged into new affairs and events: the division began to master the intercontinental two-stage missiles 8K64 (R-16) of the chief designer Yangel M.K. Putting these missile systems on combat duty was carried out in difficult conditions. We helped both builders and installers, learned from the latter, put shelves one after the other on combat duty. They froze in cars, getting to distant sites, froze on sites under construction, basking near some kind of fire, if the “trailer” was packed to capacity, lacked sleep and malnourished, but endured and did their job. It was only later that officer canteens, food rations, and tolerable winter clothes appeared. The main object in the division was the mine BSP regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Firsanov A.A. (military unit 14264). Colonel-General VF Tolubko, at that time the 1st Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the RV, who repeatedly visited the facility, paid great attention to the progress of construction and commissioning. For me, this was the first big boss that I saw in close proximity which emphasized the special importance of the work in which we participated. How many then happened to see political and military leaders, high chiefs and commanders of various ranks in the division! Probably, in the division for the entire time of its existence there was not a single day that someone did not come there, that in the dining room in a separate room on the 2nd floor someone from the visitors did not set the table!

Behind the first regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Firsanov A.A. there were regiments of Lieutenant Colonel Tokarev B.P. (military unit 14474) and Lieutenant Colonel Krapivin V.V. (military unit 14420). In 1962-1963 during construction and commissioning, the division was visited by the 1st deputy. Minister of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union Grechko A.A., Deputy. Chairman of the Council of Ministers Ustinov D.F., Chief of Logistics of the Armed Forces of the USSR Bagramyan I.Kh., Commanders-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Marshals of the Soviet Union Biryuzov S.S. and Krylov N.I. A special place in the history of the division was occupied by the visit in 1963 of Khrushchev N.S. with Fidel Castro Rus, 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, who were accompanied by the Minister of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky R.Ya. and Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Marshal of the Soviet Union Krylov N.I. The mine division of Major Molchanov N.A. was chosen to visit. regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Martynov V.A. (he replaced Lieutenant Colonel Firsanov A.A. immediately before this visit). They carefully prepared for their arrival, painted and repainted the equipment of the mine, “scrubbed” and lubricated the equipment, ground everything that could be revenged. Along with the demonstration of the combat missile system and its capabilities, it was also planned to show that the combat launch position (BSP) is perfectly protected from air and space intelligence, for which a large amount of camouflage work was carried out. The access road was disguised as a river, and on the site, right on the concrete and on the retractable roof of the launcher, boxes with trees were placed. Camouflage work on the eve of arrival was completed late at night. Combat crews were dressed in white medical gowns to emphasize the "laboratory" conditions of duty and work on test and launch equipment. By the time they arrived at the command post of the BSP, all the control equipment was turned on and they began to conduct autonomous and integrated tests of the control system of the combat training missile, previously installed in one of the BSP silos. After getting acquainted with the command post, the guests descended into the mine. Fidel Castro, examining the rocket, swaggeringly signed on it. It became a landmark of the division, and every soldier and officer, before starting a complex lesson with this missile, looked with curiosity at the message of a distant friend of a friendly country.

In the strict rhythm of placing missile systems on combat duty, the young officers were quickly becoming, we were appointed to quite responsible positions in the division.

We, young officers of the 60s, were lucky with the command staff of the division and regiments. For the most part, they were participants in the Great Patriotic War, who went through difficult and long roads of a fierce battle, who more than once saw death and knew the value of military brotherhood, comradely mutual assistance and front-line friendship. They instilled in us devotion to military duty and their homeland, ideological tempering, made a lot of efforts so that we would become not only highly qualified specialists, but also worthy defenders of our fatherland. We learned from them not to lose heart, to overcome difficulties, to find the right solutions and to go only forward through obstacles, troubles in everyday life.

All of them had well-deserved awards received in battles. A deep bow to them, our educators: Major General P.P. Uvarov, colonels A.M. Savchenko, A.A. Firsanov, V.A. Martynov, N.P. Vlasov, V.E. Aleksandrov, P.V. Grishin, B.K. Feofanov, L.D. Shchelokov, B.P. Tokarev, V.V. Krapivina, E.V. Zolotaykin, F.A. Velikanov, M.M. Kinzbursky, P.I. Kabanov, N.I. Sherstekin and others.

The department of combat readiness and combat training of the division, which was headed by an excellent organizer, Lieutenant Colonel Kinzbursky M.M., included Major Grishin P.V., and Lieutenant Colonel Shchelokov L.D. (deputy chief of the department), senior assistants and assistant captains Volzhankin N.A. Leshchinsky G.V., Andropov N.F., Art. lieutenants Tolmachev V.Ya. (future envoy of the Commander-in-Chief of the RV), Shatilov V.I. (became a senior researcher at NII-4), lieutenants Pyatkov N.M. (subsequently a senior officer of the combat training department of the 50th RA) and me. The main burden of preparing combat crews for the launch of the division and organizing combat duty fell on our shoulders. Officers of the missile weapons service, primarily Major Zagatin V.P., took a direct part in this work. (who later became the Chief Engineer of our division) and art. lieutenant Altashin I.I. (future commander of one of the missile divisions).

Lacked experience. AT initial period we, like blind men, groped our way to the goal. The documentation was crude, there were no complete schemes of ground equipment. We studied the equipment according to the stories of the installers, and from the experience gained during the tests when putting the first BSP on combat duty.

When putting on combat duty BSP No. 2 of military unit 14474 (regiment commander Lieutenant Colonel V.P. Tokarev), during complex tests in the mine (shaft "B"), the red banner "Arretir GSP" did not go out, which signaled that the gyro-stabilized platform ( GSP) of the R-16 rocket did not return to its original state. A group of specialist officers (Major V.P. Zagatin, senior lieutenants I.I. Altashin and A.D. Tarantin) did not leave the mine for almost three days until they shook the entire electrical circuit, and by the method of logical elimination did not discover a defect in one relay in control cabinet, the contacts of which did not close when the relay was activated.

Another time, at BSP No. 1 (commander Major N.A. Molchanov), during a complex exercise with real refueling of the R-16 rocket refueling mock-up, it was reported that there was a deformation of the mock-up fuel tank, accompanied by crackling. Major V.P. urgently left for the BSP to clarify the situation. Zagatin and we, senior lieutenants V.Ya. Tolmachev, I.I. Altashin and A.D. Tarantino. It was quickly identified that the cause was not opening the WPC drain-safety valve of the hot tank. After eliminating the malfunction and draining the remaining fuel, in order to eliminate the deformation of the model tank that had begun, it was decided to pressurize the tank with the KDP closed. Thus, the prerequisite for the accident was eliminated and the filling layout was saved for the next complex classes...»

Recalls Colonel Aleksandrov V.E., deputy commander of the 7th missile division for logistics in 1964-1971. 17: “In the spring of 1960, when the state tests of the first intercontinental ballistic missile 8K64 (R-16) designed by Yangel M.K. were completed. The Ministry of Defense is deploying in Vypolzovo the Department of Engineering Works (UIR) of the Leningrad Military District - the head of the Department of Internal Affairs, Major General Prestensky (military unit 18402), as part of three UNR (offices of work supervisors), uniting 25 military construction detachments and 10 special assembly companies. In the nearby forest areas, intensive construction of combat launch positions (BSP) for intercontinental ballistic missiles(MKR) and seven roads with concrete pavement. In the military camp, which received the code name "Site 10", the construction of residential buildings for officers, various buildings and premises for warehouses, automotive and engineering equipment is underway, a railway line is being restored, a depot for 3 locomotives and a small railway station are being built.

Rocket regiments were formed in the following combat composition:

- in / unit 14264, (7 launchers) - three missile divisions: the 1st mine (site No. 1) with three launchers, the 2nd (site No. 12) with the headquarters of the regiment and the 3rd (site No. 11) - ground divisions of two launchers each (commander of the regiment, lieutenant colonel Firsanov A.A.);

- military unit 14474, regiment commander lieutenant colonel Tokarev B.P. (5 launchers) - two divisions: the 1st mine (site No. 2) with three launchers with the headquarters of the regiment and the 2nd (site No. 3) with two launchers;

- military unit 14420, regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Krapivin V.V., (6 launchers) - 3 ground-based missile divisions, two launchers each: 1st (site No. 4) with regiment headquarters, 2nd (site No. 42) and 3rd (site number 51). Thus, the brigade had 18 launchers: 6 mine and 12 ground.

By May 30, 1961, the brigade was reorganized into the 7th Guards Rocket Rezhitskaya Red Banner Division. central subordination Strategic Missile Forces. In addition to the above-mentioned regiments, it included; repair and technical base (RTB), military unit 33787, commander Colonel Malanin D.I., consisting of 9 assembly teams and located at site No. 5; logistics base, commander Lieutenant Colonel A.I. Aleksanin, on site No. 6 with warehouses of rocket fuel components on site No. 6ts, as well as units and subunits located on the 10th site. Subsequently, a technical position of a technical missile base (TRB) was deployed on site No. 6, formed in 1966 - military unit 96778, commander interpreter Karavashkin V.A., who was then replaced by Colonel Fedchin M.Ya.

For the sake of completeness, I will name the units and subunits of the division located in the military camp of site No. 10: sergeant training school (head, Lieutenant Colonel Feofanov B.K.) - military unit 14245-B; a separate combat support division (ODBO) (commander Lieutenant Colonel Baranov V.F.) - military unit 03071; communications center (headed by lieutenant colonel B.I. Gusin) - military unit 03394; a separate autorot (later autobattalion), commanded by Art. lieutenant Kudinov V.N. (future head of the auto service of the Rocket Forces, major general); military hospital (headed by Major Tishchenko N.G.) - military unit 93762; railway company - commander captain Sayuk V.V. he was replaced by Captain Lymar R.T. (later an officer of the military transportation department of the 50th RA); operational and technical company (later a battalion of operational and technical maintenance) - military unit 03031, commanded by Art. Lieutenant Naletov, and then Major Savinsky; air squadron (commander Major Shevchenko S.I.) - military unit 65177, a separate maintenance and repair group (OERG) - commander captain Mogilnitsky, and in September 1966, a material base was formed in the division household provision(BMBO) for logistic support of parts of the division (commander Major Burmistrov P.V., who was then replaced by Captain Pavlovsky I.T., later deputy commander of the 50th RA for rear).

