TRAINING THE SOVIETS' ELITE TROOPS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706940049-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: May 26, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

.,,. Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/15: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706940049-6
26 May 1986
i JACK ANDERSON and DALE VAN ATfA
Training the Soviets' Elite Troops
T he Soviet special forces, or Spetsnaz, are an
anomaly in the Soviet Union: elitists in a
collectivist society, encouraged to operate
independently and to improvise, instead of following
the strict letterof the rules according to Marx.
Their generals must envy them at times.
The 30,000 Spetsnaz men and women are
"determined, well-trained troops selected for their
political reliability, athletic skill and intelligence,"
according to a secret Pentagon report. Because they
are special, they earn more and qualify for
retirement earlier; each year as a Spetsnaz equates
with 18 months of regular military service.
But unlike the special forces of any country, the
Spetsnaz earn their perks. Though they train along
with regular army officers, once they are assigned
to Spetsnaz units they get training that is probably
unequaled in its rigors.
A common training exercise is to parachute small
groups in uninhabited regions of the frozen taiga,
hundreds or even thousands of miles from their
rendezvous point. They spend days or weeks on
their own, scrounging food and transport.
Often, special troops from the Interior Ministry
are put on the trail of the Spetsnaz trainees-who
probably have a better chance than most Russians
to evade the KGB. An annual three-month exercise
in the Kirovograd region of the Ukraine pits the
best Spetsnaz units against each other.
Spetsnaz troops risk death during training, which
includes the routine use of deadly chemicals,
explosive barrages and live ammunition.
ccording to U.S. intelligence reports, Spetsnaz
tramm~ inc u es in tration ec niques;
reconnaissance and target location; survival behind
enem ines an e a customs of tar et
nations like France or West rman clan es me
communication c~M.age with _---losives,
incendiary devices. acids. abrasives and
Comhar-and
silent killing meth : skiing mountain _
and rigorous physical conditioning.
apetsnaz parac ute gncodes conventional
static-line drops; high-altitude, low-opening drops,
and high-altitude, high-opening drops with directional
chutes that allow the troopers to drift, undetected by
radar, for 30 miles or more behind enemy lines.
Airborne Spetsnaz units prefer silent, ultra-light
planes to glide in on an isolated target. Naval
Spetsnaz use mini-submarines.
In addition to rifles, pistols, hand grenades and
other standard weaponry, each Spetsnaz unit
carries SA7 antiaircraft missiles. They also are
equipped with R350M radios with encryption and
burst-transmission capabilities-meaning coded
messages are sent in quick, hard-to-detect bursts to
a satellite overhead.
Despite reports of Spetsnaz prowess, an Army
intelligence officer warned that it would be wrong
to consider them an unbeatable force that never
makes mistakes. "They are not peasants in leg
wrappings," he said. "Neither are they 10 feet tall."
In fact, defectors say the regular Soviet army
once one-upped the Spetsnaz. Staging a sneak
attack on a nuclear weapons store in the Far
Eastern Military District, Spetsnaz troops were
humiliated. The alarm sounded and prerigged
vehicles shone spotlights on the intruders.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/15: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706940049-6