Article The cold war - Soviet Army

[Иван Феоктистов]

Several photographs from the life of the Department of Nervous Diseases of the Military Medical Academy of Kirov.

The cadet can see the sign "For a long-distance campaign", established in 1976

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Head of the Biology Department of the Military Medical Academy of Kirov, Lieutenant General of the Medical Service Pavlovsky Evgeny Nikanorovich with the students of the Academy. The professor is holding sea coral in his hands. On the right you can see a suite of halls, which contain a unique collection of the Department of Biology (more than 40,000 exhibits). On Pavlovsky's jacket E.N. on the right is the deputy sign, and on the left is the Stalin Prize medal. Narrow shoulder straps for military doctors will be canceled in 1958. 1950s

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Privates of the 162nd Infantry Regiment of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. Kuibyshev. 1947 year.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Private of the coastal artillery units of the Black Sea Fleet with rare emblems in the form of crossed cannons mounted at anchor. Sevastopol. 1951.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Private 611th artillery regiment. The year is 1948.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Students of the Kirov medical army at the Department of Military Toxicology. In the center is associate professor Volkov G.K.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Warrant officers and warrant officers in the Soviet army appeared on November 18, 1971. Starting from January 1, 1972, military servicemen who did not have officer ranks and conscripts, who received all the rights, benefits and advantages of extra-military personnel, were accepted into military service as warrant officers and warrant officers.

The rank of senior warrant officer was introduced in 1980.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

YES. AT LAST. IT'S TIME

ДЕМБЕЛЬ НЕИЗБЕЖЕН КАК КРАХ КАПИТАЛИЗМА
DEMBEL IS INEVITABLE AS THE COLLAPSE OF CAPITALISM

Dembel is the unofficial name of the date of the end of service of a serviceman of the Soviet, and after the Russian army. Short for "demobilization". Also "dembel" is the name of a soldier who has less than six months left (in the Soviet army) before being discharged from the army.


The phenomenon of non-statutory alterations of military uniforms in the Soviet army at the household level is known to many. The image of a demobilizer returning from the army with a "self-made" aiguillette, in a sewn or altered dress uniform, with a scattering of appropriate and inappropriate badges on his chest is quite recognizable. But at the same time, there is still no systematic description of this kind of practice, nor a satisfactory sociological and cultural explanation for them.

The greatest contribution to the description of this phenomenon was made, as is often the case, by literary men. So, in the story by Y. Polyakov "One Hundred Days Before the Order", the most famous work of that period, dedicated to the army, there are numerous references, or even entire descriptions of informal practices of reworking the form:

“To be honest, some equipment has been the main concern in the last six months of service. That is why I looked at the almost complete demobilization kit laid out with a feeling of deep satisfaction. First of all, an overcoat, which, while combing with a special metal brush, I made in the length and thickness of the pile similar to the shaggy skin of a strange gray-protective animal. Next - "parade". On the jacket were sewn completely new chevrons, buttonholes, as well as officer buttons - they are, unlike soldiers' thick gold color. The shoulder straps are impregnated with special glue, which makes them firm and gives elegant clarity to the entire silhouette. in a flannel rag - shining badges of an excellent student of combat and political training, a specialist of the 2nd class. In another cloth there is a buckle, which I have brought to such perfection with the help of sandpaper, special paste and a sewing needle, that, looking at the polished surface, you can shave. An unsolved problem is boots: heels should be increased. All this is perfectly done by the regimental shoemaker, my fellow countryman, but even from his fellow countrymen such a queue lined up for him that it would only come to me in a month ”(Polyakov).