The 10th site also housed: a special department, a field office of the State Bank (Major Goncharov), a military field station, combined warehouses logistic support(Captain Zabrodsky), two diesel electric trains (Major Stolyarenko), military department No. 5 (headed by Lieutenant Colonel Spiridonov P.V.), KECH (headed by Major Ponomarenko I.F.). In the residential town of the garrison there were residential buildings and dormitories for officers, the House of Officers (House of Culture of the SA) and a soldier's club, a secondary school, three kindergartens, shops, canteens, a cafe, a restaurant, a bakery, a bath and laundry plant, a stadium, a swimming pool, a powerful boiler room and other objects. By the beginning of the 1970s, the 10th site had turned into a well-equipped and green, quite modern city, the City Council of Workers' Deputies appeared, and a police station was opened.

The command of the division, regiments and other units did a lot to complete the construction of combat launch complexes and material infrastructure in a timely manner, to provide all the necessary means to ensure a normal life, study, cultural recreation for the personnel, families of officers, ensigns, workers and employees of the division. By the end of 1963, the division, armed with R-16 missiles, was already on combat duty with all 18 launchers of missile regiments.

The missile forces continued to develop rapidly, and in April 1964 the division was introduced into the 3rd separate missile corps (Vladimir), and already in June, all three regiments, in order to increase combat readiness and improve combat duty, were reorganized e eight (according to the number of divisions) missile regiments:

- site No. 1 - military unit 12408 - commander, lieutenant colonel Dubinin A.A.;

- site No. 2 - military unit 14474 - commander, lieutenant colonel B.P. Tokarev;

- site No. 3 - military unit 57338 - commander, lieutenant colonel Zolotaykin E.V.;

- site No. 4 - military unit 14420 - commander, lieutenant colonel Kabanov P.I.;

- site No. 11 - military unit 07382 - commander, lieutenant colonel M. M. Kinzbursky;

- site No. 12 - military unit 14264 - commander, lieutenant colonel Ilyin E.V.;

- site No. 42 - military unit 68528 - commander, lieutenant colonel Krapivin V.V.;

- site No. 51 - military unit 74201 - commander, lieutenant colonel Velikanov F.A.

Each regiment was assigned a valid number and presented with the Battle Red Banner.

The command of these regiments was a good school for many commanders: Major General Tokarev B.P. became Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the Strategic Missile Forces, Major General Kabanov P.I. commanded a missile division, Colonel Krapivin V.V. became the head of the course at the Perm Higher Engineering Command School.

Colonel Alexandrov V.E. gives the following information about the command of the division and the composition of the main services as of June 1964 18: “The division commander is Major General Petr Petrovich Uvarov. Later, the division was commanded by major generals Morsakov Yuri Stepanovich, Volkov Alexander Petrovich, Ivanov Evgeny Stepanovich, Khramchenkov Viktor Petrovich, Gribov Alexander Viktorovich. Deputy division commander - Colonel Anatoly Maksimovich Savchenko, then Pavel Ivanovich Kabanov (later became the commander of one of the missile divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces), Viktor Yakovlevich Egorov (later a senior lecturer at the Rostov VIRU), Yury Averkievich Zhukov (later commander of the 49th RD, first deputy commander of the 50th RA, head of the Baikonur missile range of the USSR Ministry of Defense, lieutenant general). The deputy division commander for political affairs - the head of the political department - Colonel Vlasov Nikita Pavlovich, then this position was occupied by Colonels Sergey Pavlovich Strekalov and Vladimir Nikolaevich Loktev. Deputy Head of the Political Department - Chairman of the People's Control Commission Lieutenant Colonel Khlybov Boris Andreevich, then Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stepanovich Kodyaikin. Propagandist - Major Vukolov Alexander Sergeevich. The secretary of the party commission of the division is lieutenant colonel Sivakov Ivan Petrovich (later secretary of the party commission of the political department of the 50th RA, colonel). Chief of Staff - First Deputy Division Commander - Colonel Ivan Nikiforovich Venediktov (later senior lecturer at the Mozhaisky Military Engineering Academy in Leningrad), then Colonel Vyacheslav Andreevich Martynov (later senior lecturer at the F.E. Dzerzhinsky), lieutenant colonel-engineer Pavel Antonovich Komissarchuk. Deputy division commander for missile weapons (RV) - chief engineer of the division - lieutenant colonel Zagatin Vladimir Petrovich (later head of the GUERV department, colonel), then Colonel Zhukov Nikolai Alekseevich (later Chief engineer of the 50th RA, then head of the GUERV department, general- Major), Colonels Viktor Petrovich Balakin, Viktor Tikhonovich Fameev (later chief engineer of one of the missile armies).

Missile service officers: deputy chief engineer of the division, lieutenant colonel Balakin Viktor Petrovich, senior lieutenant engineer Altashin Ivan Ivanovich(subsequently the commander of one of the divisions, major general), major engineer Sery Nikolay Lavrentievich (later head of the inspection of the GTN and TB of the UGI of the 50th RA, lieutenant colonel), Mitskevich Viktor Mikhailovich, Ozimkov (later head of the NII-4 Laboratory) , Suntsov Anatoly Gennadievich (later the chief engineer of the regiment, lieutenant colonel), captain Sukharev, major Dmitriev Fedor Kirillovich (later a senior officer of the UGI of the 50th RA).

Deputy Division Commander for Logistics - Head of Logistics of the Division - Colonel Aleksandrov Vladimir Elladyevich, then Colonel Kirilenko Nikolai Ivanovich (later Deputy Commander of the 50th RA for Logistics, Major General). Then this position was occupied by colonels Chugunov Nikolai Alekseevich, Kukharenko Evgeny Vasilyevich, Pogosov Vasily Vaginakovich, Protsenko Petr Nikolaevich, Denisyuk Vasily Mikhailovich, Bobkov Vladimir Alekseevich. Assistant division commander for engineering and technical service (ITS) - Lieutenant Colonel Shesterkin Ivan Nikolaevich. Subsequently, the ITS was transferred to the rear of the division and the post of deputy head of the rear of the division for ITS was introduced. Capital Construction Department (OKS) of the division - Head of Department - Major Muntyan Vadim Petrovich, Chief Engineer of OKS - Captain Kashparov Viktor Ivanovich.

Division headquarters and chiefs of services: Chief of Staff - First Deputy Division Commander - Colonel Venediktov Ivan Nikiforov. The head of the department of combat readiness and combat training - deputy chief of staff of the division - lieutenant colonel Kinzbursky Mikhail Mikhailovich (later commander of the rp, and then teacher of the Rostov VKIU, colonel), then lieutenant colonel Feofanov Boris Kapitonov, major Grishin Petr Vasilyevich (later colonel).

Officers of the department: Lieutenant Colonel Schelokov Leonid Dmitrievich (deputy head of the department), senior assistants and assistants to the head of the department: senior lieutenant, then major Tarantin Anatoly Dmitrievich (later commander of the duty forces of the 50th RA, colonel), lieutenant, then major Pyatkov Nikolai Mikhailovich ( later senior officer of the BP department of the 50th RA, lieutenant colonel), senior lieutenant Shatilov Vladimir Ivanovich (later senior researcher at NII-4, lieutenant colonel), senior lieutenant Valery Yakovlevich Tolmachev (later becoming envoy of the Commander-in-Chief of the RV, colonel), captains Volzhankin Nikolai Aleksandrovich, Leshchinsky German Viktorovich, Bykov Viktor Ivanovich, Andropov Nikolai Fedorovich, Major Zubovich Mikhail Aleksandrovich (later head of the BP department of the 50th RA, colonel), captains Ryabov Nikolay Pavlovich (later senior officer of the BP department of the 50th RA, lieutenant colonel ), Bolshakov Vladimir Vasilyevich (later an officer of the General Staff of the Revolutionary Troops, Colonel). Belousov Veniamin Valentinovich (later Chief of Staff of the Republic of Armenia, Head of the Krasnodar KIRU, Major General).

Chief of the command post - Deputy chief of staff of the division for combat control - Lieutenant Colonel Obedkov Nikolai Ivanovich, then Lieutenant Colonels Shchelokov Leonid Dmitrievich, Tsvetkov Evgeny Mikhailovich. The head of the initial data preparation department (opd) is Lieutenant Colonel Tsarev Sergey Ivanovich, senior officer of the opd lieutenant, and then major Grigoriev Leonid Timofeevich.

Head of Communications - Lieutenant Colonel Son Boris Mikhailovich Head of the Combat Department - Lieutenant Colonel Belkin Grigory Ivanovich.

Head of the Personnel Department - Lieutenant Colonel Vilhelm Mikhailovich Bogdanov, then Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Ivanovich Pismenny, senior officer of the department, Major Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy.

Head of the chemical service - lieutenant colonel Mironov, then lieutenant colonel Lukyanchikov Pyotr Mitrofanovich (secretary of the party bureau of the department, division); assistant to the NHS - chief of staff of the local (civilian) defense of the division - Captain Voronin Ivan Petrovich.

Head of the engineering service (military engineer) - Lieutenant Colonel Polonnikov Alexei Mikhailovich.

Boss physical training and sports division - Major Myagkikh Mikhail Semenovich (later NFPiS Corps), then Captain Susnin Yuri Ivanovich.

