BORDER TROOP OCS, SARATOV

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00046R000300230010-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 25, 2002
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: February 26, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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WWOMMENMENN~
CONFIDENTIAL
s. 1,tr r i ;; r a rF ~~ REPORT NO.
DEFECTOR RECEPTION CENTER
COUNTRY USSR.
SUBJECT Border Troop OCS, Saratov
25X1 (DATE OF INFORMATION
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE DISTR. 04 Cd 5
NO. OF PAGES 5
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION 25
1. The OCS school was located on Lenin Street in Saratov 51-34, E 46-07,
opposite the Medical Research Institute. It was subordinate to the
Department for Educational Institutions, Chief Directorate of Border
Troops, N$VD.
The OCS had about 400 students who were divided into two battalions of
200 men each. In each battalion were two 100-man companies, each con-
sisting of three platoons of.30-35 students. There were three 10 or
12-man squads in each platoon. Most of the students were NKVD border
troop NCO's and privates. About five per cent were civilians who had
had at least 10 years of schooling.
On their collar tabs, the students wore the gold-gl:ored,.,.
metallic letters "SU" (Saratove Uchilishche-Saratov School).
25X1X
the course was scheduled to last two
years. However, due o e shortage of NKVD officer personnel and the
losses suffered by NKVD personnel on the Finnish front, class 25X1X*
was graduated after 14 months of instruction, in January 1940. ara-
25X1uates of the OCS were usually commissioned as junior lieutenants,
lieutenants or senior lieutenants, according to their academic stand
1 n all graduates were commissioned lieutenants.
1 gra uates were informed that' they would be sent to
the Finnish front, but the armistice between the USSR and Finland was
25X1aigned in February 1940, was sent to the Ukrainian-Rumanian
order.
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25X1X
TbeOCS,CO was a colonel. The staff consisted of the following: The
political coamiissar (also a colonel) was assisted by five to seven
oltioers (ranging from lieutenants to lieutenant colonels) who acted
ai )h. Party organizer,.. Party secretary, and the "Komsomol, club, library,
4g sioal. band officers .: A major served as deputy for supply and was
aed l lby three to five lieutenants and captains who handled food, oloth-
i>III , equipment and'. finance matters. The staff of . instructors were $ VD
at iosrs. of the 13epartment for Educational ,Institutions.
25X1A
not able to recall in detail the daily schedule of instrue-
ion on eneral military subjects because of the time that has elapsed
Subjects covered are mentioned below:
e.. Signal -- general orientation on UNA and UNAF telephones and, laying
g. Close order drill -- manual, facings, salutes and marching.
h. Topography -- orientation by compass and map reading.
practicewith TT pistol, M-1891 rifle, IM and Maxim .
Political --.Communist Party, Marxism, Leninism,:Stalinism, five-
Weapons -- field stripping, nomenclature, aiming exercises and target
Tactics -- infantry company, platoon' and squad; TO a E; tactics in
attack and defense; orientation on artillery,` armor and'infantry
teamwork up to battalion level.
rear pion, eta.
Engineer -- general orientation on barbed wire, booby traps, fox
holes, trenches, camouflage and border security measures,
of wire. Radio was not taught.
Chemical.-- various gases, gas mask, decontamination and protection.
I. Physical training -- obstacle course, calisthenics and bayonet drill.
1.
Officer behavior --
orientation on the behavior expected of officers.
k. English lessons -- discontinued after two or three months.
Review of Russian grammar -- perfection in graasnar, spelling add
speech.
Border Training. 25X1X
border training o ere at the OCS:
a. lntei],igenoe, consisted of recruiting informers from aaoAg rimers
'
who would report all neuoomers or strangera
.who asked thou for
direot.ion or, assistance, regular checking of all informers, eValu-
atIng data given by informers; and taking necessary action after
such evaluation.
P arming consisted of selecting personnel for the various types
of duties and taking necessary security measures as order to seal,
oft the border (e.g., the, use of bidden trip wires which caused
red lights.to flash, barbed wire barricades, and 10 to 15-a. of
plowed., strips which showed footprints of illegal border crosserC). '
c . Administration included paying of informers who aided in. the 'cap
.tore of illegal border crossers, orientation of personnel in border
guard duties, action to be taken in case of epidemics', treatment
of foreigners apprehended, in border areas, checking on the physical
condition of:trOops, and checking on the condition of animals,
vehicles and equipment.
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d. Duties assigned to various groups of Border Guard troops were as
follows:
Border Sentinel.(Chasovoy Granitsy or Ch) -- EM were placed on road
blocks, boat landings, river boundaries, bridges on river
boundaries, in front of company orderly rooms, government build-
ings and border points. Border sentry posts consisted of one .
or two EM and were either stationary or walking. If there were
two EM, one was always designated the "senior" and was in charge
of the post. Walking sentinels who were to guard border points
and areas near border points had a 400- to 800-m. post. In
terrain reinforced with electric signal wires, the posts were
lengthened to li or 2 km. and in rare cases up to 3 km. Reliefs
on walking and standing posts were posted in the same manner.
The old relief had to check all equipment such as border stakes,
plowed strips and signal lights before turning the post over to
the new relief. The average tour was from six to eight hours.
This included the traveling time to. and from garrison.
Walking Patrol (Dozor or D) -- The duties of a walking patrol con-
sisted of guarding a certain border sector, lighting up the sec-
tor, checking plowed strips and signal warning lights, acting
as contact between posts and checking guards to see that they
were carrying out their duties according to orders. Walking
patrols consisted of one or more armed EM. These patrols walked
from 6 to 12 hours and longer. If a patrol was sent out for
tours longer than six or eight hours it took along water and
food for the EM and their animals (horses, dogs and carrier
pigeons).