In this passage, many of the details are described very accurately. However, such references are found in other, earlier works. So, V. Pikul, in his autobiographical story "Boys with bows", describing the Jung school on the Solovetsky Islands during the Great Patriotic War, depicted the procedure for making a branded sea flare:

“The foremen usually sewed wedges into the trousers. But the cabinets had nowhere to take cloth for wedges. They acted differently. Special patterns were cut from plywood. In the evenings, the trousers were sprayed with water and that there was strength pulled over the plywood. Every day, the trousers, stretching, became wider and wider, and their cloth along the bottom of the trousers became thinner and thinner. Soon it was possible to read newspapers through such kleshas! " (Pikul)

There are many similar examples. Apparently, wherever there are communities dressed in uniforms, the desire to "correct" this very uniform necessarily arises. Let us recall, for example, the pre-revolutionary students, the hierarchy of overcoats among Gogol's officials, or even Porthos' sling embroidered with gold. However, all this is iteration. Our task is both more modest and deeper - to describe the practice of such alterations of the form in the late Soviet army and try to give an adequate explanation for this.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

This work is based on a series of biographical interviews conducted with men who underwent compulsory and cadre service in the ranks of the USSR armed forces in the 1970s-1980s in different regions and in different branches of the armed forces. A total of 13 interviews were recorded. Two of the respondents served in the border troops on the Soviet-Chinese border. Two more respondents served in the Navy, in the Northern Fleet. Three of the respondents served in the internal troops, and two were conscripts in the convoy units of Siberia (that is, they were guarding correctional labor institutions), and one was an officer-teacher in a military school. One of the respondents served in the Signal Corps, starting with a training unit in Central Asia and ending in Central Russia. Among the respondents are also servicemen of the missile forces from the Urals - one retired officer and one conscript. Finally, among the respondents there is a man who served in Afghanistan in sapper units, one extra-conscript serviceman from the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who took part in hostilities in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia in the late 1980s - early 1990s, and one soldier aerodrome service, Volga region. This coverage makes it possible to describe not only the general features of the "improvement" of uniforms practiced in the Soviet army, but also to reveal some features by the branches of the armed forces, localities and social characteristics of servicemen. In addition, the author himself also did military service, first in the escort units of the Kemerovo region, and then in the police battalion of Omsk. So the interview materials are successfully combined with the results of personal observations. The materials of some forums where former military personnel share their memories were also partially used.

From square hats to white laces: non-regulation practices in the Soviet army

The statutory soldier uniform, introduced by a decree in 1970 and existed until the 1990s, when it was replaced by a more modern "Afghan form", was already a strongly modified form from the time of the Great Patriotic War. Summer casual uniform (in common parlance - "hebe") was a cotton tunic with buttons with a turn-down collar and side pockets with a flap, breeches tucked into tarpaulin boots with footcloths, a cap. Winter - the same tunic and breeches, but made of half-woolen fabric ("pesha"), an overcoat and a gray-colored earflap hat. True, the overcoat in everyday life was most often replaced by a pea jacket - a kind of wadded jacket, more convenient for household work and sports activities. An obligatory element of the form was a belt worn over a casual jacket, and when wearing outerwear, over an overcoat or pea jacket. The dress uniform included a tunic, already similar to an officer's and worn without a belt, a shirt with a tie with an elastic band, trousers, boots and a cap. In winter, an overcoat was added, and a cap was replaced by a winter hat. This shape also retained the collar - a strip of white cotton fabric sewn from the inside of the collar, and so that the stitches were not visible from the outside, but the white edge peeped out 2-3 mm over the collar. In the stores attached to the unit, specially made "hem" was sold - strips of white fabric folded and stitched along the edge, and without taking into account the size of the collar. When hemming, the extra edge was supposed to be folded and sewn up independently.

(About this, dear friends, I already wrote earlier)

Of course, insignia - shoulder straps, sleeve chevrons, buttonholes, stars on caps and cockades on hats and caps - were a mandatory attribute. According to the charter, they differed depending on the type of troops in color and emblems. And finally, we should mention such minor items of clothing as trouser canvas belts, underwear (a blue T-shirt and dark blue satin panties in summer, white underpants and a sweatshirt in winter), footcloths for boots and socks for boots. We omit the description of a more complex naval statutory form, recommending those curious to turn to special publications and the Internet.

In some branches of the military, there were variations of the form provided for by the charter. For example, in special motorized militia units (in militia city battalions) the “hebe” was no different from the combined arms, but it had a specific gray, “militia” color, and the “parade” did not differ at all from the form of the militia. In Central Asia, the cap was replaced with a panama hat (a hat with wide brims), and boots - with high boots with lacing - "ankle boots". In some units, instead of tarpaulin boots, soldiers were supposed to wear yuft or cowhide boots. In automobile companies and tank units, soldiers engaged in the maintenance of equipment were additionally given overalls for working with equipment.