Head of the financial service of the division - Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Ivanovich Shalagin,

The head of the automobile service of the division - Lieutenant Colonel Bobryshev Dmitry Stepanovich, then Lieutenant Colonel Andreev Sergey Kuzmich; senior assistant to the head of the auto service - Major Emelyanenkov Petr Romanovich (later an officer of the auto service department of the 50th RA); head of the automobile workshop Captain Rapoport Boris Lvovich.

It is necessary to say a few words about the first commander of the formation Uvarov P.P. Many who happened to serve with Pyotr Petrovich at various stages of his activity note his exceptionally high moral and business qualities, and his bright talent as an organizer. Colonel General Malinovsky G.N. recalls the time when he was deputy commander of the special weapons division, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel P.P. Uvarov 19: “In those years, the health of Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Petrovich Uvarov was excellent, and he could work without sleep for days. Distinguished him, a former artilleryman, the desire to know weapons perfectly. Often he would ask me, "Run me in pattern five." He considered it his duty to know the operation of the missile system before contact in the relay circuits of the board and the ground. In my work, Petr Petrovich supported me in every possible way. At the same time, he was very demanding, did not allow familiarity, was intolerant of distortions of the spoken language. One of the strengths of Uvarov's character was the lack of shyness when dealing with senior bosses at any level. I am deeply indebted to him for this example, since at first my tongue often stuck to the palate when I contacted leaders I didn’t know. Subordination Uvarov observed strictly, but the interests of the division defended resolutely. And about one more important quality of my commander. Lieutenant Colonel Uvarov knew by sight (for memory) the entire personnel of the division. But in the division only soldiers and sergeants were more than 600 people. Moreover, he knew the sergeants thoroughly, as the Charter requires from the company commander. This quality of the commander greatly raised his authority and contributed to maintaining discipline at the proper level, uniting the team of the unit.

Typical picture. At night, on the march, Uvarov bypasses a column of artillery tractors with tankers during a stop and in the dark, having heard swearing in a group of vacationers after inspecting the units of driver mechanics, he unmistakably recognizes a foul-mouthed soldier and makes a remark to him. He knew not only the faces of his subordinates, but also the voice of everyone. I am writing about this for those commanders who do not even have 200 soldiers in the regiment, and they even get confused in their names. There should not be a faceless mass of subordinates. Respect can only be earned by treating them with respect."

He is supplemented by Colonel A.D. Tarantino: “Division commander Major General P.P. Uvarov was constantly in the center of events in putting missile regiments on combat duty, while at the same time paying unremitting attention to the construction of a residential town. He was an educated, erudite man with high moral character - a man with a capital letter. He was easy to deal with people, helped them in every possible way, especially young officers, not only in the service, but also in everyday matters. He never refused to help anyone who approached him, regardless of whether it was an officer or a soldier. Respecting his subordinates, and if necessary, stood up for them with a mountain. He brought any matter to the end, without hesitating, turned to his subordinates, if he misunderstood something. He had an exceptional memory, practically knew by heart the names and patronymics of all the officers of the division. He was always neatly dressed and somehow in his own way, he was proud of his military uniform.

He did everything to ensure that the families of officers in the town lived comfortably and calmly. On his initiative, a modern swimming pool and a stadium were built in the town, where the residents of the town and their children could play sports and games. A pioneer camp was built on the banks of the Berezaika River from dismantled wooden barracks. He considered: the officer's life is good, he is calm in the service, the combat readiness of the unit and formation is higher.

His wife, the indefatigable Anna Ilyinichna, was a constant assistant in establishing good living conditions in the town. She was practically the permanent chairman of the women's council of the division's management. On her initiative, family trips were organized to Lake Seliger, to pick mushrooms and berries, trips to the beautiful lakes of Mikhailovskoye and Istra. Mass festivities were held on New Year's Eve, on May and November holidays. For the New Year holidays, the senior officer of OKS Sychev created fabulous figures from snow and ice on the territory of the town and at the stadium, where children had fun from morning until late in the evening.

All this contributed to the successful solution of the tasks facing the connection.

Colonel Alexandrov V.E. joins them. twenty: “The first commander of the division of the guard, Major General Uvarov Petr Petrovich, commanded the division for 10 years. He was an excellent organizer, who devoted himself entirely to the development of missile technology in the division and putting on combat duty missile systems of intercontinental missiles and missile regiments of individual storts. He was a man of high culture, demanding of himself and his subordinates. He was fair, knew how to listen to others and listen to their opinions and suggestions.

Pyotr Petrovich was born in 1923. As a young man, he volunteered to serve in the Red Army. In 1942 he graduated from the 2nd Leningrad Military Artillery School, which was located in the city of Kostroma at the time of the war. He took an active part in the Great Patriotic War. Commanded a control platoon artillery battery, was the commander of an artillery battery and then an artillery division. After the war he graduated from the military academy. M.V. Frunze. After that, he was appointed to the post of commander of a separate launch missile division, then became deputy commander of the 72nd engineering brigade of the RVGK of special forces and missile technology of the Armed Forces. This brigade was the first missile brigade in the USSR Armed Forces, on the basis of which, by July 1, 1960, a missile division was formed in the city of Gvardeisk, Kaliningrad Region. The deputy commander of this guard brigade, Colonel Uvarov P.P. was appointed commander of a missile brigade in the village of Vypolzovo, Kalinin Region, on the basis of which, by May 30, 1961, the 7th Guards Rezhitskaya Red Banner ICBM Division was formed.

General Uvarov P.P. skillfully directed the work of the division's officers, and, above all, the division's management officers, to the precise fulfillment of their duties in the study of missile technology, its operation and the timely deployment of missile regiments on combat duty.

Unfortunately, a serious illness, apparently associated with enormous overloads during the formation of the formation, undermined his Siberian health and did not allow him to fully reveal his commanding abilities, as a result of which he was forced to switch to teaching.

It should not be assumed that the formation of a missile division was accompanied only by major chords of solemn marches and the light of the sun in a cloudless sky. Every rocket engineer knows that rocket technology is a source of increased danger, and its correct and safe operation comes only with experience, including negative experience. Dramatic events were not avoided in the division either. Colonel A.D. Tarantin tells 21: “Of course, any missile specialist, any commander sometimes does everything in his power to successfully complete the task, while ensuring the safety of people. But circumstances do not always turn out as planned, an “emergency situation” arises. And only people who are selflessly devoted to their work, military duty, and the Motherland can master it.

At the 51st BSP of military unit 14420 (regiment commander Colonel Krapivin V.V.), during a complex lesson, while draining fuel from a filling model, a hose was undocked and fuel poured onto concrete. One of the tanker soldiers did not lose his head and closed the leak, pressing his back against the neck (he was in an L-1 suit and an insulating gas mask). In this state, he was until the troubleshooting.

The tragedy occurred during a technical audit at the mine launcher of military unit 12408. The regiment commander was Lieutenant Colonel Zaglyada. Work started normally. They went down into the mine. lieutenant Bessaraba with a sergeant to replace one of the valves in the oxidizer system, having all the prescribed protective equipment with him. At the same time, the elevator was at the bottom mark. At the same time, an elderly factory welder and two young engineers in charge level sensors were in the mine. They, having left their gas masks at the place of work, went idle into the room where the calculation of the regiment performed operations to replace the valve. At that time, preparations were being made for autonomous tests upstairs, the system turned out to be put into operation, and oxidizer vapors burst into the room through an insufficiently tightened valve.

Art. Lieutenant Bessaraba did everything in his power to save people, pushed the factory workers into the elevator, sent them upstairs, and only after that he evacuated himself. Young engineers nevertheless died in the hospital from the onset of pulmonary edema, and Lieutenant Bessaraba also died, saving people. The sergeant who was with him, dressed in regular protective equipment, was not injured. Later, there were no more such tragedies when performing work on missile systems in the division.”

Putting on combat duty
missile systems OS 8K84 (UR-100) in 1966-1970.

Immediately after the missile systems with R-16 missiles (8K64 designed by M.K. Yangel) were put on combat duty, the division began the formation and construction of regiments of intercontinental missiles with separate launches (OS).

In this regard, the USSR Ministry of Defense creates and deploys in the division a new Directorate of Engineering Works of the Leningrad Military District, consisting of three directorates of the head of work: UNR No. 1 - general construction (head), military unit 44512 (head - Colonel Osipov Nikolai Nikolaevich, deputy head for logistics - lieutenant colonel Maksimchuk Ivan Alekseevich); UNR No. 2 - general construction (head - Colonel Goncharov Vasily Afanasyevich); UNR No. 3 - construction and installation (head - Colonel Gerasimenko Yakov Semenovich).

The division began intensive construction of mine launchers "OS" and structures (pit type) for the command posts of missile regiments.

The grand construction continues to gain momentum.

The division was armed with the intercontinental missile 8K84 of the Chief Designer Chelomey V.N., which at that time had excellent combat and technical characteristics. A whole pleiad of strategic missilemen were brought up on these missiles, who in the future were to master a large family of intercontinental missile systems, which would subsequently enter service with the Strategic Missile Forces.

The first DBK with intercontinental missiles 8K84 (ICBM UR-100) designed by Chelomey V.N. was commissioned in September 1967 and put on combat duty on September 26, 1967.

