Inukshuk and Missilemen 51

Nice sunny day. The Inukshuk got used to be a logo of 2010 Olympic coming and do not attract attention at all:

Tide is low and the smell of sea is very pleasant:

It was nice walk and now, as usually, Missilemen 51

Technical disciplines were much more interesting for me. I studied control system and engine with pleasure, trying to understand in all details and peculiarities the processes that happened in rocket during its start and flight. And it was not difficult at all because educational materials were very good together with good experts available – officers that graduated from excellent Soviet military schools. All of them were ready to help us, two year conscripted officers, in understanding the machinery and technology we used. The commander of my department has seen my zeal and decided to delegate the responsibility for sergeants training to me. The guys were intellectual enough and got training with interest too. Sergeant Motorin was the best. He mastered officer specialty without any problems and was responsible to work as a senior operator #302 when battery makes start preparation in shorten staff.

Once, during very important drill when army inspectors checked our readiness, Matorin worked as #302. After switching of power aboard he reported:

“Power on! Instruments are not in norm! Gyroscopic platform is not arretired!”

The battery commander reported about this to battalion control center. The high rank officers were not ready for such way of things going. After some discussions the decision was made to use movable tower, open hatch of instrument bay and arretir platform manually.

Matorin was listening to all these conversations and addressed to the generals, one from army inspection group, that was checking his work:

“Let me to do this from my control panel, Comrade General”

“How?” – general was surprised – “Can you show this on the scheme?”

Matorin took the album with control system schemes and explained how it can be done by activating main bus first, placing operational key into arretir position then and switching on arretir actuator by pressing correspondent button.

“OK” – general approved his proposal.

“The First! I am the Three Zero Second. Ready to arretir the platform from my control panel!” – Matorin reports to the battery command center.

“Shut up!” – The reply is strong enough – “How you can do this!”

“I order to allow” – General takes control over the situation.

It took only ten seconds for Matorin to fix the situation. Platform was placed in its initial position with pins inside arretir mechanism.

Same day after drill finishing general announced that Sergeant Matorins got new rank, the Senior Sergeant, and has two week vacation to visit his home place.

Official Spring and Missilemen 50

Very cold spring season finally stepped into official spring with sun crossing Equator on its way to summer in Northern Hemisphere. And as a proof of this the bird cherry started its blossom:

Snowdrops found their way to sun through dense foliage of lianas:

The smell of bird cherry triggered some memory of other places in other times, what helps to continue my story. Missilemen 50

8. Training, parades, firing grounds and recreation time

The main idea of service in strategic missile regiment is permanent training on the background of duty in permanent readiness. This means that while battle missile is kept in storage without warhead that is stored separately, we have to train our skills in its preparation for launch, study all details of this process to be ready even in shortened amount of personnel during two plus hours attach head to rocket, put in on the launch table, aim, refill and send it to the address. Punishable sword of megaton charge must engage unknown for us enemy. The map in regiment commander study fed us with the thoughts that the aim is somewhere in South-West Europe. And it would be great if the goal is aircraft carrier in Mediterranean, but not peaceful Madrid or Paris.

Two missiles were kept in the storage facilities of every battery. After launch the first rocket we have to prepare and launch the second one. It has to be a little bit longer process, but still in the borders of three hours. And all the time during my army service I was looking for the answer for a simple question: what then? And I do not know the answer for this question even now. Let’s imaging, that we sent both missiles and then what? There was some rumors that strategic missile regiment will be reformed into infantry one. But we had no training for that. It looks that nobody believed that the war is possible and there were no answer for this question.

The most repulsive thing in my army days were political lessons, which we had every Thursday since 10 am till noon. These lessons were compulsory for all military personnel of the Soviet Army except those who were on mission in Thursday morning. The soldiers and sergeants were educated by the commanders of their departments. Warrant officers were politically trained by political deputy commanders. All senior operators and battery deputy commanders had Major Skripka, battalion commander, in the role of political teacher.

Our lessons had a form of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy seminar and took place in battalion library. And every Thursday morning it started same way.

“Captain Vaskov, go to the map!” – Skripka commanded.

“Yes, Sir!” – big, mustached, very good-natured officer stands up and goes to the front of the classroom to the map that was on the wall.

“Show me countries of the Warsaw Treaty” – Skripka requirs.

“Poland, Hungary, Romania” – captain starts listing correct way and continues – “Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Austria”.

“Are you crazy?” – Skripka interrupts him – “How fuck this Austria is in your list?”

“Why?” – Vaskos starts to justify himself – “My uncle served there and provide maintenance for MiG-15. Austria was our country …”

Skripka starts yelling:

“Austria is a capitalist country! Our enemy! You, missile-man, has to know with whom you are in a battle every day! Sit down!”

Then we start to discuss one of Lenin’s article or materials of one of the CPSU Congresses. Every seminar participants has to have synopsis. Skripka takes our writing-books for checking. This is very important as many inspections from regiment and army levels happened often. And they paid attention to the synopsis in the first place. It was very good if the writing-book cover had a Lenin’s portrait. Portraits of Marx and Engels were good too.