According to interviews, attempts to change the daily uniform prescribed by the charter were encountered in the Soviet army everywhere - from convoy units to military schools and elite special forces units. If something has changed, it is only the degree and nature of such alterations. Perhaps not a single detail of the military toilet escaped the hands of the soldiers' craftsmen. All this turned into a complex system of practices, overgrown with its own economy and subtle nuances. As it was correctly noted by someone on the Internet forums, in the 1980s, the Soviet military uniform with breeches and colored shoulder straps looked archaic. In addition, the company foreman picked her up "by eye", and she often sat badly. But in any alterations, in addition to the specific soldier's aesthetics, a special system of symbols reflecting certain values was also laid.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Jacket and breeches

Most often they were "sutured" - they were fitted to the figure. The tunic (or blouse in the navy) either fitted slightly, or even fitted so tightly to the figure that “two friends helped to pull it over the body” (Navy). The same was done with the pants. Standard trousers, designed to be worn with boots, had a very large volume in the hips and tapering sharply downward. It was considered the greatest chic to sew them so that they would sit tight. However, sometimes "pesha", which better kept their shape, on the contrary, were ironed so that they looked like "breeches of the tsarist generals" (escort units). Officers and warrant officers could be punished for such alterations.

Behind all this, one can easily guess the desire to emphasize the "male figure", with broad shoulders and a narrow pelvis, personifying physical strength, health and fitness. Skinny garments have played such a role at least as far back as the Renaissance, according to moral historians. “As applied to a man's suit, this task (that is, a demonstration of beauty and health.) Was solved at first so that the man dressed in a suit that was tight-fitting to his body. Since the dress was made as narrow as possible, it seemed like a second skin ”- wrote E. Fuchs at the beginning of the twentieth century. We see something similar in our era, cultivating sports, youth and body.

The sailors' trousers stand apart. According to a long tradition dating back to tsarist times, a sailor was most often supposed to have a bell. As indicated above in an excerpt from V. Pikul's story, this was achieved either by inserting wedges or by stretching the fabric. There is also an attempt at a rational explanation of this fashion - it is easier to remove the flare in the water, during a shipwreck. Curiously, the practices of the 1940s persisted in the navy until the 1980s. However, one of the respondents noted something opposite - in his crew, on the contrary, the pants were sewn into "pipes".

In addition to sewing work, "hebe" underwent other alterations. Of particular importance was the color: the paler it is, the more "washed out" it is, the more prestigious. This form indicated the service life of its owner, which, for obvious reasons, gave him weight in the hierarchy of appeals. To achieve the "correct" color (and "hebe" was issued twice for service - before the beginning of each summer season, the same "pesha" was supposed to be worn two winters in a row), the soldiers who had served a year soaked it in a solution of chlorine "Whiteness" (rocket troops) or, in other cases, washed with sand (escort units).

The cleanliness of the clothes and their ironing also mattered. The sacredness of purity is characteristic of many traditional and archaic cultures (and the soldier's collective is, of course, a kind of archaic male union, which will be discussed below), in the soldier's environment, as well as in other closed male collectives, for example, in prison, purity is also erected in the rank of the highest virtue. Among both criminals and soldiers, the terms "dirty" have a pronounced evaluative meaning. "Schmuck" or "bastard" - so in prisons they call people who lead the wrong way of life from the point of view of thug culture. "Chmoshniks" in the army (and in ordinary life) are primarily called untidy, low-key colleagues who do not look after themselves. Untidiness, dirt in clothes is the lot of recruits, "spirits", old-timers cannot afford this.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

An example of an overly sewn jacket

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Examples of dirty, unkempt soldiers