ICBM UR-100 was for its time one of the most advanced liquid-propellant intercontinental missiles. The combat capabilities of this missile were determined by 22:

Its tactical and technical characteristics ( maximum range flight with a "heavy" warhead - up to 5,000 km, with a "light" warhead - up to 12,000 km, payload mass up to 1,500 kg, maximum deviation - 5.0 km);

The ability of the missile to be in a state of full combat readiness for a long time and the short preparation time for launch (6 minutes from constant combat readiness, 5 minutes from full readiness), which was achieved by constructive and technological measures for missile ampulization, a high degree of automation of pre-launch operations, constant control of launch combat crews over launcher parameters;

Increased survivability due to the use of mine launchers of the "OS" type;

The maximum simplification of rocket operation. For the first time in the practice of rocket science for ICBMs, a universal design of a transport and launch container (TLC) was used, which ensured the operation of the rocket at all stages up to launch;

The use on the rocket of efficient and structurally perfect propulsion systems with afterburning of generator gas in the engine combustion chamber (such engines were first used on ICBMs developed and put into service in the USSR);

Significant simplification of the rocket design in comparison with the existing ICBMs by excluding from the structural layout of the units and systems that provide preparation for launch and launch of the rocket, placing them in the head of the launcher and on the TPK, using the 1st and 2nd stages of the UR- 100 similar constructive-technological and circuit solutions, as well as simplicity and, accordingly, high reliability of systems for separating stages and separating warheads, starting and shutting down marching propulsion systems, pressurization systems for tanks, fuel and other systems;

Creation of a universal missile with the possibility of using various types of combat equipment: "light" - for intercontinental firing range, and "heavy" warhead - for medium ranges.

The frantic pace of armament of the division is evidenced by the following data: in just 4 years, 11 missile regiments with 8K84 missiles (110 launchers) were put on combat duty in the division - 2 regiments in 1967, four regiments in 1968, three regiments in 1969 and 2 regiments in 1970. In the course of building up this grouping in the division in 1969, organizational measures were taken, including in its combat composition. Regiments with R-16 missiles were again enlarged (up to 3), and the staffing levels were significantly reduced:

Military unit 12408 (BSP No. 1, No. 11 and No. 12 with the headquarters of the regiment) - commander, Lieutenant Colonel Groznykh A.V.;

Military unit 14474 (BSP No. 2 with regimental headquarters and No. 3) - Commander Lieutenant Colonel A.P. Raznotsvetov;

Military unit 14420 (BSP No. 4 with the headquarters of the regiment, No. 42 and No. 51) - commander, Lieutenant Colonel Zolotaykin E.V.

The servicemen released in the course of these measures were sent to recruit the newly formed regiments and special units of the division.

The first commanders of the regiments (in the order of the adopted numbering) were: Lieutenant Colonel Derbin A.N., Lieutenant Colonel Kholodkov M.I., Major Matveev V.P., Lieutenant Colonel Panin V.V., Major Bondar M.D., Lieutenant Colonel Drukarev A. BUT. (future Chief of Staff of the Orenburg Army), Major Tumanov, Lieutenant Colonel Nizheradze G.N., Major Maksimov B.N., Lieutenant Colonel Borisyuk Yu.I. and Lieutenant Colonel Ilyin E.V.

The division headquarters officers, Colonel Grishin P.V., prepared the combat crews for taking up combat duty. (head of the department of combat readiness and combat training of the division), Major Zubovich M.A. (later Deputy Head of the Combat Training Department of the 50th RA), Captain Sergeev D.I, Captains Pyatkov N.M. and Ryabov N.P. (future senior officers of the combat training department of the 50th RA), captains Bolshakov V.V. (future officer of the Main) Headquarters of the RV), Belousov V.V. (later chief of staff of one of the missile armies).

Qualitatively new combat capabilities of the "OS" units, the need to maintain them in the highest readiness to perform combat missions required significant changes in the organization of combat duty and the system of combat training of troops.

New order combat duty was determined by the Combat Charter of the Strategic Missile Forces (division, regiment), put into effect on 06/20/1969. In accordance with the requirements of the Combat Regulations, duty forces RD (DS RD) were assigned to carry out combat duty in formations, which included duty combat shifts of the command (CP) and reserve command posts (ZKP) RD, duty forces of missile regiments. The on-duty rd "OS" also included the division's on-duty technical shift (DTS rd) and the on-duty shift of the ove. The direct command of the duty forces, both in the RD and in the RP when carrying the database, began to be carried out by the commander of the duty forces (DTC) and his deputies (CDD). The introduction of these officials into the structure of combat duty was determined by the accumulated experience, the importance and complexity of the tasks performed by the RD and its units, the need for constant and highly qualified leadership of the troops, prompt decision-making, as well as the establishment of personal responsibility for the accurate performance of combat duty, the preparation and launch of missiles. . Each duty shift in the division and regiments was headed by the head of the duty shift, each calculation - by the head of the calculation.

The duty forces of the missile regiment "OS" for all types included the commander of the duty forces of the rp, the duty combat shift of the command post of the rp and the duty shift of security and defense (DSOO) of the regiment. The duty combat shift of the command post of the rp, in turn, consisted of the duty combat shift, the duty shift of communications (DSS) and the duty technical shift (DTS).

Such a structure of combat duty in the taxiway ensured the necessary reliability of missile launches on time in any situation, and also made it possible to continuously maintain missile and special weapons, technical systems, combat control and communications in constant readiness for immediate use.

The structural design of the OS DBK, its high readiness for combat use with the remote launch of a large number of missiles with the CP rp completely excluded the possibility of conducting training in the armament and equipment of the combat missile system on combat duty. In this regard, a training and material base was created in the division, the basis of which was complex and group simulators for all types of missile units, duty shifts and crews, interconnected by communication and control channels. The main elements of the UMB rd "OS" were a single educational building and an educational BSP (UBSP). The educational building housed:

Training command post RD, which provides training for the KDS and personnel of the combat crews of the command post and the ZKP of the formation;

Training command posts rp (according to the number of regiments), fully reproducing the situation in which the launch combat crews carried the database;

Specialized training classes with simulators, models and other equipment that allow organizing the training of each specialist of the division;

UBSP made it possible to train personnel of all specialties in the implementation of the regulations and the preparation of missiles for launch, up to a real combat training launch of a missile.

Repair and technical base 23

Among the parts special purpose The oldest division was the RTB - military unit 33787, the formation of which began on August 1, 1960 by Guards Colonel Anatoly Mikhailovich Savchenko as a mobile repair and technical base as part of the 7th Missile Brigade. It was entrusted with the tasks of storing and operating warheads with nuclear charges.

Complex special equipment required deep special knowledge, good professional skills and, above all, a conscientious attitude to the development of their duties. Having gone through a difficult period of formation and development, which required enormous exertion of the physical and moral strength of each serviceman, from February 1961, under the leadership of Colonel D. I. Malanin, the prtb began planned combat and political training. And in July - August of the same year, the RTB crew, consisting of 2 officers and 8 soldiers of the docking group, went to the missile range to participate in the launch of missiles as part of military unit 14264. The work of the RTB crew was rated "excellent" by the commission of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR.

Realizing the urgent need for top-class specialists, the command of the unit sent 130 officers for retraining in the same year, and organized the training of specialists from among the privates and non-commissioned officers by holding 2-month training camps at the unit.

On October 13, 1962, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 21, 1961 and the Order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR No. 243 of December 30, 1961, Colonel General Tolubko V.F. RTB was awarded the Battle Red Banner.

In commemoration of the day of the formation of the unit, by order of the USSR Ministry of Defense dated July 6, 1961, an annual holiday was established - September 15.

Since 1960, the unit has taken up combat duty. Most of the unit's calculations went through field practice. Much has been done to find the most effective methods and forms of training and indoctrination of personnel, which made it possible to master the most complex military equipment and methods of its application in a short time. Veteran of the reserve ensign Kuzmin P.I. recalls those years: “Now one only has to wonder with what perseverance we then studied this new technique for us. From dawn to dusk, under the scorching rays of the polygon sun, sometimes without a sip of water, they studied the schemes and learned the structure of the units to the smallest detail. There was no place for loafers and whiners. Everyone was seized by a single impulse - to study the new formidable weapon as best as possible and return to the unit as a class specialist.

For exemplary and accurate performance of duties during combat duty, continuous readiness to start troubleshooting at any moment, on April 29, 1964, all personnel of the RTB were awarded the Guard badges.

Rocket and special equipment is distinguished not only by the complexity of the design and devices. Warriors working on it deal with instruments, mechanisms and devices that are characterized by high electrical voltage, high pressure of liquids and gases, mechanical movement of structures heavy weight, the presence of aggressive, chemical substances, radioactivity. All this requires the strictest observance of security measures. These moments are taken into account in the design of the equipment itself, and the reliability is practically equal to 100%. But for emergency actions in emergency situations, on the basis of the 3rd assembly brigade of the RTB in 1967, a rescue and emergency team (SAK) was created, headed by Major Engineer Petunii Yu.N.

During the period described, the RTB went through rearmament twice; in 1963-1966 and in 1975-1978. Part commanded:

For quality learning new technology and excellent results in combat and political training, military unit 33787 was entered in the Book of Honor of the Rocket Forces (1967 and 1970), was repeatedly awarded the Certificate of Honor of the Military Council of the Strategic Missile Forces, the passing Red Banner of the Military Council of the association.

Technical missile base 24

One of the main problems that needed to be solved in the process of forming regiments, special units and putting missile systems on combat duty was the creation of a system for operating nuclear missile weapons.

The development and implementation of maintenance principles, the laying of the initial foundations of technological discipline in carrying out all types of work on missile systems were started in the unit even before the day the specialized military unit was formed and were carried out by the missile armament repair shop located at the unit. However, preparation for the launch of the types of missiles that existed in those years was a complex process in which a large number of personnel participated.

Ground equipment for preparatory and verification work the R-16 missile alone included more than two dozen different machines and assemblies. It took up to 6 hours to prepare the rocket for launch, including about 4 hours at the starting position. Initially, in the operation of missile weapons and equipment, the front-line experience of officers who served in formations was used. However, time required special units involved in the operation of missile weapons, a service of engineers, who, in the course of special training, could give the personnel a deeper knowledge of the device and operation of equipment.

