VULKO CHERVENKOV PEOPLE'S MILITARY ENGINEER SCHOOL IN SVISHTOV

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 13, 2006
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 30, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

V U_U tFAX 2~
FORM NO. 51-4AA
FEB 1952
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT
COUNTRY Bulgaria-
SUBJECT vu1ko Chervenkov People's Military
Engineer School. in Svishtov
.. .. 25X1
T
D
E
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
SECRET/CONTROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
SECURITY INFORMATION 25X1
DO NOT CIRIllI ATG
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT DY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
School for Regular Army Officer Candidates, 180 cadets in three companie~
DATE DISTR. 30 April 1952
NO. OF PAGES 5
UPPLEMENT TO
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Each branch of service in the-Bulgarian army currently operates its own officer
candidate school instead of depending upon one general military academy to.
supply the required number of officers. The Military Academy continues to
function only as an advanced school, drawing its student body from among
officers on active duty.
Since the beginning of 1951, infantry officers schools have been in operation
in Turnovo anal Levski; an artillery officers school has been in operation in
Ruse,. and the Fj~gineer Officers School has been in o ration in
Svishtov.
All of the above-mentioned officers schools combine courses for regular army
and reserve officers and also operate refresher courses for reserve personnel,
both non-commissioned officers and officers,, called back for temporary active
duty.
The Narotho:VOenno Inzhinerno Uchilishte, Vulko Chervenkov (Vulko Chervenkov
Peoplets Military Engineer, School) in Svishtov, is located east of the city
along the Danube River in the barracks formerly occupied by 33 Infantry Regi-
ment.
The following Is a list of the four different sections of the School, in-
cluding the col iplement, as of the summer of 1951-
CLASSIFICATION SECRET/CONTROL - U.S.. OFFICIALS ONLY
0
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
 Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
SECRET/CONTROL - U.q S . OFFICIALS ONLY
-2- 1
School for Reserve Officer Candidates, 80 cadets in one company
Refresher Course for Reserve Officers, 60 students, ages 22 to 50, in one
company and
d. Refresher Course for Reserve Non-Commissioned Officers, 90 students, ages
D
The course for regular army officers lasts three years; the reserve officers
course lastsnine months; the reserve officers refresher course lasts 30 days;,;'and
the reserve non-commissioned officers refresher course lasts 45 days.
The reserve officers refresher course lasted one month and
cons.isted.o# both theoretical and practical. training.
aeoretical training was given eight hours a day for the duration of the
Course;; the training schedule was as follows-
Garrison. service 5 or 6 hours
Internal service 4ma a . o- . 5 or 6 hours
Discipline e a ~. 5 or 6 hours
Water supply o . . 8 hours
Military bridges . . 0 . . 24 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Military roads a a o 16 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Infantry tactics. o a o 4 e a 30 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Engineer tactics . . o . . . 50 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Mine-laying and mine-clearing o 40 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Fortifications o a A o- .. 4.0 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Camouflage 10 or 12 hours (including both theoretical
and practical)
Demolitions and Obstacles a o 25 hours (including both. theoretical and
Explosives a R o . 6 e 10 hours
practical)
Topography . . 30 hours (including both theoretical and
practical)
Political indoctrination 30 hours
be Practical training was given concurrently with the theoretical training
during both day and night; nighttime training included mine-laying and mine-
clearing practiced over a period of eight nights and troop movement with the
aid Of a compass on three occasions for a total of 8 to 10 hours; daytime
gaining included. the following-
Close Order Drill . . . ; . .. 3 hours
Field trip to Belene to obverve
a 100-ton capacity Soviet iron
bridge 4 b o m a 5. hours
Mine-laying, a o 6 hours
SECRET/CONTROL U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
 Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
SECREI/COM ?0L U .S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Attack on a defended hill, followed
by defense of the hill o o e o o n 9 hours
D3emoliifon of a wooden bridge, a o a a 6 hours
.Firing on the range. o o o a, o o Unspecified
Practice with hand grenades R o a o Unspecified
Firing on the range was done for the twofold purpose of familiarizing the stu-...
dents. with newly acqued Soviet weapons which have replaced the various weapons
used by the Bulgarian army until recently, and, of checking on the studentst
handling of weapons. All targets were of the silhouette type showing the head.
and body. The. following weapons were fired by all students
a. The Vintovka rifle, which replaced the - nl.icher rifle, was fired five
times on the 100-meter range and five times on the 200-meter range,
A Soviet machine-pistol,;3 and
The Star, Parabelum, and. Soviet pistols at 50- and 100-meter ranges, five
rounds each for each range.
The basic Engineer unit, the squad, has been streamlined and now numbers 10
men instead of l7o.
100. Flame-throwers have been taken from the Engineers and given to the Chemical
Corps
11. All weapons have been replaced with weapons of Soviet manufacture. New anti-
personnel and antitank mines which have wooden casings to make them immune to
existing m1ne-detecting devices are now being used exclusively.