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Form ironing methods are another area of emergence of informal practices. "According to the regulations", or rather, at the request of the officers, both "hebe" and "pesha", and even more so the "parade" had to be ironed, and arrows were pointed on the trousers. Of course, they do not last very long on cotton fabric. The most common methods of pointing arrows are rubbing the back of the fabric in the place of the future arrow with soap or smearing with glue followed by ironing - then the arrow lasts much longer. An even more radical remedy is to remove the arrow on the pants on a sewing machine. This kind of trick is especially noticeable, and therefore persecuted more often. Of particular symbolic significance is the practice of smoothing the horizontal arrow on the back at the level of the shoulder blades, which has become widespread in many parts, both in summer and winter uniforms. This was done by the soldiers after the first year of service. In some units (rocket troops), even two arrows were ironed out 100 days before the order.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

An example of neat and beautiful wearing a uniform

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Collars

Another way to indicate the service life and, accordingly, a special social status was to change the shape of the collar on the summer uniform. This was achieved through complex manipulations with threads, needles and an iron. First, the collar was ironed so as to reduce its width and raise its height. Then the collar was bent, and its free ends were sewn with threads to the tunic. As a result, from a shirt-type turn-down collar, an almost stand-up collar was obtained. Further, from the inside, a white fabric laid out according to the charter was sewn to it.

Formally, it was believed that the soldiers had to buy collars in the store (they were given to the recruits together with the uniform, but only two pieces each) and then washed. They rarely did the washing of the collars - mostly it was the lot of the young. And the purchased collars looked pretty pathetic. Therefore, homemade collars made of white sheets were the norm. Most often it was a piece of cloth about 70 x 30 cm, folded several times. It was sewn with large stitches so that it was not visible from the outside. The next day, the sewn collar was torn off, turned over, folded over and re-sewn with the clean side. Depending on the size of the piece of fabric, the collar could be used from 5 to 10 times without washing. Of course, the longer the service life, the thicker the collar was used. In some demobels, its thickness in the sewn form could reach up to 1 cm. On the part of the officers, this kind of ingenuity, as a rule, did not meet with objections.

Finally, there was also a special, "correct" way to tuck the jacket into the belt. According to informal aesthetic standards, the jacket was supposed to be well smoothed out in front and on the sides, and folded in the back into one fold, "birdie". Tellingly, young soldiers were not allowed to do this. The sewn-on tunic was tucked into the belt exactly, without "birds".

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[Иван Феоктистов]

Hats

Most often, the winter hat underwent non-statutory transformation - this is noted everywhere. Three types of its alteration have been identified. The first is the replacement of a soldier's cap with an officer's one, of a higher quality and made of natural materials. Such a headdress, of course, was used only illegally - in leave or in demobilization form. The second option is the most common: iron the cap so that it takes a cubic shape, and touch up. The technology was complex and required additional props. From the Leninist room, which was by all means present in every company, several books of communist-patriotic content were seized, since there were no others there. The author himself, called up after the first year and suffering from a lack of reading, I remember, was discouraged by the disappearance of the last books, the three-volume V.I. Lenin. After a while, they were found in the storeroom - it was on them that the hat, previously abundantly soaked in soapy water, was pulled (a little later they began to use shaving foam for this). Then a wet towel was applied to the crucified hat, and through it, so as not to burn the synthetic fur, it was smoothed with an iron. At the final stage, after drying, the hat could also be painted with wax (shoe polish), to give it a dark-gray, almost purple hue, and combed. As a result, the headdress became deeper, so that it almost covered the earlobes, with four clearly distinguishable edges and an unusual color. The third option for changing the cap is "molding" it using a three-liter can, with the same smoothing. According to the respondents, after such an operation, her ears no longer dropped and she lost functionality.

Pilots in different parts also underwent transformation. The inner rim of leatherette was ripped off from them, the outer lapel was pulled out and smoothed with an iron so that the outer edges of the fields were higher than the inner top.

In military schools, cadets, as a rule, wore caps made of natural tsigheika, officer hats. Therefore, they did not require special alterations. But even here there was a system of "fine-tuning" the product to the desired aesthetic canons. In some schools, the ears were lengthened so that they went over one another, in others the ears were smoothed with a house, etc.