It was for this purpose that by order of the unit commander in April 1963, on the basis of the missile weapons repair shop of military unit 14245, the formation of a missile armament base (military unit 96778) began.

The formation of the base was entrusted to one of the most experienced engineers, who has proven himself to be a talented leader, - to the deputy head of the base for the supply and military repair of missile weapons, engineer-captain Kruchinin G.N.

Hard work began to prepare for putting new missiles on combat duty, scheduled maintenance work on missile weapons and equipment. The personnel of the missile weapons base comprehended the complex science of trouble-free operation of missile weapons and equipment.

With the deployment of missile systems with group silo launchers (R-16) on combat duty, the task arose of developing principles for their operation. In solving this problem, an essential role belonged to the engineering staff of the base. Together with the missile armament service of the formation, representatives of industry, with the help of research institutes, the procedure for all work to maintain missile systems in constant readiness for combat use was determined, the optimal frequency, organization and technology for maintenance were established. All this work culminated in the development of new combat schedules for the preparation and launch of missiles, which made it possible to reduce by more than half the preparation time for launching missiles from the established levels of combat readiness.

By the end of 1966, the missile armament base included:

Excellent students of combat and political training - 24;

Classy specialists - 164;

Soldiers and sergeants who have mastered a related specialty - 28.

With the commissioning of the 2nd generation missile systems, the principles of constructing the entire system of maintenance of missile equipment on combat duty have also changed radically. The combat crew, which had a remote control system (SDU) at its disposal at the command post of the regiment, retained the functions of continuous monitoring of the initial state and systems of all 10 launchers of the regiment. All tasks for periodic (annual) maintenance, as well as the elimination of malfunctions that arose during combat duty, were assigned to the technical missile base, which performed them on all DBKs of the division. The technical missile base also carried out all the work on missile weapons during the commissioning and bringing each missile defense system into combat readiness. In addition, the technical missile base continued to solve problems in relation to the R-16 missile systems.

The first commander of the technical missile base was a participant in the Great Patriotic War, engineer-lieutenant colonel Vladimir Andreevich Karavashkin.

In 1967, the technical missile base was put on combat duty, and on April 6, 1967, on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Lieutenant-General Aleksey Dmitrievich Melekhin presented the units with the Battle Red Banner.

During 1967, the personnel, under the leadership of the engineering service, headed by the deputy commander of the base for missile weapons, engineer-lieutenant colonel Romanov Anatoly Vladimirovich, passed the field practice with a "good" rating and performed work to ensure combat duty by parts of the division, armed with a new type of missiles for that time . The TRB also put on combat duty two combat missile systems with 8K84 missiles.

The combat skill of the personnel grew, each soldier aspired to become a class specialist, to master a related specialty.

In the Book of Honor of the military unit 96778, the names of the servicemen are among the first:

Petty Officer Golovko Mikhail Nikolayevich, who, having replaced an officer in the combat crew, did an excellent job with his duties;

Petty officers Ignatov Grigory Ivanovich, ORM technician - masters of "golden hands", a respected person in the team, even officers called him by his first name and patronymic.

A new system of maintenance of missile systems is being introduced in the Missile Forces - unified regulations. It determined the same frequency of maintenance: all combat launch positions with group launchers, made it possible to more accurately plan the maintenance, improve the quality of technological operations, and contributed to the improvement of the technical training of personnel. As a result, the technical condition of missiles, units and systems of missile systems has improved, their operational reliability and combat readiness have increased.

In 1968, the personnel of the unit improved their combat skills when putting four new missile systems on combat duty, and in 1969, three more missile systems.

Recalls Lieutenant Colonel Pendyurin P.A., former chief of staff of the 7th Missile Division 25 trb: “In the division, the deployment of missile regiments with separate launches (OS) with 8K84 missiles and the creation of a completely new military unit - a technical missile base, to which I was appointed chief of staff, began.

The creation of technical missile bases (trb) at the end of the 60s in divisions of intercontinental missiles opened a new stage in the development of the system for operating missile weapons. Missile complexes and missile systems have embarked on a qualitatively different, in comparison with missiles medium range the first generation, a stage of development, when, already at the stage of constructive development, the functions of bringing the missile system to combat readiness, its maintenance and the functions of carrying out combat duty between various military structures - trb and regiments were divided.

Technologically complex and voluminous work to bring missile and special weapons ready for combat use, as well as its maintenance, required a large amount of various equipment and fundamental training of specialists performing these specific operations, which became beyond the power of launch combat crews. Thus, unlike the R-12, R-14, R-16 missiles, they were released from these operations, which made it possible to form these crews compact and focused on the main task: combat duty in constant readiness to launch missiles, carrying out continuous monitoring of the technical condition of missiles and all main and supporting systems.

Thus, the technical missile base was created in the form of a powerful military formation, which was entrusted with the following tasks:

- acceptance of rocketry and propellant components from arsenals, central bases and manufacturing plants;

- performance of work and operations to test the equipment of launchers, command posts and their life support systems, remote control systems for launchers, power supply and security systems at the final stage of construction and during the commissioning of the missile system;

- bringing the combat missile system (BRK) to combat readiness upon completion of construction: installation of missiles in launchers, their refueling, testing of missiles and all ground systems, putting the command post on life support systems, setting up the remote control system and debugging the power supply system, docking the warheads and bringing the launchers and the command post to their original position for combat duty, troubleshooting during these works;

- carrying out maintenance procedures for the DBK (1 time in 3 years) with a decrease in combat readiness and undocking of warheads, performance of improvements on missiles, systems and equipment;

- elimination of malfunctions at launchers and command posts, remote control system and power supply system during combat duty;

- sending missile equipment removed from combat duty to develop a resource or modernize the DBK;

- ensuring the technical serviceability of own technological equipment and automotive equipment.

In accordance with the range of these extensive tasks, in 1966, a technical missile base was formed at sites No. 5 (residential town) and No. 6 (technical position) - military unit 96778.

Its organizational and staffing structure, numbering about 1000 people, consisted of the command of the trb, headquarters, test groups and regulations for launchers (GIR PU), command posts (GIR KP), power supply group, refueling group, missile transportation and installation group, united repair shop of the division, department of the complex stand, other support and maintenance units.

Its first commander was engineer-colonel Vladimir Andreevich Karavashkin, who was replaced by engineer-lieutenant colonel (later colonel) Fedchin Mikhail Yakovlevich.

These commanders possessed remarkable organizational skills and vast life experience and did a lot to create a large and friendly team of specialists who, in a short time, acquired sound knowledge and the ability to operate the latest rocket technology to the full extent of the tasks assigned. In a short time, a residential zone of the unit was created, excellent barracks, officers' and soldiers' canteens were equipped, then a headquarters and club building, a first-aid post, a technical control center building, a car park were built, the territory of the town was equipped, paths and a drill parade ground were asphalted.

At the same time, a large amount of work was carried out to reconstruct the technical position ( former territory the material and technical base of the division): storage facilities for special equipment of groups, warehouses for storing SRT, a building for a complex stand, production facilities for a joint repair shop (ORM) of the division and a control and measurement laboratory (CIL), and other facilities. Somewhat later, the trb received a training launch position (USP), which made it possible to train calculations for installing a rocket refueling model in the mine, for refueling it with standard SRTs and draining them, for performing other technologically complex work and operations.

Hand in hand with these commanders, as they say "day and night", a friendly team of deputies worked: Deputy Lieutenant Colonel Falko Vadim Ivanovich (who later replaced Fedchin M.Ya.), Deputy for Political Affairs Major Korobov (he was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Kurakin V.F.), Deputy for Missiles - Chief Engineer Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Serafimovich Vasiliev (later Yarmukhamyatov Rafik Abdulovich), Deputy for Logistics Lieutenant Colonel Yury Gavrilovich Krylov and I, Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander Lieutenant Colonel Petr Antonovich Pendyurin.

In accordance with the annual plan for the operation of missile weapons of the division, the TRB was charged with bringing one or two DBKs into combat readiness, carrying out two or three maintenance procedures for the DBK, as well as eliminating malfunctions identified in the process of combat duty, and performing urgent improvements.

In addition, during the period of modernization of missile systems, missiles were drained and missiles were removed from launcher silos, they were neutralized at a technical position, missiles and equipment were sent to arsenals and bases of central and district subordination for further disposal.

This annual amount of work on the missile systems of the division kept the personnel of the unit in constant tension, which was in the position area of ​​the division, separated from the place of permanent deployment for 6-8 months a year.

To organize prompt troubleshooting of missiles, launchers, command post equipment, remote control systems and power supply systems for security and defense at site No. 5 in a specially constructed building, the crew of the technical control center (TCP) was on continuous combat duty, to which the duty crews of the duty officer were promptly subordinated. technical change (TTS) of the division. The commanders of the DTS were appointed persons from the command of the trb and the commanders of the test groups and regulations.

The task of calculating the TPU was to continuously monitor the state of the missile systems of launchers and command posts of the regiments of the division (according to information from the command post of the division), the power supply system of the position area of ​​the division, the analysis of the appeared "abnormalities" and malfunctions, the development of proposals for the commander of the duty forces of the division and technical specifications for field calculations DTS to eliminate them.

The terms of reference for troubleshooting, developed at TPU, were approved by the commander of the duty forces of the division, if necessary, interacting with the chief engineer of the division, he also made a decision to send an on-site calculation to eliminate the malfunction.

In all cases of work, the field crew was fully responsible for the exact fulfillment of the terms of reference, the requirements of operational documentation, compliance with security measures and prevention of unauthorized actions. Therefore, the command of the unit carried out a careful selection of officers and ensigns in the DTS, as well as their preparation for taking up duty.

