"Beret is like an icon"

In Khabarovsk, the Rosgvarder died after the exam for a sliced ​​beret. Why do fighters dream about him and are ready to risk his life for him?

On October 21, a fighter of the Russian Guard died in Khabarovsk, who was injured while passing the exam for a crap beret. The headdress is considered the highest form of distinction in the units of the special forces of the internal troops (since 2016 - the Russian Guard) and some other power services; To get it, you need to go through a series of tests , including 12-minute sparring. As a rule, deaths occur precisely at this stage of the exam: the applicant must hold out in a duel against the owner of a cray beret who will lose him if he loses the battle. Medusa talked with several slats about how the exams are arranged, and why, despite the danger to life and health, Krapovaya takes the dream of many special forces.

Vyacheslav Vorobyov

Hero of Russia , the ensign of the police, received a crap beret in 2004

I got beret on May 7, 2004. It was the next spring change . I was then 19 years old, I was working in the eighth special forces detachment, I was just an ordinary. At that time, conscripts could still be handed over, they are not allowed to them now - only officers and contractors. The delivery went at will: if you want to take it - you can try, you don’t want to - they won’t force it. If you are schmuck, they will not be allowed to hand over. Among our brother there are dishonest people, they are engaged in theft or simply bad, despite the fact that healthy and strong. They will not be allowed. A bad person is determined inside the detachment.

Almost everyone wanted to take it to beret. Some were afraid, but they did not reach the surrender. Those who are afraid do not talk about it. Some specially fill up pull -ups, for example, so as not to reach. Those who handed over to beret immediately became stronger, faster. It’s like a pill: if you passed it for a beret, then you feel that you can do everything. Therefore, the slats are morally and physically stronger, always the first. And those who did not pass, always sought to be the same. I handed over the second time, at the first [surrender] I received a little.

If you complain, this is a sign of weakness. I missed sparring through the ribs. I can’t say what exactly was for an injury, I did not go to the doctors. There was a bruise or crack, it hurts very much. The second change was the last for me: I knew that if I did not give up now, I would never give up. And he was charged to win, everything went to sparring, smiling.

It’s hard to sparring, but it’s hard for everyone there. 12 minutes you beat your partner. Acceptting instructor is always a crab. But if the given to the given, then they remove him from him, and [he] will need to be taken by a new one. The delivery is close to combat conditions: it is important that there is no stand on the receiving side. If my friend is a crab, if he strokes me, then he will take it off. Therefore, everyone should be in equal conditions. If the instructor played along, if he is on the verge, if he can no longer, - they remove from him. [Instructor] must show that he can still resist, attack. This is not stupid beating.

The guy who died upon surrender to beret is not the first case. Everyone knows that such cases have been and will probably be. This is an accident. All those who surrender: they have helmets, now the body is protected. There is such a saying: a sowing beret is not a sports achievement, it is fate. Someone is handing over the first time, someone from the fifth, and someone never. Someone is not fate. Apparently, not his day was. Everyone thinks that on surrender it will happen to someone, but not with me. We all get it tightly, my nose was broken, and I drank broth for three days, because my jaw did not open. But I did not think that I would die. This is a common thing - a broken nose, ears; Nobody counts this for injury.

I handed over and continued to serve further. Now for 10 years in a wheelchair: I have 16 gunshot wounds, the title of "Hero of Russia".

Mikhail Grigoryan

Warrant Officer of the Russian Guard, received a crap beret in 2019

I got a beret, and two days later there was a delivery from a guy who died. This was my first change. In our special forces division, this is a tradition - at least once in a life to participate in surrender. At least try. It is clear that many will not succeed.

I have been serving since 2017, now I am 23. For the sake of the beret, I signed a contract. And so many do: for a special forces, this is a great honor for life. Then - this is addictive, and you will remain in the army.

Our main mission is to get to these battles without thinking. I came - lucky, but how you will fight - it doesn’t matter, the main thing is to survive. Blood will go - good. You have such a frantic desire to get that you close your eyes to these things. Even in thoughts there is no such thing that you will become disabled or they will kill you. Now the guy is dead, and, probably, the guys who will continue to take, will have fear. But the surrenders have more fear of getting off the march, fainting from large physical exertion, if you are not lucky in shooting. You don't go to war. This is not a war, these are just competitions with oneself. It's hard for you, but you overcome pain and go to your goal.

Before the army, I knew little about the crap beret. It so happened that I got into special forces, in a service I saw slats - what respect for them, I learned how to get it, at what price. This is fascinating, there is a desire for self -affirmation: you also want to go through it, see whether it will turn out or not. And this is for life. I handed over the first time, this is a rarity. And it was hard for me to prepare exactly. But I did not think about battles.

