For the first time, I visited this unit with a group of front-line veterans on the day of remembrance and sorrow on June 22 last year. The veterans came here at the invitation of the commander, Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich Cherkashia, to tell the new recruits about the sacred traditions of the Russian military and to convey the main commandment: to keep the powder dry in order to prevent a repeat of the tragedy of 1941.

As a gracious host, the commander gave the guests a tour after the official part of the event, introducing them to the daily life and activities of the military unit under his command. It was then that the veterans began to express their surprise. And there was indeed something to be surprised about. Despite the fact that the unit was located on the outskirts of the city, with a clear view of the Khekhtsir mountain, and was not one of the so-called "court" units, the order was impeccable. The town was well-maintained, and there wasn't a speck of dirt on the asphalt (the front-line soldiers, still in a state of excitement from their reunion, were now at a loss as to where to throw their cigarette butts). Similarly, theThe veterans were shown the equipment, and when the guests were invited to the soldiers' mess hall, their eyes widened: it was June, too early for harvesting, and imported vegetables were expensive on the market, but the soldiers had cucumbers, tomatoes, and herbs on their tables. Where did they get them from? The commander replied with a sly smile: "We grow our own."

What a well-established life means for a soldier, Vladimir Cherkashin understood when he himself served an urgent service. However, he learned garrison life even earlier - his father was a military man, and his family "combed" all of Primorye with him. Well, Vladimir himself put on shoulder straps in Belarus. First there was a "training course" - a school for junior aviation specialists, then a service as a tanker driver. After leaving the army, he enrolled in the Kaliningrad Higher Military Engineering School of the Engineering Troops, and when it was time for distribution, he asked to be sent back to the Far East. As they say, the familiar air helped him in his service.

However, the unit that Vladimir Cherkashin joined at the time was relatively new and consisted of a third of air. The town itself did not exist. It was built by the officers and ensigns themselves, as it was an engineering unit. They worked diligently because they knew that they would be serving there.

The platoon leader's tunic and trousers absorbed liters of salty sweat. However, Vladimir Mikhailovich remembers his commanders with gratitude. He did not encounter any random people; everyone was a competent specialist and a capable leader.

Under Colonel Yuri Stepanovich Matveev (now a general, serving in Transnistria) Cherkashin rose from platoon leader to battalion commander. These years were marked by combat training.

The second commander, Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Timchenko, taught Cherkashin how to manage the unit. Under his leadership, Vladimir Mikhailovich was appointed deputy commander of the unit for weapons.

According to Cherkashin, Colonel Boris Olegovich Vasilenko had already given him the opportunity to work independently and had prepared him as a leader. This required him to master the skills of commanding a unit and solving administrative issues to ensure the well-being of the military team. Cherkashin believes that everything that has not collapsed today was created by these commanders. Additionally, they played a crucial role in training a worthy successor. However, according to the commander, this is currently lacking. Of course, he's raising young officers and teaching them how to work with people, but the problem is that there's not much to keep them here. He's a smart, disciplined, and decent officer, but he doesn't have a home to call his own. Is this a problem? It sure is! The lack of a stable living environment is causing family disintegration, with his wife and child leaving for the West. Currently, 26 officers in the unit are without housing. Only two officers have established families here, so to speak, with roots firmly planted. Most people are here for nothing but their duty as officers and their commander's attitude.

page 25

The problem is his ability to understand and help. Cherkashin does what he can to alleviate everyday problems. For example, he "extracted" money from his subordinates for renting housing. The district paid off the rent for a year and a half at once. After receiving a substantial sum at once, people felt at least some kind of care.

Or take, for example, the provision of rations. There was a period when there was no fish on the base for a long time. However, in Cherkashin's unit, the officers did not experience any supply issues and received not just any fish, but red fish. This was due to the fact that Vladimir Mikhailovich had assigned two individuals to procure the fish. Additionally, the soldiers on guard duty received chum salmon or pink salmon as part of their supplementary rations. There were also no significant problems with procuring vegetables. In other words, they would have been there if the commander had expected the potatoes to arrive from the Amur region in mid-November. In that case, the frozen root vegetables would not have been able to be stored until spring. Colonel Cherkashin negotiated the supply of vegetables with the local farmers and convinced them of the importance of cooperating with the district.