Depending on the situation, in order to increase the efficiency of troubleshooting, the on-site crew was sometimes delivered to the launcher by the crew of the duty helicopter.

The technical control center was equipped with the necessary communication equipment, information display boards and tablets, reference installations, a large set of operational technical documentation, and various instructions that made it possible to competently and quickly develop a technical task in the event of certain "abnormalities" or malfunctions.

My functional duties, as chief of staff, included the daily planning of the activities of the airborne troops, planning and organizing the combat and political training of personnel, organizing the duty of the technical shift, the internal and guard service for the protection and defense of facilities and the territory of the unit, organizing the management of units, organizing and control over the execution of orders, directives and orders of the command, development of orders for parts and other staff documents. In addition, the commander of the troop brigade and his deputies, including me, periodically, in accordance with the division plan, performed the duties of deputy head when carrying out the regulations at the DBK.

These numerous duties completely absorbed official and a significant part of personal time. Checking the performance of guard and internal service, the daily routine, combat duty, monitoring the conduct of classes in combat and political training, staff work with orders and documents, solving urgent issues that arise when subunits perform work in the position area of ​​the division, briefing and training of persons interceding in the guard and the inner outfit they were forced to start the working day before dawn and finish shortly before midnight. However, this mode of operation was constantly in the entire command of the unit.

It was not easy to organize combat and political training, since up to 50% of the personnel of the unit were constantly at work in the position area of ​​the division.

Much effort had to be made to ensure that political studies and technical training were regularly carried out in the units withdrawn to carry out the regulations, I, as former commander technical battery on first-generation missiles, well understood the need for high technical training of our specialists, therefore, when organizing technical training, we found complete understanding with the chief engineer of the unit, Lieutenant Colonel A.S. Vasiliev. and with the deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Falko V.I.

At the same time, I quite responsibly imagined that all combat training cannot be reduced only to technical. Every day it was necessary to take care of the training of warriors, skilled professional missilemen capable of solving assigned tasks in any conditions of the situation. Much later, various programs appeared that fixed these requirements for the training of personnel of the trb. Fire and vehicle training, weapon protection mass destruction, engineering and marching training formed the basis of the field training of the units. Working out the coherence of the unit when making marches day and night, in summer and winter, organizing combat guards on the march, disguising equipment upon arrival at the place of work was carried out almost every time the groups entered the area for the regulations.

We paid special attention to the ability of personnel to perform work in protective equipment, conduct rescue operations, competently use insulating gas masks, degas and decontaminate overalls and equipment, as the main conditions for ensuring the safety of people performing work in launchers with missiles filled with toxic SRT.

When developing the concepts of tactical-special exercises and exercises with units of the unit for the integrated development of all these issues, I tried to use my personal experience direct participation in 1954 in exercises with the real use of nuclear weapons.

... Let's dive into the scope of the main activity of the troop - the performance of work but maintaining the missile armament of the regiments in continuous readiness for combat use by, first of all, the implementation of the DBK regulations. The regulations were carried out by two groups of tests and regulations (GIR PU) on two launchers simultaneously and by the GIR KP department on command post systems. The regulations also involved the calculations of the energy supply group (GEO) and other divisions of the unit. The implementation of the first regulation in the upcoming year was preceded by a thorough training of units in tactical and special classes, which ended with a credit complex lesson at the USP and a complex stand for admission to work. The culmination of this training was a special tactical exercise (TSU), carried out according to plan and under the leadership of the division commander. The TSU involved the entire leadership of the units of the division, which took part in the regulations in the current year. Such TSU was carried out before the first DBK regulation of the year. Before the subsequent regulations of the DBK, the exercises were not conducted, but the headquarters of the TRB organized a tactical-special lesson with all personnel, including other units and subunits participating in the regulations.

In the days preceding the beginning of the regulations, the subunits were withdrawn to the regiment's positional area, where a field camp was set up near the regiment's breeding site, a field vehicle fleet, and internal service was established. The field camp was especially carefully organized when Colonel Fedchin M.Ya. was in command of the base. With the transition to the operation of 15A15 missiles, units were increasingly placed on mother sites, which made it easier to solve the problems of logistics and domestic support, especially in winter, and internal service.

To accommodate personnel in the field camp, special wheeled trailers were used, which were part of the staff of the logistics battalion (BMBO) of the division. In BMBO, before the regulations, they were thoroughly prepared and refurbished (internal painting, glazing - if necessary - window frames, repair of lighting and heating, repair and painting of beds, etc.). guard, for the duty officer of the fleet and the control and technical point (KTP). The trailers were equipped with water or electric heating and electric lighting. The officer's canteen was located in two car bodies on the MAZ-502 chassis. Outdoor lighting was installed in the camp, a common washbasin and toilet were built.

Near each PU, where the regulations were carried out, a trailer was installed behind the outer fence for the personnel to rest and eat food, which was delivered from the field camp.

Cooking was the responsibility of the personnel of the BMBO, and the food was of good quality through the efforts of the rear of the division. From time to time, a mobile shop of the military department went to the regulations, supplying the military personnel with a simple assortment (and sometimes a shortage). The washing of the personnel was carried out in the residential area of ​​the trb on the 5th site, and cultural and educational work was carried out there on weekends. Before the start of the regulations, a rally of personnel was held in a solemn atmosphere, a general divorce and the departure of the groups to the launchers.

To manage the regulations, a command and control point for the regulations (PUKR) was deployed, on which officers of the work coordination and analysis group (CAR) and the missile armament service of the trb served.

The PUKR was connected by means of communications with the command post of the regiment and the launchers on which the work was carried out, and through the regiment - with the TPU and the operational technical control point (OTPU) of the division. This provided a high degree management of the regulations and the efficiency of communicating orders and instructions in the course of the regulations and the adoption of various technical solutions.

At PUKR, a special journal was kept for carrying out and controlling the regulations, which was developed in advance by the missile armament service of the division for group commanders, the head of the regulations at PUKR and OTPU. He determined the technological sequence of improvements, operations and work, special security measures during their implementation. It tracked the entire course of the regulations, analyzed the results and planned for the next day. Through the PUKR, the necessary specialists of the troop brigade, division, industry representatives were called, the delivery of instruments, documentation, additional equipment, other cargo and property was organized. The PUKR officer constantly kept a schedule for the restoration of the PU and the DBK as a whole in case of receiving an order to terminate the regulations.

At the first stage of the regulations, the combat readiness of the launchers was lowered with the undocking of warheads. After the group arrived at the PU, the group commander received it from the regimental command with an entry in the journal and from that moment was fully responsible for its condition and safety. Command post The regiment continued to carry out remote control of the main parameters of the rocket and the launcher.

Directly near the PU mine, a command and staff vehicle (KShM) was installed, which was connected to a regulatory electrical panel and a communication column.

The car housed the workplace of the group commander, who visually controlled the site around the mine through a large side window, gave commands over the speakerphone, personally controlled their execution, organized control of the most critical operations by officials of the regiment, trb, division and industry representatives. Interaction with the regiment was carried out through the commandants of the sites from the officers of the regiment.

To ensure the safety of work, admission to the launcher was strictly regulated. Those who arrived were admitted to the site according to endorsed lists, soldiers and sergeants of the group under the command of an officer, the rest - after a thorough check of documents and personal passes. At the same time, the presence and serviceability of protective equipment was also checked. Access to the launcher was carried out on the personal command of the head of the regulations at the launcher with an entry in a special journal. Before the start of work, a calculation was carried out according to the emergency rescue schedule, the order and ways of evacuation were indicated, a washing and neutralization machine and a trailer with degassing agents and rescue equipment were made for action.

After the completion of the preparatory operations, the systems and equipment were finalized by the personnel of the group and industry teams, the devices were removed for revision or with a spent resource, and the launcher systems were serviced. Upon completion of the improvements, autonomous tests of individual systems were carried out, and then electrical tests of the rocket. It should be noted that electrical tests were carried out continuously for 18-20 hours and were often delayed due to failures and malfunctions, as well as obtaining "abnormal" values ​​for individual channels and systems, accompanied by many hours of additional work to search for a failed system, device, replace it and repeat the test. This was a work that exhausted everyone at the limit of human capabilities, requiring, throughout its entire course, the precision of a jeweler, high responsibility and exceptional training.

One must admire and marvel at the patience, composure and thoroughness with which the officers of the group prepared the equipment, once again removed the container compartment, undocked and docked dozens of plug connectors with the thinnest contacts when replacing the device, being far from laboratory conditions of a limited space inside the rocket container (on 8K84 missiles), with a gas mask on one shoulder, a bag with a tool on the other, a helmet on the head and a mounting belt on the torso! The hands that a dozen minutes ago, in the cold, tossed multi-kilogram parts of technological equipment, removable platforms that held the bulky compartment by the halyards from swinging, now became gentle and careful, like a sapper, carefully replacing the device in the meager light of a portable lamp. And no double and triple control, which was prescribed at the same time, could guarantee infallibility, except for the skill of the performer himself! I don’t remember a case where the connector broke in this case, which would entail not only an additional large amount of work, but also concealed the prerequisite for an emergency situation or an accident.

Glory to these people in uniform, to the rank and file of the Strategic Missile Forces, who did not pursue ranks and salaries, who often did not shine in award lists, but without whom the Strategic Missile Forces could not exist and develop! For them, it was everyday work, which they honestly and responsibly did, fulfilling their official duty.