12. Some. of the traditional duties of the Engineers now come within the province.
of the Infantry. Trench lines, earthenworks, fortified gun emplacements,,
antitank and antipersonnel road blocks and obstacles, observation posts. and
bunkers, all formerly constructed by the Engineers are now being constructed
by either Trudovak or Tnfantiy units. Within infantry regiments, the Engineer
Platoon acts in a supervisory capacity when the above-mentioned types of con-
struction are undertaken and is also charged with mining the area. defended
by the regiment, However, large scale mine-laying and mine-clearing operations.
cow within the purview of the duties of the engineering units. In war, the
engineer units also demolish obstacles put up by the enemy.
l3P As part of wartime offensive tactics, the Engineers are also used for mining.
the areas in the immediate vicinity of enemy units. Such mine-laying activities
take place at night and are carried out by the same personnel that make a
reconnaissance of this area in daylight o
14 The infantry regiment's Engineer Platoon is equipped with 100 antitank mines,
200 antipersonnel mines, ,100 kilograms of TNT, 00 primers, and 160 meters of
primer cord which it uses both offensively and defensively. On the offensive,
the Platoon escorts the Regiments tanks, and, in case of an attack, immediately
mines the area around the tanks. On the defensive, attempts are made to mine,
all approaches, erect antitank obstacles, and demolish all bridges, roads, and
railroads which fall within the lines of approaches. In order to do the most
efficient job, the Engineers are also taught how to infiltrate enemy lines for
SECR /CONTROL - U.S. OFFICIALS OILY
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
 Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
SECRET/CON'T.'R.OL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Bridge Building its, VOS-38;
Engineering Operations Units, VOS-37;
reconnaissance purposes; however, this reconnaissance is made only for the
purpose of collecting information about bridges, roads, railroads, and places
suitable for the construction of obstacles o
At present the Engineers are divided into three component units as follgws
ca Technical Units, VOS-39o4
16, Special emphasis was placed on the night exercises, particularly in mine-laying
heavy iron bridge capable of carrying 100 tons and wide enough for 2-way
traffic...
and mine-clearing under cover of darknes
The Engineer units are all receiving instructions in the use of a new Soviet
18, According to the instructions given in the Engineer School, the Signal Company
of the Rifle Regiment is equipped with nine portable 2-way radios each,qf which
weighs 40 kilograms. Of these, only five or six are used during peacetime, while
the rest are kept in storage.
19, Regarding Turkey, reserve officers were taught the followings Turkey today has..
some 1,500,000 men under arms, mostly in the infantry, although there are 12
Armored Divisions. Turks wear green-colored United States uniforms and are
equipped with British weapons. Discipline is bad. Numerous new airfields are
being built throughout the country and the Americans are defending the Straits.
20.e. Political indoctrination stressed the part played by the Soviet army in bring-
ing the People's Democracy to Bulgaria. Articles written against the Western
Democracies, especially the United States and Britain, were.continnual.y read
to the students. The success of the Soviet army and the Chinese Communists was
stressed as were the "pitiful state of the Western European countries, the,
crisis in the United States, the United States debacle in Korea and the cruelty
of TitoQ s reactionary regime," The power and glory of the Bulgarian Communist
Party also received its full measure of praise?
21.1 An unidentified infantry border battalion (sic) was also located in Svisht?v;e
All garrison duties at the Engineer School, such as guard duty, were performed
by personnel supplied by the '*Infantry border battalion." Of the students,
only the Regular Army Officers School cadets shared in the garrison duties
with the personnel from the 'infantry border battalion."
22.. The following is a list of personnel at the School
25X1 a.. Colonel Stoimenov, Commanding Officer of the School, a Regular Army officer,
b. Major Tsolo Kolev, Deputy Commanding Officer and Political Officer of the
School,
SECRET/CON`TT`ROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
 SECRET/CO ,OL - U.S. O ICIAL6 ONLY
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Major Velkov Chief of the Political indoctrination Department of the
School
Captain Mayr, Aide-de=Camp;
Lieutenant Colonel Nikolov Commanding Officer of the Reserve Officers-Re-
fresher Course Company,
Senior Fir:at Lieutenant Georgiev, Deputy Commanding Officer and Political
Officer of the Reserve Officers Refresher Course Company
25X1
9-
25X1
25X1 ho
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1 Je
Major Marina
Lieutenant Colonel Yonchev,
Captain Nasalevski
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
Captain Rukhchev
k.. Captain Pishev,
25X1
25X1 1. Captain Kitanov, as a first lieutenant was a platoon eon5er of 1 Army
25X1 Engineering Regiment in Sofia in 19.3 and 19
25X1
25X1 m. Captain Kolev
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Captain Kerpa.chev
Senior First Lieutenant Angelov
Lieutenant Colonel Stemenov, Commanding Officer of an unidentified engineer-
battalion battalion of 1 Army Engineer Regiment in Sofia in 1
Lieutenant Colonel Anastaaov, Medical Officer of the School.
r, Major Strashimirov
SECRET/CONTROL - U0 S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
 Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1.
BEG R: V/CO ROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Comment.
Ithe same Instructors are usea -Lur s," are
courses.
3 II Comment n T_`, bab] y the PPS model 1943 submachine gun, five rounds
each, single ire, at 50- and 100-meteer ranges, and 12 rounds each, auto-
matic fire, at 50- and. 100-meter ranges
SECRET/CONTROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2006/08/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R011700250002-7