But with a cap there was more room for creativity. First of all, caps with wide brims, a small visor and a high crown were appreciated. If there were none, they got out of the situation with improvised methods. To give the headdress the desired look, an inner flat metal hoop was removed from it, expanded and reinserted into a wet cap. After several repetitions of this operation, the fabric was stretched and acquired the fashionable shape of an "airfield". The visor could be whipped and replaced with another, or cut and sewn back. Especially, of course, the visors of the old model, matte, similar to leather, were appreciated. But there were very few of them, so they were content with plastic ones.

The high crown was either "stuffed" (that is, by stretching the cap from below, made it rise higher with a few blows on the crown), or a lining was inserted into it - from a broken spoon or just cotton so that the crown had the shape of a "roller". In one unit, there was a tradition among old-timers to insert clippings from magazines with girls, preferably half-naked, into their caps. The oilcloth band on the band could be replaced with an officer's leather strap. And of course, they carried out various manipulations with the cockade and the asterisk. The cockade was either bent so that it no longer adhered to the band, or, on the contrary, was made absolutely flat, depending on the fashion in this part. It was considered special chic in some parts to replace the cockade, buttons or buttonholes with field ones, covered with green protective paint.

To give a special daring, hats were selected in size two smaller than normal. In this case, both the cap and the hat could be worn only by smartly sliding it to the back of the head.

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Footwear

Boots, usually tarpaulin, remained the standard footwear of the Soviet army. The most high-tech non-statutory procedures were swirling around them. In general, the boots were fanned with special glory. While the rest of the armies of potential adversaries had long since switched to high laced boots ("ankle boots"), and everyone was well aware of this thanks to news from hot spots of the planet and the TASS chronicles, in the Soviet army boots were still sung by foremen, officers, and followed by the rank and file. The author himself has repeatedly heard long tirades that there is nothing better than boots and footcloths. This myth could not be destroyed neither by many kilometers of jogging, nor by the legs regularly washed by young fighters. On forums dedicated to the memories of the army, many members still write about the inconvenience of boots and the benefits of boots.

The kirzachi themselves, after two or three months of wearing, completely lost their presentation, which was already dubious. The leather sock was very wrinkled, deep wrinkles and even cracks appeared. All this bore little resemblance to the image of the dapper officers of the old days. To give the boots a marketable appearance, they were processed in a special way. First of all, the shape of the sole was changed. For this, a wide welt was turned so as to give the last an elongated shape. After that, the boot was “ironed”. A special shoe was pushed inside to give the shoe the desired shape (the author most often met an elongated shape with a "knob" on the toe itself, as in the "Cossacks"). Then the boot was abundantly, in a thick layer, smeared with shoe polish and ironed with a hot iron. Such an iron, of course, could no longer be used for other purposes, and therefore it was either stolen from a neighboring company, or simply hidden from the foreman. Sometimes, instead of an iron, other items were used - for example, a red-hot building trowel. As a result, the leather of the sock was deformed and took the elongated shape of the last.

They did different things with the bootleg. Either they left him alone, or (which happened more often) they gave him the shape of an accordion, sometimes of a complex configuration. There were also cases of shortening the bootleg, cutting it off at an angle (above the front, below the back, cavalry), inserting decorative laces on the sides.

The heel was processed separately. Firstly, it was turned into "Cossacks", and secondly, it was supplied with something like horseshoes. In some parts, balls from bearings were driven into it with a hammer along the edge of the heel - the heel protector of tarpaulin boots was well suited for this, since it had a number of special round grooves. In other parts, the heels were lined with shortened construction dowels. Well, and the most chic were real horseshoes, especially from pobedit - a particularly hard alloy. Almost all respondents noted that the sparks knocked out of the stones and asphalt of the parade ground by the heel caused the delight of the owner of such boots. In many parts, such chiseled boots were called "mabuts".

The dress shoes were also altered in the same way.