I am proud that I was destined to serve and work shoulder to shoulder for many years with such officers, masters of rocket science as: Fedchin M.Ya., Falko V.I., Vasiliev A.S., Martynov I.I., group commanders and deputies Sturov V.K., Kostenko N.D., Verbovsky K.A., Blokhinov I.A., Bushin V.R., Shpolyansky V.I., Lavrov V.I., Poltorak V.V. ., Ryzhov Yu.A., Minkovich Ya.S., heads of departments Rybkin Yu.D., Glazkov V.K., Aminov V.A., Turaev Yu.V., Borodin A.L., Chuikov O.G. , Vlasenko V.M., Zakhlestun M.T., Tokhver E.R., Deev V.N., Bavykin V.V., Akimov V.I., Vakhrameev N.N., Tyukalov E.K., Volbenko M.A., officers Thin V.K., Ledkov I.V., Timashkov V.I., Sharapov N.F., Goncharov M.I., Timashkov A.I., Voroshilo V.I., Poluektov V. A., Popov V.P., Nazarenko A.V., Plygach I.E., Makovetsky S.V., Chudnenko V.P., Kalmykov S.S., Gulimov N.I. and many others.

Many of them, having undergone severe hardening in calculations and departments, headed groups and technical missile bases, rose to high command and engineering posts, became researchers and teachers of higher military educational institutions.

Welfare base

The creation of a technical missile base made it possible to solve the problems of commissioning and bringing the DBK to combat readiness in a new way, as well as carrying out maintenance regulations. The volume of these works was quite large, and therefore the test groups and the regulations of the trb carried out work in isolation from the 5th site, where the technical missile base was located, practically all year round. She did not have the necessary forces and means for the rear support of her units, who were several tens of kilometers away from the location of the regiments.

In 1966, in order to provide the most complete and comprehensive support for the work performed by the test and regulation groups on launchers, a logistics base (military unit 77979) was created in the division, which was directly subordinate to the rear service of the division. Its first commander was Major Burmistrov P.V.

The material and domestic support of the regulations included: placement and relocation of field camps and car parks; clothing supply; food supply and catering for personnel and industry representatives; providing KRT and fuels and lubricants, special liquids; trade support for personnel; fire fighting measures; medical support.

According to the scheme for conducting autonomous and integrated tests when taking the DBK into operation, bringing it into combat readiness was carried out on one pair of launchers by two groups of tests and the regulations of the TRB. According to the same scheme, the annual regulations at the DBK were carried out.

To improve the conditions for carrying out the regulations in the position area of ​​the regiment, near the launchers, a field camp and a field vehicle fleet were set up, in which there were personnel involved in the regulations, and general-purpose vehicles.

10 days before the camp was ready, a reconnaissance of the area was carried out and the amount of work, forces and means for their implementation was determined. As a rule, the reconnaissance group included: deputy division commander for the rear of the guard, Colonel Alexandrov V.E. (team leader), commander of the bmbo guards lieutenant colonel Burmistrov P.V., deputy commander of the trb for logistics of the guards lieutenant colonel Krylov Yu.G., commander of the odbo guards lieutenant colonel Baranov V.F., head of the auto service of the division of the guards lieutenant colonel Bobryshev D.S., epidemiologist of the division of the guard, captain Pilyukov V.A., head of the bmbo department of the guard, lieutenant Tyaglenko V.Z., deputy commanders of units and heads of services of the military brigade, commanders of units of the odbo, head of the military department No. 5 of the division.

For the convenience of making a decision on the placement of elements of camps and car parks, the head of the reconnaissance group and the commanders of individual units, the deputy commander of the troop brigade for logistics, had pre-designed layouts. At the end of the reconnaissance, the deputy commander of the rear division gave an oral order to equip the camps and car parks, indicating the forces and means involved for this, the deadlines for execution, and the procedure for the logistics of the routine maintenance being performed. Strict control over the execution of work and the order of logistics support were established.

The equipment of the camps and car parks was carried out by the personnel and means of the trb, odbo, bmbo with the participation of the chiefs of the trb and rear services of the division.

To deploy the camp when working on one launcher, a territory of 200x300 meters was required, and for a car park - 100x200 meters.

The accommodation of personnel in the camp was as follows: conscript soldiers and sergeants were accommodated in USB-56 insulated tents, in which 40 bunk beds were installed; officers and industry representatives - in USB-56 tents (for 10 beds) and in dormitory cars,

In the future, the basis of the camp was created by mobile dormitory cars on wheels, which were part of the BMBO staff and equipped with heating, lighting and beds (two-tiered for privates and sergeants). In the same place, the BMBO deployed a soldier's canteen in a specially equipped car, and an officer's canteen in the back of the MAZ-200 car, where the BMBO cooks prepared food and distributed it to the tables.

For the placement and parking of mobile officers' and soldiers' canteens, platforms were equipped, a place for garbage bins was determined. Water was delivered by tank trucks or was used from the wells of the PU guards.

In the car parks, parking lots were equipped with individual places assigned to them, a field filling station for fuel and lubricants, a package transformer substation.

Access dirt and gravel roads were being prepared for all the objects of the camp and the car park. Parking lots for cars and special vehicles summer time and sandy in winter.

Lighting of the camp facilities, car park and territories was carried out with an electric cable from a PU or ESD-50 (if necessary).

As a rule, the change of camps and car parks was carried out after 5 days.

Special importance was attached to the arrangement and equipment of camps and car parks so that the personnel involved in testing missiles and equipment of launchers when they were put on combat duty and carrying out routine maintenance could rest in warmth, be well fed, dressed, shod, washed on time (weekly) with a change of underwear and bed linen; provided with medical supervision when performing work at the launch site, when preparing food, maintaining the proper sanitary condition of camp facilities and car parks; special and automotive equipment would be in constant combat readiness.

The internal order in the premises and facilities of the camps and car parks was maintained in accordance with the requirements of the Charter of the Internal Service of the Armed Forces when placing units in the camp, with careful observance of the rules of fire protection. The protection of the camp and the fleet was carried out by duty, orderly and internal guards appointed from the service personnel and the security company of the Odbo.

The rear of the division, the command of the bmbo and the logistic support services of the trb showed particular concern about the timely and complete provision of personnel in the camps with clothing, special and protective clothing, especially in winter, during autumn and spring thaws and rains.

Directly near the launchers, a wagon was installed, where lunch was delivered by BMBO if a continuous cycle of work was performed on the launcher.

BMBO made a worthy contribution to the work of putting missile systems on combat duty and carrying out regulations and allowed the division to accumulate rich experience in logistic support for units and divisions of the division in the field.

In the future, the base of material support was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Kolesnik V.A., Major Pavlovsky I.T. (later Deputy Commander of the 50th RA for Logistics), Major Chumachenko P.M.

Separate helicopter squadron

Based on the directives of the General Staff, the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces and the order of the commander of military unit 40376 on April 10, 1968 in Bologoy-4, Kalinin Region, Major Sergey Illarionovich Shevchenko began to form a helicopter squadron. The basis of the formation was the officers of military unit 43009 and the rank and file of military unit 03071.

The main tasks of the squadron were: delivery of personnel of the combat command and control groups, operational command and control teams, duty shifts of the command post, autonomous launch crews of missile regiments, technical shifts on duty; aerial monitoring of the condition of the SDUK cable routes and power lines in the position area of ​​the taxiway (their length was about 2000 km), conducting various types of aerial reconnaissance; combating sabotage, reconnaissance and terrorist groups of the enemy; providing effective assistance in case of natural disasters, accidents, catastrophes.

Orato was formed to provide basing, flight preparation and overflights, maintenance of the heliport.

At the time of the formation of the squadron, its command was: the squadron commander - Major Sergey Illarionovich Shevchenko, the deputy commander for flight training - Major Nikolay Nikitovich Barmin, the chief of staff - Major Vasily Nikolayevich Urazov, the squadron's deputy commander for political affairs - Major Anatoly Aleksandrovich Dyachenko, the deputy squadron commander in aviation engineering - Major Belyaev Alexander Ulyanovich. On the shoulders of these officers lay the main burden in organizing the life of the unit. I had to start almost from scratch. First of all, it was necessary to obtain aviation equipment and flight support facilities, create a training and material base, equip an airfield and parking lots, helicopters, airfield buildings and structures, and a barracks for conscripts. All this had to be done as soon as possible so that the unit could fully function and carry out combat duty as part of the duty forces of the formation.

Aviation equipment - MI-4 and MI-8 helicopters - was received from other parts of the Air Force and from MAP factories.

In the initial period, the squadron staff included 2 helicopter units, an aviation engineering service, communications and flight RTO. The airfield technical support company was not part of the squadron and was a separate part.

The command and personnel successfully coped with the task, and on 03/15/1968 the first helicopter flight was made at the Vypolzovo airfield, and in April the duty aviation shift as part of the division's duty forces took up combat duty. The period of organizational measures for the creation of the squadron ended, the unit became fully combat-ready and entered the path of everyday life of an ordinary military unit. It was necessary to prepare helicopter crews to fulfill the tasks assigned to them to ensure the life of the division in any conditions. Intensive flights began to train high-class pilots.

A friendly aviation team was formed, which was able to perform all the assigned tasks. At the stage of formation, a great contribution to the organization of the life of the unit was made by the officers: Major Belyaev A.U., Major Dyachenko A.A., Major Urazov V.N.

Summing up this stage in the history of the 7th Missile Division, we can conclude that by the beginning of 1970, 14 MKR missile regiments were fully formed in the formation, 12 of which were on combat duty (18 launchers with R-16 missiles and 90 launchers with missiles 8K84, a total of 108 launchers), two regiments were at the final stage of construction. It had a highly trained cadre of missilemen, hardened and gained significant experience over the 10 years of the division's existence, possessing high combat skills in combat duty and the operation of missile and special equipment. The command staff of the division possessed high organizational skills in solving the most difficult tasks of ensuring high combat readiness, and the division itself enjoyed well-deserved authority in the missile forces.

