After the bustle of work at the division headquarters (we had arrived to visit the Tamani soldiers on the eve of the arrival of the representative commission), the silence at the motorized rifle regiment was somewhat alarming. However, Lieutenant Colonel Valery Mikulin, the officer in charge of security and information, remained calm. My doubts were dispelled by Colonel Vladimir Yurkovsky, the regiment commander, who responded with a hint of surprise when I asked, "Where is the personnel?" "They're engaged in training," he replied. Today we have public and state training..."Not otherwise, as in connection with the guest landing," - involuntarily thought. After all, by that time the regiment had already passed a control check, and suddenly such attention to the UCP. And this is at a time when there are a lot of household chores. Sinful, I thought that the fathers-commanders may well take advantage of the" off-season " and attract personnel to urgent household chores. And classes?.. Well, they can be arranged selectively for the guests' eyes.

Our visit to the barracks of the tank battalion cleared up all the questions. In addition, it was revealed that the unit has not had any incidents or crimes for a long time. This is a fact that deserves respect. As for the results of the social and state training, most of the groups received a solid four-point rating.

In general, there is a lot to learn in such a battalion. And this is despite the fact that there is only one full-time training officer in the unit!

We enter the classroom. The lessons are conducted by Major Sergey Basyuk. His face seems familiar to me. Of course, we have already

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They saw a photo of an officer: this information about his experience as the best leader of the OGP groups was placed on a stand in the regiment's club. I was slightly surprised by the fact that the best leader was not one of the regular training officers, but the deputy chief of staff.

After getting to know the organization of the battalion better, I realized that nothing was being done to mislead the gullible inspectors. Why? There was simply no time for it. And it wasn't necessary. All efforts were focused on the most important task: teaching the soldiers what they needed to know. The soldiers of the regiment had experienced firsthand what was important for a soldier, both during their peaceful training and in combat situations. Take Major Anton Manshin, the "political officer" of one of the battalions, for example. He has already served in the second Chechen war, was wounded twice, and was awarded the Order of Courage. There are plenty of such officers in the regiment.

But let's return to the location of the tank battalion. What struck me most of all? The friendly, smiling faces of the soldiers, their neat appearance, and the cleanliness of the offices and living quarters. Of course, there are no carpets. Everything is modest but tasteful. It doesn't match the images of the exhausted, hungry, and unsettled soldiers that some newspapers like to portray. I would like to point out that neither in these classes nor in any other classes in Major S. Basyuk's group of public and state training have I ever seen his colleagues, civilian journalists, although they have been invited many times to watch, listen, and then report on what they have seen and heard in the media. Unfortunately, this has not happened.

By the way, almost 90 percent of the personnel were present at the class. Some of the students, under the supervision of the group's deputy head, were studying the political map of the world, while others were working on missed topics, and the rest were engaged in discussions with the group's head. (It seemed that our presence did not bother anyone.) The attention was drawn to the well-organized visual aids and the neatly written lecture notes.

After the classes, we had a conversation with Major Basyuk. Instead of the usual complaints about lack of time, resources, etc., we had a substantive and interested exchange of views on how to improve the effectiveness of the classes given the available resources. Of course, we also discussed some of the challenges, such as the quality of the conscripts and the methodological support for the classes. Unfortunately, many of these issues cannot be resolved at the battalion level. However, Sergei Vasilyevich believes that if this is the case, it is not worth taking on the task. He and his colleagues are taking action, and the work is progressing. For example, there is no money to purchase paper for making visual aids. The battalion has decided to use the back of used sheets instead. There is no way to assign an ensign as an assistant to the group leaders. Instead, we will select the most capable sergeants and soldiers. Despite these challenges, progress is being made. It is all about having the right mindset and pursuing goals that benefit the cause.

By the way, about this. Lieutenant Colonel V. Mikulin believes that we have lost a lot because the schools that trained military instructors have closed. Neither the command schools, nor the engineering schools, and certainly not the civilian universities, are able to provide even a tenth of what the graduates of the political schools used to receive. And the training sessions held for the leaders of the social and state training groups cannot fill in the gaps in knowledge and practice of educational work. All we can hope for is that among the new officers there will be those who have a special knack for working with people. This is exactly what Major S. Basyuk, S. Tsionchik, V. Tishkin, and R. Gabaidulin have.

We also discussed these issues with Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Polischuk, the deputy commander of the regiment for educational work. Everything about him is располагающий. He is a calm, reasonable, and self-aware professional in his field. Like a good host, he has

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He has a thorough approach to everything. When I asked him about the challenges he faces in organizing public and state training, he seemed somewhat surprised. He emphasized the importance of approaching the task with a heartfelt approach and placing a strong emphasis on comprehensive combat training. He believed that if everyone, from the lowest rank to the regiment commander, diligently fulfilled their responsibilities, any issues would be successfully resolved. This was not just a statement. It was the Deputy Regiment Commander's stance. The organization of public and state training was a prime example of this.

And here's another topic we discussed with Lieutenant Colonel Polischuk. During classes, group leaders often have to comment on the "News" that the personnel watched the day before. Not every political scientist can make sense of the flood of information that comes our way from the TV screens. And who better than the military press can help us understand the complexities of today's political landscape in our country and abroad? And the files of the "Red Star", "Landmark", to great shame and regret, are not even available in every company. And more. A lot of time in the UCP system is devoted to studying the history and traditions of our army and navy. And that's right. But each generation must have its own heroes. That is why soldiers listen so carefully to the exploits of their peers who performed their duty in the North Caucasus. There is something to think about here when drawing up thematic plans for public and state training.

On our way back to the division headquarters, we exchanged views with Lieutenant Colonel Mikulin about what we had seen. Valery Vasilyevich lamented that he had not had the opportunity to visit the regiment's library and observe the work of its head, Galina Aleksandrovna Kamenskas. She provided significant assistance to the leaders of the social and state training groups. However, I had no doubt that everyone here approached their work with dedication. This was the way the Guards Taman Regiment operated.

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