4. The 103rd Airborne Division (ed.). [return]

5. V. N. Popov served in the OKSVA from February 1984 through March 1986 as the assistant to the chief of staff of a motorized rifle battalion. [return]

6. The 3rd Motorized Rifle Battalion, 122nd Motorized Rifle Regiment, 201st Motorized Rifle Division (ed.). [return]

7. A. V. Van’yants served in the OKSVA from 1982 to 1984 as a platoon leader and company commander and from 1987 to 1988 as a battalion chief of staff. He was awarded the “Order of the Red Star”. [return]

8. The 70th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (ed.). [return]

9. A. A. Tolkachev served in the OKSVA from May 1983 through May 1985 as an airborne company commander. He was awarded the “Order of the Red Banner”. [return]

10. The MON (minna oskolochnaya napravlenogo deistvie) series of mines are directional, anti-personnel mines similar to the U.S. claymore mine. They can be set to detonate from a trip-wire or with a firing device (ed.). [return]

11. The ZIL-130 is a 150 horsepower, 4x2 Soviet truck that could haul 5.5 tons (ed.). [return]

12. I. V. Solonin served in the OKSVA from 1985 to 1987 as the commander of an airborne battalion. [return]

13. The Afghan Army 14th Infantry Brigade and the Afghan 4th Sarandoy Brigade (ed.). [return]

14. A. M. Tangaev served in the OKSVA from 1985 to 1987 as the senior assistant to the chief of division reconnaissance. He was decorated with the “Order of the Red Star”, the order “For Service to the Fatherland in the Armed Forces” Third Class, and the Republic of Afghanistan”s “Order of the Star” Second Class. [return]

15. The 201st MRD (ed.). [return]

16. The systematic tactical exercise [taktiko-stroevoe zanyatie] was a field exercise by elements, in which the event was rehearsed step-by-step and progressed on as each step was mastered. [return]

17. V. P. Podvomiy served in the OKSVA from March 1985 through March 1986 as the senior assistant to the chief of the operations section of a separate motorized rifle battalion. He was awarded the “Order of the Red Star”. [An operations section at the battalion level is remarkable. This must have been a particular feature of this battalion (ed.)]. [return]

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.