Let us cite (with some reduction) the ingenuous, but extremely emotional and sincere rhymed lines of the division veteran A.P. Bondarenko from Irkutsk 26:

Veterans of the 7th missile
Rezhitsa Red Banner Division
Dedicated

Do you remember, my friend, those gone gave
And torrential rains without end,
When we met, near the village in Valdai,
A difficult service lay ahead of us.

We started our missile service there
On wastelands, near swamps and bogs.
Great service! Secret Service!
Often, my friend, beyond the power.

It's hard now and imagine the curbs
Impenetrable forest blockages,
Our platforms that are attached to us,
Technique... Construction... Tired dreams...

What was our great prowess?
People, you remember - heroes!
Everything was. But it's not about cases
It's about work, from dawn to dusk.

With some great pressure it happened.
The formidable Soviet redoubt was famous.
All this was! And what is left?
Memory! And our proud military work.

Divisional Commander - General Pyotr Petrovich Uvarov,
Past the crucible of the great war.
With some ignorant tired heat.
He gave himself to the cause of the power of the country.

And a whole detachment of military officers,
Fighting bravely in fierce battles,
With your unselfish firm faith
They set an example in transcendental deeds.

Vlasov and Savchenko, Lakeev, Martynov,
Kinsbursky, Firsanov, Ilyin, Degtyarev,
Molchanov, Filippov, Baranov and Klimov.
Grishin, Toptygin, Tolstoy, Byrylov,

Krapivin, Kudryavtsev, Stepanov, Zagatin,
Zhuikov, Feofanov, Lavrov, Vorontsov,
Bogdanov, Drunk... I'll tell you, by the way.
Drunk Artist! Became a nature singer.

Can you count all the comrades today?
Those who stood at the origins of the crucibles of launchers,
Sites and mines, until then unusual,
Covering Russia with a shield from evil thoughts.

It's a pity. Many of them are not. But their memory is sacred.
Lives in our hearts from those first days.
In labor! In military service! Fulfilling your duty.
Sometimes not sparing even their lives.

Stubbornly forged a new shield of the Motherland.
Covering the country from enemy forces.
And in each of us lived a holy pride.
After all, everyone in himself bore the honor of Russia!

I appeal to you, our successors.
On behalf of all war veterans.
We are military service, having drunk a full cup.
We rely on you - sons of Russia!

Like us, stay a watchful eye!
"If you don't want war, keep your gunpowder dry"
Let it be lesson 41 for you.
Save Russia with your fighting deed.

I would be wrong, bypassing the silence
Junior lieutenants of those years of combat.
From military schools, stubborn in knowledge
Services of the rocket times of those bygone days.

Some of them have long been generals:
Evstratov, Kudinov, Thin ... And one more thing,
Maybe others that I don't know.
But I welcome them all! Hot!

Taromtin, Litvinov, Azarov, Kapotov,
Khudobin, Nudko, Anointed, Tolmachev.
And Plyukhin! Bravely burnt in work.
Sparing himself in nothing, nothing!

Time passed. And with him our division.
Becoming an integral part of mighty missiles,
Enemies "Satan" calling them terrible.
And we straightened them proudly in response.

Divide commanders changed, but the essence remained,
Intercontinental view of the world
The division's power increased every year.
Every commander was worthy.

Pyotr Petrovich left, his heart could not bear ...
Morsakov adequately replaced him.
Volkov replaced him. So you trust me.
They were above any connoisseurs.

And the role in the education of the political department?
(Do not believe the one who said - not needed).
Honour! Pride! The fighter was skillfully instilled,
To be a patriot of the Great Country.

You gave your life for the glory of Russia!
Her sadness is now a misfortune for you.
But you laid that formidable force
That the enemy's attempts surpassed many times over.

Reception of the 7th Missile Division
to the combat strength of the 50th Rocket Army

In pursuance of the order of the Minister of Defense, the command of the 50th Rocket Army in April 1970 organizes the admission of the division into the combat strength of the army. In April 1970, in connection with the reorganization of the missile corps, the 7th missile division was transferred to the combat strength of the 50th missile army (Smolensk), which then included it until December 1990, until the disbandment of the army.

The admission of the division to the 50th RA was carried out by a commission chaired by the commander of the army, Colonel-General Dobysh Fyodor Ivanovich. The commission and its working groups included: First Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General of Artillery Shmelev I.T., Chief of Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General of Artillery Gerchik K.V., Member of the Military Council, Lieutenant General Pavelyev N.V. with officers of the political department of the army; Deputy Commander for Missiles Major General of Aviation Lyubimov D.P. with a group of officers from the Office of the Chief Engineer; heads (deputies) of departments and services of the RA administration: colonels Bashtanenko F.A., (chief of the army command post - deputy chief of staff for combat control). Burov A.P. (deputy head of the combat training department), Mangubi Yu.D. (head of the department of geodetic support and aiming), Ganzhibailo G.P. (head of staffing department), Shitikov A.A. (deputy head of the personnel department) and others: military engineer colonel Veseloy V.S., assistant commander for ITS colonel Drozdovsky L.A.; Deputy Army Commander for Logistics, Major General Frontov V.F. (heads of rear services: lieutenant colonels Gordov V.A. (food service), Smoligovets A.T. (clothes service), Kharin A.F. - (special fuel and fuels and lubricants), Antipov V.D. (head of the military transportation department), colonel of the medical service Popudrenko I.I. (head of the medical service), lieutenant colonel of the medical service Priyutov A.A. (senior epidemiologist of the army), head of the auto service of the army colonel Ryaskov N.N., etc.

Command of the division in 1970: Commander Colonel Morsakov Yu.S., Deputy Division Commander Colonel Savchenko A.M., Chief of Staff of the Division Colonel Martynov V.A., Head of the Political Department Colonel Vlasov N.P., Deputy Division Commander for Missile Weapons - Chief Engineer Lieutenant Colonel Zagatin V.P., Deputy Division Commander for Logistics - Head of Logistics Colonel Alexandrov V.E. Everything went according to the Charter: the commander of the army, Colonel-General of Aviation Dobysh F.I. together with members of the selection committee, they conducted a drill review and an inspection survey of personnel in the management and parts of the division. It should be noted that no significant statements and complaints were filed by the personnel. This indicated that the command of the division and units did everything to ensure that people, equipment, and general combat readiness were provided with all material and technical means and resources.

In order to determine the combat readiness of the division, with the headquarters, command post of the division and regiments, a command-staff exercise was conducted with comprehensive exercises with all launchers. Simultaneously with the units, subunits and institutions located at sites No. 10 and No. 10a, an exercise was held on local (civil) defense issues involving formations and the population of towns, under the command of the deputy division commander for logistics.
A study was carried out and an analysis was made of the state of combat and political training of personnel, party-political, political-mass, educational work, the organization of cultural leisure for military personnel, members of their families, workers and employees.

On all questions checked, the division was rated "good".

A new twenty-year stage in the combat activity of the division as part of the 50th Rocket Army began.

The introduction of this peculiar missile formation into the army, armed with R-16 and OS 8K84 intercontinental missiles, required a serious improvement in the methods of commanding units, organizing preparations for conducting combat operations, as well as a radical change in the forms and methods of managing activities, organizing work in this division from the departments and services of the army and improving their skills.

At that time, the tasks of mastering new weapons and equipment, combat control systems and communications, mastering the necessary methods of organizing combat duty, combat training, technological processes for putting missile systems on combat duty, carrying out maintenance regulations and ensuring serviceability in combat came to the fore in the army at that time. the process of combat duty. A significant part of the officers of the army administration were trained in military educational institutions, research institutes and design bureaus, at industrial plants, as well as directly in the division in the course of the practical implementation of tasks. During the year, experienced and promising officers of the 7th Missile Division joined the army administration in various departments and services. All this made it possible not only not to lose control of the complex processes taking place in the division, but also to give them higher qualities and ensure the safety of their implementation. This side of the activity will be considered in more detail later, when disclosing the work of departments and services in solving the tasks set.

Here it would be appropriate to say that some authors of publications, who were far from these deep processes that were taking place in the 50th RA during this period, significantly underestimate the role of the army apparatus in the leadership of the 7th missile division 27 . The fallacy of these judgments will be shown in the course of the ongoing research and confirmed by the direct participants in the events.

_____________________________

11. In writing this chapter, materials were used from the collection "Guards Red Banner Rezhitsa Missile Unit", 2000.

12. Collection "Guards Red Banner Rezhitsa missile formation", 2000

13. Collection "Guards Red Banner Rezhitsa missile formation", 2000

14. Collection "Guards Red Banner Rezhitsa missile formation", 2000

15. S. Grebenchuk, A. POLONSKY "Secrets of Belovezhskaya Pushcha", 2003

16. Collection “50th Rocket Army. Book 1. Events and people. 1996 Smolensk.

17. Collection “50th Rocket Army. Book 1. Events and people. 1996 Smolensk.

18. V.E. Alexandrov "Guards strategic missile" 1996

19. G.N. Malinovsky. "Notes of a Rocket Man" 1999

20. V.E. Alexandrov "Guards strategic missile" 1996

21. Collection “50th RA. Book 1. Events and people "1996 Smolensk

22. Materials of the dissertation of Yasakov A.I. "The history of the origin, formation and development of operational formations of the Strategic Missile Forces."

23. Collection "Guards red banner Rezhitsa missile formation", 2000

24. Collection "Guards red banner Rezhitsa missile formation", 2000

25. Collection “50th Rocket Army. Book 2. Years and Fates "1999 Smolensk

27. Collection "Military leaders of the Strategic Missile Forces". G.K. Ryzhenkov, N.K. monks. CIPC. 1991 p.111: “Due to the lack of specialists in the RK OS in its staff, it provided only all possible assistance in organizing combat duty, training duty forces, methods combat use, maintaining missile weapons in good technical condition, organizing the protection and defense of launchers.