Thread by @VolodyaTretyak

Big interview with Ukrainian colonel Oleh Faydyuk, Commander of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade. He talks about the soldiers training, the beginning of the war, the Kharkiv offensive, the needs of the UA army, and recent battles in Donbas.
wartranslated.com/pravda-com-ua-…

My translation:
(Interviewer): Mr. Oleh, on February 24, there were 52 people in your brigade, which at that time had the status of a reserve brigade. Can you remember what the first days of the invasion were like for you?

(Oleh): I did not believe this invasion would happen until the last moment. According to the rules of engagement, the ratio of forces and means was insufficient to occupy a country like ours.

And when the invasion began, I received a directive to deploy the brigade to wartime states. Everything was so intense that I can’t even remember what I was thinking. I think the most important thing was the selection of people.

I wanted to take the most motivated people.

Even if a soldier or officer did not have a relevant military specialty, but he really wanted to learn something new, was more or less intellectually developed, and had no alcoholism or drug addiction, I took him.

Now you have guys sitting behind you [nodding to the soldiers working during the interview] who had no previous connection to artillery. And now they have already trained so much that I have time to give you an interview while they control the artillery fire.

(I): How many people work in the combat staff, at least?

(O): I can’t give you exact numbers, but let’s say up to 2,500.

(I): How did the selection process look like: people came to the military enlistment office, which “sifted” them, and then you selected people for your team?

(O): Yes. People were brought from the military enlistment offices – 5, 10, and 30 people at a time.

I tried to talk to almost everyone. I lined them up in a single line and asked them if they were ready, not ready, or if they were not ready, they could leave. They asked, “What will happen to us?” I said, “nothing”.

Tell the military commissariat that you were not taken, and go to the TRO[Territorial Defense]. Because some were afraid that cases would be opened against them and so on.

The guys came in jeans and sneakers, but they did not come in shorts because it was cold [smiles].

So we changed these people ourselves and put them on the payroll – the deputy for the rear immediately did a good job, and I am very grateful to him.

He was a career officer, retired, spent 3 or 4 months in retirement, and returned to service again.

He had phones and contacts.”

(I): How long did it take you to turn a man in sneakers and jeans, who was living his civilian life a few hours ago, into an artilleryman?

(O): We had very limited time, first of all.

Secondly, the most motivated people came to us on the first day, which had a lot to do with it. So in 10-14 days, we were ready to participate in combat operations. We learned very quickly.

The fact that we had many IT people join us definitely played a big role.

So it took them 2-4 days to explain the work specifics at the artillery reconnaissance and fire control points.

(I): And if we talk about the people who work directly on the howitzers, was two weeks enough for them too?

(O): Yes. It all depends on the teachers.

Our classes were personally taught by the commander of the 59th Division, Lieutenant Colonel Churbanov, who is a very good methodologist. He also had two smart battery commanders who participated in the fighting from 2014 to 2016, during the first mobilization.

They came back to us by phone.

And thanks to this, it is very easy to train a gunner and a gun commander in two weeks.

In 2006, when I was still a battery commander and we went to the training ground for a month, and a half a year, no one was particularly engaged in combat training. The soldiers went on patrols, cleaned the territory, whitewashed… Sometimes they fired.

Nowadays, I, or any career officer who have been in the military for at least six months, can train a gunner in two weeks from an average citizen.

No matter who he was in civilian life – an IT specialist, a janitor, a manager.Another example is the time it takes for our military to master Western weapons. To be more precise, it is correct to say not “Western” but “weapons provided by partners”.

For the French or Americans, it takes six months to train on the M777. Ours takes 2-3 weeks.

end
Please switch to the website to see the full version of the interview. This is just a small part. Thanks for reading and following.

#Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #UkrainianArmy