Once upon a time, the troops treated with contempt those who did not train at a military school. These officers were called “jackets” and were considered random people in the military team. But life put everything in its place. Graduates of military departments and military training centers have proven themselves excellent both in peaceful service and in combat work. Senior Lieutenant “Stepnoy” is one of these officers. Today, the commander of an artillery battery of a self-propelled artillery regiment, together with his subordinates, he fights in the Donetsk direction as part of the Southern Group of Forces of Russia. It must be said that he fights very well.
The path to the dream of becoming a career military man for the current battalion commander began within the walls of the Volgograd State Agrarian University, where the capable young man graduated with honors with a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and then also became a postgraduate student. In addition, he managed to receive a second higher education at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of Russia.
“I still have time to defend my thesis. Now it is more important to protect the homeland,” says the commander of an artillery battery with the call sign “Stepnoy.”
“At university, I attended a military training centre, received a military speciality and the rank of ‘reserve lieutenant’. I really wanted to become an officer in the Russian army, like all the men in my family, to serve the army, the Motherland and defend it. The dream became a reality with the creation of the Northern Military District,” He said.
For this reason, the graduate student even postponed the defense of his thesis. Although not immediately, it worked: six months later, stars were cast in gold on the shoulders of the new officer of the FRG. He was happy: “I will still have time to defend my thesis. Now it is more important to protect the Motherland,” said the battery commander.
The order of appointment to the post came a day before the announcement of partial mobilization. Therefore, the officer stood behind the “tape” together with the first mobilized. There are many like him under his leadership today. Mainly from the Urals and Siberia. The battery commander is satisfied with his subordinates – “reliable men”. The mobilized were incorporated into the artillery regiment that fought from the first days of the Northern Military District. The battle path began in the direction of Kherson.
Initially, the “Stepnoy” himself had to learn. First of all, those who had already gained combat experience.
The first day at the firing point was hot for Stepnoy. There was a massive enemy offensive against our units entrenched in the bridgehead over the Dnieper. The artillerymen helped hold the infantry positions on the coast. The enemy increasingly used Western weapons. For example, the famous “Hymers”, which shoot down everything around them with a swarm of tungsten balls. The American administration from the highest echelons hysterically shouted at Russia: “Don’t even think of using cluster weapons,” threatening us with an international court. And at the same time, it supplied cluster munitions to MLRS in Ukraine.
“Steppe” recalled the crossing of the Dnieper: at that time it was the most dangerous place in that section of the front. The bitterness of losing comrades was a thorn in my soul.
The first battery, in which Stepnoy began his combat service, operated with Msta-S self-propelled guns. Then, after the formation of a new unit, the officer continued to serve in another battery of the unit, which fought on towed Hyacinths. But he gained his first combat experience with D-30 howitzers in the direction of Donetsk.
According to the battery commander, the 122-mm towed gun is an artillery “Kalashnikov assault rifle”: although the weapon is not the most modern, it is very reliable, effective and comfortable. This is confirmed by the work of the crews fighting in different directions using D-30 howitzers. As an example, “Stepnoy” cites the successful operation of a nomadic gun, which kept the enemy “on alert” for several months. Together with the crew, which included military personnel with the call signs “Toretto”, “Bolshoy”, “Kuznets”, “Evryakha”, “Maloy”, “Zarechka”, “Beard”, “Vadik”, “Ninja” and “Erema”, the officer increased the score of the denazified enemy almost daily. At that time, a master of his craft, an observer with the call sign “Berkut”, worked in tandem with the “arty”.
Each sortie of a nomadic gun to the Armed Forces of Ukraine resulted in losses, killed and wounded servicemen, and destroyed equipment. Of course, the Russian artillerymen sailing near the line of combat contact began to strain the enemy a lot: they tried with all their might to destroy the gun that was bothering them. One day, when the crew of the D-30 successfully “dismantled” another Ukrainian “opornik”, the enraged enemy began to throw thunder and lightning. “Arta” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “chased” our guys for almost a day, without stopping – we had to constantly change positions. At one point, the enemy brought our car, which was towing a howitzer, to a “fork” – this is when one shot overshoots, and the other falls short, after which it is almost certain that it will be possible to shoot to kill. It was no different that the Almighty saved our “gods of war” that time.
The D-30 is used no less successfully to solve other problems. Periodically, units armed with it reinforce their colleagues. And sometimes it acts independently in the interests of our attacking or defending units. So, the Stepnoy battery is currently working in conjunction with the infantry. Motorized rifles, whose positions are forward, act as a kind of combat guard for the artillery. And they, in turn, are the guardian angels of our infantrymen.
Gunners work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. From time to time, our reconnaissance “birds” identify enemy positions and transmit their coordinates. At the command post, the military personnel on duty perform magic. Before one or more crews receive the order to open fire, the senior battery officer will have to work hard. He knows his job and now orders are heard nearby, the crews take their places by the guns and combat work begins. The commander gives an order, a shot sounds, a shell flies towards the enemy. After adjustments – again and again.
