DOSARM PARAMILITARY TRAINING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000100200008-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 15, 2013
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: February 11, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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INFORMATION REPORT
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENC J
CLASSIFICATION SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATIION
NO: OF PAGES 4
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Note: On 19 Sep 51, by a governmental decree,
LJOSARM, DOSAV and DOSFLOT (Voluntary Association for
Cooperation with the Army, Air Force and Navy) were merged
into one single, universal, organization for cooperation
with the Armed Forces called DOSAAF (Voluntary Association
for Cooperation with the Army, Air Force and Navy). The
DOSAAF is under direction of Colonel General V I Kuznetsovj
-, S;--- -.ECR. Er
4 N 1 61-+10
195
to The DOSARM paramilitary training is not the same as the
so-called "110 hours" of training received in the Soviet
Army by recruits in military barracks after their induction
but prior to distribution to actual army initsa The DOSARM
(Dobrovolnoye Obshchestvo po Sotrudnichestvu s Armiyey -
Voluntary Association for Cooperation with the Army) training,
although allegedly voluntary, is practically obligatory to
all male youths of the USSR and does not have any connection
with the "110 hours" of training,
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2. Some time in October 1950, when I was working in the
I was told to report the next 50X1
day at 1000 hours with all my civilian documents to the.
Kurgan Voyenkomat. In February 1950 I had registered (taken
on Uchet") for the first time with the Kurgan Voyenkomat
but had not yet been inducted and continued my normal
civilian work at the plant. The summons did not specify
the purpose of the call.
The next day when I reported to Voyenkomat there were already
about.600-800 youngsters of the age 18-21 years, all with the
same summons as mine. Those who were previously registered
with the Voyenkomat and consequently were issi'ed "Pripisnoye
Svidetelstvo" (Voyenkomat Registration Certificate) had to
surrender these certificates. "Pripisnoye Svidetelstvo" is
issued when. the youngsters are registered for the first time
with the Voyenkomat; it means that such individuals are sub-
ject to the draft. The normal period of time between
registration and draft is two to three years (18-21). The
others, who had not yet been registered with Voyenkomat and
were not in possession of Voyenkomat Registration Certificates,
surrendered, their civilian passports. Each individual was
asked in which shift he worked (all plants in Kurgan work on
the three shift basis, even those manufacturing civilian
goods and agricultural machinery) and ordered to report the
next day in his free time to the DOSARM Hqs in Kurgan for
military training. The second and third shifts went at 0900,
and the first at 1900 hrs. After that the Voyenkomat's
Commander read a decree stating that all reported were
.qualified as being on military duty and subject to military
discipline. It was stated that every attempt to evade the
duty would be punished by court martial. We were also
informed that we had to undergo the paramilitary training
three times a week for three hours each time, i e nine hrs
weekly. This training was supposed to last for six months.
4. The headquarters of the DOSARM organization in Kurgan is
located in the city itself, occupying an entire block of
buildings with a large courtyard inside used as a drill
field. I do not remember the exact address. In the court-
yard there are several artillery pieces of various types
and calibers used in the Soviet Army, such as tanks, self-
propelled guns, machine guns, mortars, etc. All this equip-
ment is used for training purposes. In the buildings
surrounding the courtyard are several classrooms provided
with model equipment, sketches, charts, etc, for theoretical
instruction. Instructors in paramilitary training are
officers and NCOs. I do not know where this personnel
came from or whether it was on active duty; I am inclined
to believe, however, that they were officers and NCOs.of
the reserve corps living in the Kurgan region and registered
with the Kurgan Voyenkomat.
The next day when we reported to DOSARM we were put into
military formation and there was a roll call. After that
we were assigned to various armed branches and divided into
companies, platoons, sections and squads. An officer or an
NCO was assigned to each unit as commander. As far as I
could understand, those already registered with Voyenkomat
were assigned according to the services for which they were
earmarked by Voyenkomat. I do not know how those not
registered with Voyenkomat were assigned. They were probably
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/15 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000100200008-9
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,assigned for infantry training. The training groups (15-20
men each) were formed as follows: machine-gunners,mortar-
guners, submachine-gunners, tank personnel, drivers,
artillerymen, motorcylists. These groups were referred to
as platoons and were commanded by officers. I was assigned
to the artillery group. All this was done on the first
training day, and we were released with the order. to report
again in two days, at the same time.
In the following days we were issued rifles and sidearms and
started theoretical and practical military training. We
continued to wear our usual civilian clothes, even when we
marched in formation through the city with the arms on. The
36 hours of monthly training in ry artillery group were
divided approximately as follows:
Close order drill 6 hours
Assembly, disassembly and nomenclature 10 hours
of weapons
Nomenclature of ammunition 8 hours
Basic ballistics 6 hours
Political lectures 6 hours
The close order drill was held each time for 30 minutes,
regardless of weather conditions, in the open, in the'court-
yard, or marching through the city in closed formation. The
assembly and disassembly of weapons and the instruction on
nomenclature was usually done in a practical way, using
various artillery pieces located in the DOSARM court-'
yard. When there was a rain, or it was-heavily snowing,
these lectures were held in class-rooms, using models0
sketches, charts, etc. There was no training in aiming
weapons, and the training guns were not even equipped with
gun sights. No live or blank fire from artillery guns-was'
ever used, as long as I attended the training. Instruction
In nomenclature of ammunition was done mostly in class-
rooms on sketches and charts. Instruction in basic ballistics
was conducted. in classrooms and included such things as
explanation of gunpowder gases action and trajectory-of the
projectile. Political lectures usually had for the subject
the main Soviet propaganda theme - that the American
"capitalists" are preparing for an aggressive war against
the USSR, and that our sacred duty is to get ready to protect
the Fatherland and to repel the aggression.
Working for eight hours daily in the plant, and often even
more for overtime work, it was hard for me and other trainees
to attend the DOSARM training regularly.- After six weeks of
regular attendance I started to evade it, using various
excuses, and eventually discontinued attending _ it completely.
No steps were ever taken to force me to go on with this
training. Several of my co-workers did the same thing.
In my opinion the DOSARM military training in Kurgan was
not adequately organized. The instruction facilities and
training equipment were -insufficient and mostly obsolete.
The same applies to the service manual:.i, training aids,
models. Instructors, officers and NCOvs had an indifferent
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attitude and did not care whether the trainees learned
anything or whether they attended classes. Because of these
insufficiencies and their regular jobs, the trainees also had
;.an indifferent attitude to DOSARN training and attended it
only becuase it was supposed to be compulsory. Hoviever
,.as soon as they discovered that no action was taken against
those evading training, almost everybody started to look for
some excuse not to do it either.
I do believe, though, if properly organized and strictly
carried on, the six months of the obligatory DOSARN para-
military training would aid future recruits to absorb the
.real basic training after induction.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/15 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000100200008-9