It's cool when you take it and you have a lot of bruises. Then it is believed that you handed over. Unfortunately, I had no bruises, only my lip was cut and my legs were sick. We had 60 people on delivery, handed over five. I am the first time. If you have not surrendered the first time, then the excitement begins, I want even more. Thanks to the beret there is no special promotion, but there is respect. If they choose from two soldiers, they will choose a crap. If a crab, it means a stupid guy. But there are those who are moving without a beret. I myself continue to serve, I was recently awarded the title of ensign.

After that, two days later the guy died. We know that such cases have already been, but this happened a long time ago. And besides, he was not killed on surrender, he got to the hospital and there was a hemorrhage. Each has its own organism and abilities. But before surrendering at five in the morning we undergo a medical examination - because the responsibility must be carried.

Not every person can get beret. Weak in spirit - no. Surrender to beret is close to hostilities. The war begins, and the body in this stress and emotions fights. Instructors come up with and create the same atmosphere. Who is a crap? A colonel may come, to say - and they will not listen to him. And the soldier will come, he will say-and that’s all, the word of the crab law. As he said, it should be so. And no one has the right to touch him, except for slats.

Beret is like an icon. The Orthodox icon is holy, you need to approach it correctly. The attitude towards the beret is the same, it symbolizes the blood of the dead comrades who gave their lives. You can’t eat in it, go to the toilet, smoke. To hand over to a sliced ​​beret is one thing, and living according to concepts is another. [Beres] can also remove, if you behaved badly, was seen in bad deeds. Therefore, you have to stay with dignity.

Gennady Ternovsky

Veteran of the internal troops (with the rank of major), received a crap beret in 1998

I have a sliced ​​beret from September 1998. I learned about him from my father in eighth grade. He served in the internal troops and brought an article about the crap beret, I caught fire and realized that I want to get it. For me, the owner of a sore beret was a god, all mythical gods, Mars, Zeus, Thor - these are puppies in front of a fighter in a crap beret.

I wanted to take it, but inside I did not believe that it was real and possible. It seemed unrealistic to pass the standards. I went to this for seven years. When I found out about the beret, there were two more years of school. He began to engage in karate, then entered the military school of internal troops. When I was asked what I know about the internal troops, I said: "Special forces and a craft beret - that's it." It was my dream. This is exactly what kept me when they left my strength. In the army, it was difficult, like slavery, a prison. We all knew that we could die. But you can die not only on surrender - it is every six months. And every day there is a risk: working with combat cartridges, weapons, people fall, the charges explode on the exercises.

There is never a goal of killing on delivery - the instructor is removed if he works too hard. They work hard not with the aim of killing, but in order to make it possible to feel [to do so,] so that a person cherishes a beret. The officer was hit in one detachment, he had a knockdown, almost a knockout - he had to be removed from the battle, but in the race for the beret he was pushed to continue, he could not cope, he was hit [again], and he died of hemorrhage.

Sometimes during the surrender fighters die. Officially did not confirm this, but we all knew about it. People come out and do not know what they can die? Nonsense. A person goes to special forces and understands that this is fraught with health. Sports of high achievements and special forces are incompatible with perfect health. And the risk is not only at surrender, where they can hit, and there will be hemorrhage. The more blood you shed in the process of preparation, the less on surrender. I have been preparing for seven years. I plowed to wear out to vomit in the literal sense, when he tears bile is the first sign that the body is at the limit. Before delivery, they broke my nose twice, there were concussions. Therefore, there was almost nothing on the surrender, the face was clean, small abrasion only. I specially substituted, thought that [it turns out] somehow not serious, and they struck me with my foot.

The person who handed over to beret went through hell. For me, these were supermen, people who could do everything. Why hard change? Because special forces must be acted outside human abilities: both physical and psychological. This is super -lodges, you are allowed into an elite unofficial club. It does not take to touch if you do not have your own. But you constantly see him. And here - one, and you are in the elite. The status rises, the attitude is more respectful, authority is raised among the fighters. A crab is a limit.

When I received [his beret], there was a void inside. What next? This is now I have been engaged in success philosophy for 10 years, in 2012 I had a book that became a bestseller among special forces. And then I did not know anything. There was a dream, it was realized - and emptiness. The first two or three days of euphoria. Given when they give, he has not yet been fitted. You give him out. And I took it from a friend, woke up several times and could not wait in the morning to wear it and go in it.

The crap beret for a special forces is like an Olympic gold medal for an athlete. Now there are few: out of 80 people, five people were handed over in my time, earlier even more. There were fewer special forces, the selection was stricter. In the best of times, with the legendary commander of the detachment, which created a crap beret, it surrendered 80%. The rest have finished. And earlier there was a rule of three surrender: if a person does not pass from three times to beret, he does not meet the requirements of special forces, and he is transferred to the linear part. This must be revived.

Recorded Alexander Sivtsova