In addition to reworking boots, there are often stories about the use of non-statutory shoes. Most often, tarpaulin boots were replaced with cowhide or yuft boots, sometimes even for officer's, chrome ones. However, they were all very striking, and therefore they were worn only on dismissal or during demobilization. In addition, there are stories about wearing tarpaulin boots of more modern, civilian modifications, purchased in civilian stores. As it is written on one of the forums, "" Tractor driver's boots "instead of the regular ones - not the current among the privates, but also among the junior officers, is a damn convenient thing, if anyone remembers. Kirza and polyester on a molded sole with a winter liner - 25 rubles. All the pleasure . The superior authorities were brainwashed that it was experimental, the lower ones closed their eyes "(VIF).

 

[Иван Феоктистов]

Belts, insignia and other accessories

The belt, unlike other elements of the uniform, was issued to a soldier for all two years of service. The standard belt, made of thick leather-like material, in the convoy units had the contemptuous name "linoleum". After six months of service, it began to crack, especially in winter, and loose threads began to hang from the edges. Of course, it was especially chic to have a leather belt. You could buy it at the store. The respondents named the price about 3 rubles. 50 kopecks, which was about half of the soldier's monthly salary.

In convoy units, leather belts were subjected to additional processing. The brown paint was scraped off completely. If the skin under the paint was found to be reddish-brown, that was a special stroke of luck. But most often the belt was of the usual yellowish color of untreated leather. If the leather belt was frayed, it did not drop its prices. Probably, in the worn belt, as well as in the washed-out "hebe", the symbolic meaning of the designation "old servant" was laid.

Another version of the waist belt was the field version, tarpaulin, painted on the outside in the same brown color. Such a belt was by no means stronger and did not wear out so much. In the standard version, it was equipped with a metal plate covered with a protective green paint. In everyday form, such a badge was conspicuous, and therefore was replaced by an ordinary brass one.

Concerning the plaque, it is worth mentioning separately. The statutes prescribed to regularly polish it to a shine. To this end, in the garrison stores, as well as in the lockers, there were always stocks of GOI paste (from GOI - the State Optical Institute - grinding and polishing pastes based on chromium oxide), and each soldier had to have a cloth in store. But even this simple procedure was perfected by the rank and file. Such an operation was widespread among the soldiers after a year of service. First, the badge, often badly scratched, was cleaned with a fine sandpaper, "zero". From this she became uniformly rough. Then, with a needle, this roughness was smoothed out, smoothed out. And after that, with the help of GOI paste, the plaque was brought to an ideal state. As a result, the plaque became uniformly mirrored and shiny. Sometimes the corners of the plaque were also sawed to make it a little more oval. Of course, such a procedure could be carried out only in a few days. At this time, the soldier either wore another badge, or hid from daily checks. This was almost inaccessible to the young "fighters". The badge itself, starting from the year of service, often bent more than usual (the standard fold was barely noticeable). In some units, after the release of the demobilization order, the old servicemen, on the contrary, straightened the badge to an ideal straight state. In addition, it was considered special chic to wear trenches - rings made of leather or other material on a belt, designed to fasten the free end of the belt. In this case, the trench coat was worn with a rivet outward. Sometimes senior servicemen wore two or three coats. A leather strap from a Makarov pistol was also used as a separate accessory. It was most often worn by storekeepers and storekeepers, less often by sergeants and old-timers. At one end of this strap there was a belt loop, put on a trouser belt, at the other - a metal carabiner, where the keys were fastened. A bunch of keys fit in a pocket, and a leather strap hung down on the side, giving out the special status of its owner.

Particular importance was attached to insignia and award military badges, that is, the most explicit and institutionally fixed signs of status. The usual shoulder straps of privates and sergeants in the Soviet army were made of cloth of the color corresponding to the type of troops, a cardboard base and a backing made of khaki cotton fabric. Such a shoulder strap “broke” after two weeks of wearing, that is, it acquired the shape of a shoulder, especially from the belt of the machine gun. To prevent this, the shoulder strap was steamed, some hard material, most often plastic, was pushed between the felt and the cardboard. Sometimes the plastic was bent along the longitudinal axis, which is why the shoulder straps took the form of sawn along the pipe. In rare cases, in everyday form, there was also a homemade canvas around shoulder straps from nylon slings, sometimes from a braid of electrical wires. But more often - at the "parade", especially the demobilization.