By the way, there was interesting event related to Marx portrait that was hanging on the library wall. Once Captain Vaskov during the break stood up very close to the portrait looking very attentively to Carl Marx.

”Why you are staring?” – Skipka asked him being still very angry for Vaskov’s geographical stupidity.

“Simply thinking: how he managed to wash his face?”

Skripka opened his mouth and couldn’t say something. He was just choked by his angry. We who heard this conversation started to laugh. In general there was no serious attitude to political study. We even didn’t think about the reason why we learn all this stuff. It was everywhere: in schools, universities, plants, collective farms, army and navy. Similar happen in religious sects: you have to study tenets. And not everybody, even in sects, is fanatic of these tenets and believes in them without any hesitations. Marxism-Leninism was a huge state tenet and most of Soviet population was lying at these political seminars that they believe in this dogma. Such huge state-scale lie created ground for future social shocks.

Heather in Blossom and Missilemen 49

This spring is unusually cold. Even today big snowflakes danced in the air. But heather is in blossom:

This is the first pink colors that in Lulu’s palette. Soon you will see much more of its tints. And now I have to continue my story about other places. Missilemen 49

I promised to be back at home before 1 pm. We planned to have father’s friend from Ikovka for the lunch. I knew Zigmund Grigorievich and would like to speak with him too, to ask several questions about his children Grisha and Vanda. They moved to Kiev from Ikovka and Zigmund Grigorievich was in Poltava on some kind of business occasion.

Mother cooked very nice lunch: salad, meatball soup and stewed duck with mashed potatoes. Compote was available too. But we drank coffee with White Stork, Moldavian brandy.

“How is your military service?” – Zigmund Grigorievich asks me.

“It’s okay. Fighting”.

“No problem with ignition fuel?”

This question tells me that Zigmund Grigirievich has some knowledge related to missiles. Of course. He was Chief Engineer of the military base where tactical missiles were stored and maintained. Therefore my reply to his question was in the form of explanation that ignition fuel is used only in the missiles with kerosene. But 8K65 has geptile type of engine and uses asymmetrical dimethylhydrazine instead of kerosene and nitric acid as oxidant. But mother returns our conversation into civil channel. She starts to ask about his wife, Marysya Stanislavna, and their life in Kiev.

At night I went to Tolik Sevidov home were met Sashka Ivanov. We had preliminary agreement to play card this night, drink beer and discuss last news. The game took all night. We drank Crimea port. In the morning Tolik started to close one on his eyes with the hand:

“I see double” – he explains.

It was time to go home. Only several hours left for short sleep and then in the noon the bus to Lebedin awaits me.

The 8th of March and Missilemen 48

Nice spring weather. Bamboo grove makes a noise by its leaves:

I like the place, one of my lovely place for mental exercises and cleaning:

It’s a crazy day in Russia and former Soviet Union countries. The day is a specific “Macho Day” when every male have to make presents to all females he knows. And not only make presents but show up his macho nature to them. Of course, if you are not from Easter Europe or Central Asia or Siberia or Russian Far East, then you do not understand what I am speaking about. But it’s very difficult, even impossible, for me to explain this to you if you are not from places listed above.

May be one day I will find time for better description of the events of this day on the Russian spaciousness. But today I am continued my story. Missilemen 48

I finished my conversation with Voloshin and went into known me backyard of the house where Igor Polukarov lives. I see opened garage door from afar. Igor is busy with his scooter.

“Need a hand?” – I ask him.

“Yes, of course. What you can?” – Igor replies without hesitation and turns back – “Hi! How you managed to be here?”

Igor attracted me always. It was him who acquainted me with Beetles in the sixth grade. In eighth grade due to him I entered to sport school and started cycle racing training. Sometime in that years we took his farther’s motorbike and drove in meadows near Vorskla river, in Shportivka or Kopyly. Igor often went around with me during lessons of Ukrainian language or literature. These lessons were not compulsory for me and Igor believed that they are not important for him too.

The attitude to Ukrainian language and literature was not very unserious in Poltava schools in those days. Even Ukrainian parents prefer to send their kids to Russian schools. It was common believe that this will help them to enter the best universities after school. Ukrainian accent in person conversation was ridiculous. Many thought that study of Ukrainian language spoils Russian literacy due to proximity of both languages. Rules of Ukrainian language really contradict to Russians and confuse students. There were very small amount of Ukrainian schools in Poltava. In Russian schools in Ukraine pupils start study of Ukrainian language in the second grade. But you can rid your kid of these lessons by signing special application form. Children from families of military men were free from these lessons automatically due to often movement of their families from one national republic of the USSR to another. Igor studied Ukrainian and was fluent but his attitude to this language was very disdainful as most of Easter Ukraine population had in those years.

