18. This is probably the 2nd MRB of the 66th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade. The 2nd MRB was garrisoned in Asadabad, Kunar Province some 70 kilometers from the brigade headquarters in Jalalabad, Nangahar Province. The original text has the unit located in Kandahar Province. This must be a typographical error, since this would require a company road march of some 600 kilometers (ed.). [return]
19. Usually an MRC has three MRPs. During the first half of the 1980s, an MRC had three MRPs and a machine gun/anti-tank platoon in BTR-mounted units or three MRPs and a machine gun/automatic grenade-launcher platoon in BMP-mounted units. This is not the case here. A separate motorized rifle battalion had four MRPs per MRC as well as other reinforcements (ed.). [return]
20. V. A. Stolbinskiy served in the OKSVA from March 1985 through May 1987 as the commander of an air assault company. He was awarded the “Order of the Red Banner” twice. [return]
21. Probably the 70th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade. There are some inconsistencies in this vignette. The city of Jegdaley, which appears on the map, is in the Kabul area, not the Kandahar area. However, the Rega desert, cited in the vignette, and the terrain of the vignette are closer to that of Kandahar, not Kabul. And there was not a separate motorized rifle brigade in Kabul. This vignette must have taken place near Kandahar (ed.). [return]
22. The 12th MRC, 3rd MRB, 70th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (ed.). [return]
23. V. N. Syemin served in the OKSVA from 1986 to 1988 as the chief of staff of a separate reconnaissance battalion. He was awarded the “Order of the Red Star” twice and the medal “For Valor”. [return]
24. V. I. Korotkikh served in the OKSVA from 1986 to 1988 as a battalion commander. [return]
25. A battalion from the 56th Separate Air Assault Brigade (ed.). [return]
Chapter 7:
And in Conclusion…
Frunze Conclusion: Combat experience in the Republic of Afghanistan confirms the correctness of the basic tenets of our directive documents. However, in addition, it confirms the need to reassess some of them which touch on forces and means in special circumstances.
Several combat principles lay at the heart of the mujahideen’s tactics. First, they avoided direct contact with the superior might of regular forces which would have wiped them out. Second, the mujahideen practically never conducted positional warfare and, when threatened with encirclement, would abandon their positions. Third, in all forms of combat, the mujahideen always strove to achieve surprise. Fourth, the mujahideen used examples from the Basmachi movement1 and employed terror and ideological conditioning on a peaceful populace as well as on local government representatives.
The mujahideen knew the terrain intimately, were natural scouts, and were capable of rapidly transmitting the necessary information about secret Soviet unit and subunit movements over great distances using rudimentary communications gear and signalling devices. Among the guerrilla forces’ tactical strong suits were all types of night actions, the ability to rapidly and clandestinely move in the mountains, and the fielding of a very broad agent reconnaissance network.
The constant changes in the military-political situation in Afghanistan, the outfitting of the guerrilla forces with new weaponry, and the mujahideen use of various techniques and procedures of military action worked to keep pressure on the tactics of Soviet forces. This demanded a constant, creative search for fundamentally new approaches for successful completion of the military mission. The TO&E structures of subunits and units were perfected. This was done in accordance with the techniques and procedures of combat which would be most effective in the given TVD. This placed increased demands on the production of improved uniforms, load-bearing equipment and gear for the soldiers.
Experience shows that the basic conditions for achieving success in battle are making a well-informed decision in accordance with the specific combat situation; thorough and complete preparation for mission accomplishment; securing tactical surprise and insuring tight coordination between subunits and units of various branches and aviation performing common missions; hard but flexible and uninterrupted control of subunits; and daring, brave and enterprising actions by the commander and his troops as well as comprehensive support for the combat actions.
Military cunning was given great importance. As a rule, when subunits went into battle, they were thoroughly prepared. Several hours or several days were set aside for this. Special attention needs to be paid to practical training of the soldier, sergeant, and officer. Training was frequently conducted on terrain similar to that on which they would fight. This allowed subunits to work out several scenarios for the conduct of battle.
It must be remembered, however, that the experience of Soviet forces in the Republic of Afghanistan is specific to that locality. The practical application of this experience will require creativity and will have to take into account the specific nature and types of enemy actions.
Editor’s Conclusion: The Soviet Army had extensive experience in subjugating and controlling unhappy populations and break-away Marxist-Leninist governments. During and after the Russian Civil War, well into the 1920s, the Bolshevik government employed political pressure, subversion, or outright military actions to incorporate into the Soviet Union numerous regions and nationalities which had asserted their independence during the confusion of revolution and civil war. In Ukraine, Central Asia, the Transcaucasus, and finally, the Far East, nascent republics were subjugated and reintegrated into the Bolshevik fold, often by force. In the early 1920’s the Red Army put down political rebellion in city and countryside alike (Kronstadt and Tambov). In the mid-1920s, the fledgling Red Army campaigned for years against Basmachi tribesmen in Central Asia, leaving a legacy of military experiences which the Soviet Army attempted to draw upon sixty years later in Afghanistan.
Similarly, as the Red Army advanced through German-occupied territory in the Soviet Union in 1944 and 1945, it faced underground and open resistance from nationalist forces in the region. The Ukrainian UPA openly resisted the Red Army and Soviet political authorities, and in March 1944 claimed as one of its victims one of the best Soviet front commanders (Army General N. F. Vatutin of the 1st Ukrainian Front). So serious was the opposition that resistance to Soviet authorities continued in Ukraine and parts of Belorussia until the early 1950’s, when Soviet military and security forces finally prevailed. In all of these post-Civil War and post-Second World War experiences, Soviet military power earned for itself a reputation as a seemingly invincible pillar of the state. Where Soviet military power trod, political domination would inexorably follow.
This reputation was born out during the Cold War years, when the Soviet Union wielded military power in support of its Socialist Empire. Their experiences in subjugating the Hungarian revolution of 1956 (where they suffered 669 KIA, 51 MIA and 1540 WIA) led to improved methods and techniques. In the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Army lost a total of 96 killed.2 The elements of their invasion plan included the establishment of an in-country Soviet military and KGB element to assist the invasion force and the production of a cover or deception operation to divert attention away from the future invasion. A General Staff group would tour the country in advance of the invasion, under some pretense, in order to assess and fine-tune invasion plans. When the invasion began, the in-country Soviet military and KGB element would disarm or disable the national military forces. Airborne and SPETSNAZ forces would spearhead the invasion and seize major airfields, transportation choke points, the capital city, key government buildings, and communications facilities. They would seize or execute the key government leaders. Soviet ground forces would cross into the country, seize the major cities and road networks, suppress any local military resistance, and occupy the key population centers. A new government would then be installed, supported by the armed might of the Soviet Armed Forces.