Trap Detail (Sekret or S) -- This was a detail of two or more EM.
It was sent to areas favorable for border crossing (e.g., shallow
streams, mountain passes and dense woods). Its mission was to.
trap all border crossers and saboteurs entering or leaving the
USSR, apprehend and/or annihilate them. It was equipped with
S-2 his device will be described in another report signal
equipment and dogs. The tour of a trap detail was not to exceed
two hours.
Ambush Detail (Zasada or Z) -- If there was a "tip" that someone
would attempt a border crossing an ambush detail was dispatched
to lie in wait. The detail consisted of three men and had an
officer or veteran NCO in charge. The men were armed with knives,
SMG's, LMG's or pistols, as the situation demanded. They hid
in barns or homes and had enough food and water to last for 24
hours.
Covering Detachment (Zaslon or Zn) -- This detachment had from 10
to 1,000 armed border guards, depending on the mission. Its
mission was to apprehend border crossers by bottling up an en-
tire sector, blocking all village entrances and exits, all
forests, ravines, caves, passes, gorges and groves. It would set
up its own patrols, traps and ambushes and continue on duty for
several days. Even if this detail consisted of only 10 men, it
had to be commanded by an officer.
Border Convoy Detail (Pogranichnyy Konvoy or PK) -- This detail,
two or more armed men led by an officer or NCO, escorted illegal
border crossers and personnel without proper border territory
identification from the company headquarters to battalion or
higher headquarters.
Patrol Detail (Patrul' or P) -- Composed of two or more EM, this
detail was sent into populated areas, kolkhozes, factories, trains,
and piers to check individuals for proper border territory docu-
ments. The EM were also to be on the lookout for, and detain,
suspicious persons.
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Couriers (Pograniehnaya Pochta or PP) -- The detail was made up of
two or more armed EM assigned to pick up correspondence between
companies and between companies and higher headquarters.
Observation Detail (Post Nablyudeniya.orPN) -- Each observation
detail consisted of three or more armed EM. Observation details
were of two types: overt and covert. Overt details were assign-
ed to wooden observation towers about 20 m. in height. Covert
details were assigned to posts hidden in trees, caves, etc., to
observe the area on both sides of the border or special objects
adjacent to the border. The detail was led by an officer, NCO
or EM who had attended a special course in observation techni-
que. The posts were manned from dawn to dusk. An observation
detail had food, a sketch of the terrain, a watch, binoculars,
a logbook, and a field telephone or rocket flares. All obser-
vations were noted in the logbook and later reported to the com-
pany CO. If illegal border crossers were noted by the detail,
they were detained.
Search Detail (Poiskovaya.Gruppa or PG) -- The detail was formed
when a sentry reported an illegal border crossing or border
violation. If the plowed strips showed footprints, the detail
was sent out with German shepherd dogs. If informers reported
a border crossing, the details would move out in the indicated
direction of crossing. Usually, the company CO would personally
take charge of the detail which consisted of three to nine armed
EM with dogs. Any time an illegal border crosser was seen or
reported in an area, several search details would be formed
under officers or NCO's to work at angles to the first search.
detail and to assure greater coverage of the area. If necessry,
entire companies could be called out to form assisting search
groups. The groups would cover populated areas, forests, caves,
overgrown areas and other probable hiding places. The CO of a
search could not call off operations without consent of the
battalion, regimental, or division CO.
Border Picket Detail (Pogranichnyy Piket) -- Upon receipt of word
that individuals were planning an illegal border crossing, 10
to 15 EM, commanded by an officer could be sent out as a picket
detail. This detail would be on guard for 10 days or longer.
It could be split up into various subdetaiis:to facilitate appre-
hension. The detail was sent out by a company or higher unit
with which it had to maintain constant contact.
Border.Post Detail (Pogranichnyy Post) -- This type of detail could
have been formed in areas where the border had a KLEN-M signal
system5his device will be described in another report. It
had three or more armed EM with a senior in charge. The men
remained in a bunker or guard but which had a telephone. Out-
side the building was a board which lighted up-whenever someone
touched the KLEN-M wire. One man was detailed to watch the
board. When a light flashed on, the company orderly room was
notified by phone and a search party was sent to the area where
the wire had been tripped.'
Charge of Quarters (Dezhurnyy po Zastave or DZ) -- An NCO or
experienced private was detailed as company CQ. Two CQs were
on duty daily. one was on from 0800 to 2000 hours; the other
from 2000.to 0800 hours. The CQ was directly under orders of
the company CO and the first sergeant. His duties were to:
(1) see that all EM reported to their various assignments (cooks,
supply men, training, etc.); (2) assemble and send out border
details; (3) maintain communications with all subordinate
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details, with neighboring companies, and with higher headquarters;
(4) awaken all personnel for alarms or alerts, form them into
armed ranks and report to the company 00; (5) receive orders
and coded messages from higher headquarters and relay them to
the company CO; (6) receive through the sentry all visual sig-
nals from border details and take proper action; (7) be respon-
sible for the care of the horses and dogs; (8) check on the
company sentry and the stables orderly; and (0) read messages
brought in by homing pigeons and relay,them to the company CO.
sent ryy in Front of Company Orderly Room (Chasovoy Po Zaetave or
CKZ) -- The sentry was responsible 'for guarding the area around
the orderly room. He was on post'four hours and off eight. For
each 24-hour period there were three sentries. Theoretically,
the sentry was to be posted by,the companyCo; but actually, the
CQ posted him and gave him his orders.
Stables Orderly -.. The orderly was an EM detailed to take care of
the horses.
Signalman,-- An EM was in charge of the 10 or 12 homing pigeons
assigned to each border company (zastav). (A border company
guarded an area 4 to 20 km. in length and 100 m. to 5 km. in
depth . )
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