We decided to go to new restaurant near White Arbor. This is a very beautiful place in Poltava from where you can see Podol, Vorskla river, Red Road and monastery. Altanka, such they pronounce the word in Ukrainian, attracted people. Our way to the place was by our sport school that was situated in the building of the old church.

“Do you remember our sport camp in Sudak?” – I ask Igor reminding the time of spring training in Crimea. It happened three times for me in 8, 9 and 10 grades.

“Yes, it was great time! And to play soccer with the elephant was the most impressive” – Igor catches up the subject.

Yes, this was real. Every March Sudak hotels were occupied by soccer players, cyclists and circus artists. The circus elephant was in one of the hotels yard. Every morning it came to the soccer field for exercises. Playing soccer was its favorite drill. It feinted with the ball by showing up that has intention to hit it with its first foot, but instead during running letting ball go between the first lags and making strong hit by one of its back ones. Nobody could predict the ball direction after such hit. Soccer players teased him making passes from one to another making elephant running for the ball. In such situation after catch elephant placed the ball into its mouth and starts to tease players instead.

Such in pleasant chat we reached Altanka. The Lilia restaurant was close to this place. We headed there. Cozy beer bar was situated in the basement. We took couple of Ghiguly beers and went upstairs to the opened terrace. It was so nice to slowly sip the drink and watch picturesque environment. Really nice.

End of the winter, Eagles and Missilemen 47

We are still skiing in the nearest mountains but here, in Delta, the spring came:

The play of eagles proves this:

This pair will have eaglets soon:

And my story is continued. Missilemen 47

Mom opens the door. And I hear dad’s voice:

“Who is there?”

“This is Slavik” – Mom explains with some surprise.

“Hi! It’s so good here in Poltava!” – I start to shear my impression – “And it’s so grey and dolefully in Lebedin”.

“If you want to take shower, do this now, while we have running water” – Dad interrupts me – “Let’s have a chat later”.

The running water lower pressure is a general problem in Poltava. The higher floors had water only in the night time, when the pressure increased a little. We are on the third floor and water is available now. I soaped myself and managed to wash it off with weak stream from shower.

“Okay, let’s tell us how your trip was” – dad begins conversation.

“Wait, Sasha, he has to eat first” – mother interrupts him – “What would you like? We eat cottage cheese and kefir usually. It’s in the fridge”.

“Yes, I’d like. And, please, give me jam too”.

I crumble rye bread into plate, mix it with the cottage cheese and currants jam, flood it with kefir and start to eat this turia with big spoon.

The pleasant chat with parents and sister had no special subject. Dad asked me about my relations with my commanders. Mother worried about life conditions. Natalia, my sister, would like to know about my friends from Kuibyshev, whom she knew.

Next morning I went for a walk. My feet brought me to my school #10 on the cross of Kotlyrevsky and Pushkin streets automatically.

“Hi!” – I hear from behind, make turn and see Vitka Voloshin with whom we were in one class in the middle school.

“Hi! How are you doing?”

“Great! And You?”

“Thank you, I am OK too”.

And we start to shear information about our common acquaintances.

“Have you seen Igor Zlotoyabko?” – is my first question.

“No! And I do not want to see him. Do you remember how he betrayed me?”

“It was when you cut wires?” – I am specifying the subject.

“Yes”

“But you know that Paraska tortured all of us. He was the weakest and told her what happened”.

Ones, in winter time, when it becomes dark very soon, Vitka cut wires in classroom lighting system with the purpose to vent lessons. He made this using special crooked scissors. School electrician couldn’t fine the cut. Class heading teacher, Praskovia Petrovna, was a person of Stalin’s training and practiced prison methods of upbringing. On the first night, when at 5 pm it became absolutely dark, all the students were dismissed and went home. But on the second day, when electrical system still wasn’t repaired, she started interrogation. The deputy director study was used for the purpose. The chair was installed in the middle of the dark room and light of the table lamp was directed to the face of the suspect. The examination was a type of the psychological execution.

“You know, who did this!” – she mad her statement – “All your friends confessed already. If you do not confess we will kick you out Komsomol! You will never enter any university! Tell me now! Who did make this?!”

“I do not know. True, I do not know” – we babbled in reply.

“I know that you know! You are fibber! You are coward! I will write to the Army Political Department! Your dad will have problems! They will dismiss him from the Army Service!”

And so on. The first five examined, including me, managed to survive this pressure. The sixth yielded. This was Igor. The same evening Vitka’s dad came to school and repaired the wires. He was Chief Engineer of the locomotive repair plant, big enough boss in Poltava scale. Finally, the conflict between Voloshin and school was resolved some way.

School education, of course, made impact in our lives. Soviet school had clearly felt smell of concentration camp. Threats, denunciations were a norm. Private opinion was not allowed. I had some problems with this, for example, on the literature lessons. I didn’t show admiration of Natasha Rostova in my essays, but, in accordance with the school program, I had to.