I haven't mentioned the kitchen garden yet, which provides additional meat for the soldiers' table, although I mentioned fresh vegetables that impressed the veterans at the beginning of the article. So, the last harvest of tomatoes in the unit's greenhouse was harvested on January 5, and the first harvest of fresh cucumbers was harvested on April 4. For three months, these vegetables were absent from the soldiers' diet, but they were replaced by pickles, green onions, sorrel, dill, and parsley.

However, the commander sometimes gets reprimanded for this additional rationing, as there is no official position for caring for the greenhouse and kitchen facilities.

Of course, it's a shame, but all these things are insignificant compared to the moments when soldiers are visited by their parents. They come and are surprised to see that the guys have become fresher and their heads have cleared.

The contingent of new recruits arriving to serve in the unit is, by the way, ordinary. With all the vices acquired before the army. There are young people with low body weight (the "cure" for this is known), there are drug addicts (last year they fired six, now they "planted" three new ones), there are weak spirits. Vladimir Obydenny, the deputy commander of the unit for educational work, "splits" newcomers with the help of special tests. And then the systematic work begins: there are days of legal knowledge, when military court and prosecutor's office employees are invited to the unit, and classes on safety measures, and control, control, control... No one has come up with a better idea yet.

It goes without saying that those who have been convicted are not allowed to carry weapons. In other words, such soldiers are not allowed to serve on guard duty. However, during training sessions, they are expected to perform at their best, and there are no exceptions. Whether it's the experienced battalion commander, Major Andrey Gondarev, or the young platoon leader, Lieutenant Vitaly Yakovenko, the officers will not tolerate any sloppiness. During my time at the military base, training was in full swing. It's true that the units were stationed right outside the headquarters. However, this was not due to a lack of resources, but rather to the reduced fuel and lubricant limits.

These were the problems that concerned the commander when we parted. Colonel Cherkashin had had a busy week, with a Moscow commission visiting the unit, which, incidentally, assessed the level of

page 26

The training of officers and soldiers is good. However, this is not surprising. The unit pays constant attention to practical training in engineering, including demolition, fortification, camouflage, and more. There are many competent specialists in the unit. For example, a few years ago, on the eve of the first President of the Russian Federation's visit to Khabarovsk, professionals from this unit were recruited to inspect the facilities that the President would visit for the presence of minefields. The soldiers carefully inspected the bridge over the Amur River that was under construction at the time, and used a RVM-2 radio wave mine detector to check the areas near the construction site...

It's not for nothing that they say that a sapper makes a mistake only once. And in order to prevent this single mistake, there is a continuous process of training specialists, even if a unit is working separately from the rest of the unit, as was the case with the subordinates of Senior Lieutenant Alexey Kulik, who were building and equipping an engineering command post on an island near Khabarovsk during the last training period. This was the real work for the sapper!

Well, ahead of the commander was the so-called commander's day, when, as a rule, you have to spend the night in the part. I asked if these lack of sleep were justified? After all, after 18 years of service in one unit, where he went from platoon leader to commander, perhaps with his eyes closed, you will orient yourself, at a glance, determine if something is wrong.

"Of course," he replied. "It's necessary. I went to the barracks, checked the guards twice during the night, climbed the watchtower myself, and noted in my mind: there's a tree that needs to be cut down to improve the guard's visibility, and a pole that needs to be straightened to fix the wire. I walked along the guard's route to ensure everything was in order. In the past, we used to apprehend up to thirty intruders per month." Some people wanted to "feel" the equipment, and others had their eyes on the pigsty. Nowadays, there are fewer people willing to take risks...

When I was mentioned the pigsty, I also recalled one of the episodes of that day. At that time, the chief of finance came to the commander with good news: a representative of the higher headquarters had informed him that they would help the unit to purchase a computer, which was so necessary today. Do you want to know how? The secret is simple: one of the pigs raised in the kitchen farm was taken to the warehouse, and they obtained a certificate from the military farm about the cost of the meat, recorded the data in the act, submitted it to the district food service, and then they had to transfer the money... And there are many such examples in the unit commanded by Vladimir Cherkashin. They approach all issues in a smart and efficient manner. Instead of blaming the problems with funding, spare parts, and construction materials, they try to find a solution to the situation on their own and succeed.

When you look at such units and meet smart commanders, you realize that with people like them, the army can overcome economic instability in the country and ensure Russia's security.

page 27

Permanent link to this publication: