Ancient Vitebsk acquired its own coat of arms back in the days of Magdeburg law. The coat of arms is good for everyone. But there is no one detail in it, which, as Vitebsk residents joke, should prevail in the modern version. A blue beret or vest would be very useful. Because Vitebsk without paratroopers is like the Western Dvina without water. The history of the city and the history of the airborne troops over the past fifty years have grown so closely together, intertwined and mixed that it is simply impossible to imagine one without the other.

...I haven't been to Vitebsk for several years. Out of habit, I went straight from the railway station to the headquarters of the former 103rd Guards Airborne Division. Even in the park on the steep bank of the Western Dvina River, I suspected something was wrong: there were a lot of guys in police uniforms, but not a single paratrooper. I went up to the checkpoint and was met by policemen. Politely explained: "The landing party doesn't live here anymore." It turned out that the Blue Berets had moved to another military camp. It's already on the other side of the river, and it's already a different headquarters. Not the once-famous division, but the mobile forces of Belarus, represented in Vitebsk by a brigade.

While I was moving to the left-bank part of the city, I remembered how the venerable division was "raised" in the last years of its existence. And not from one military camp to another, as it is now, but from ministry to ministry, from one hot spot to another, from country to country. It was like running a ball on a soccer field. The players changed, and the ball darted from gate to gate, sweeping away people's destinies on the way. The 103rd Division was the first to go to Afghanistan. In the cold December of 1979, it was lifted at night, immediately into the planes, and here it is - Kabul. One of the planes crashed on approach. The first victims of the Afghan war were counted down. Their widows and children still live in Vitebsk today.

The paratroopers didn't have time to get used to the silence at night. We didn't let them do it. First, part of the division was sent to neighboring Lithuania, and part to Baku. Then there was the ever-memorable "campaign to Moscow" - under the guise of another battle for an unprecedented potato crop in the Moscow region. Then, at the end of perestroika, the Vitebsk guys were turned into a scarecrow of democracy. A strange "castling" followed : the division was handed over to the border troops.

The real" granddaughters " of Iron Felix did not have time to become. The 103rd was given a task from the arsenal of the internal troops. Fortunately, they didn't bother to change clothes either, because they didn't have enough time and money.

The glorious division was slowly falling apart. Many people left and sought transfer to Russian airborne units. Companies and platoons were particularly exposed. The exodus of junior officers was almost predetermined by the lack of prospects in the service and obtaining housing. By the way, many people who threw blue berets in the wardrobes, did a good job. Personally, I know both successful businessmen, and a People's Deputy, and an intelligent teacher who learned the school of life in the Airborne Forces. The company, the regional council, the school, of course, was lucky. The landing party was unlucky. The worst times for him seemed to drag on forever.

Sovereign Belarus did not need airborne troops at first either. And I can't afford it. At the dawn of the formation of its statehood, the republic declared neutrality. The vector of military doctrine shied away from one side to the other. The part of the army of the former USSR that remained on Belarusian territory was actively reformed. The 103rd division was again given to the border troops, this time Belarusian. And for a while, it was as if they had forgotten about it.

But then foreign military inspections began to come to Vitebsk more often. The airborne division, although covered by the status of a border guard, clearly did not fit into the political declarations of the young state. Her offensive capabilities were clearly visible under her green uniform. It was then that the idea of mobile troops was born. The economic factor also pushed for it. Colonel Lucian Surint, who was at the origin of the creation of this unprecedented military structure in the CIS, gave such an example. For the landing of one airborne division in full strength with combat equipment, 14 regiments of military transport aviation are needed. Small Belarus, of course, did not have such a large number of planes. Yes, and there is no need for landing by BTA aircraft in Belarus. From the eastern to the western border, amphibious vehicles can pass under their own power in one light day, by air - in an hour and a half, depending on the choice of means of transfer.

Colonel Surin and his colleagues do not claim to be the author of the idea of creating a mobile force. Analogs are quite successful and have existed for several years in the United States and Europe. They are called, however, in a different way-rapid reaction troops. So Belarus is not ahead of the whole planet at all. But only ahead of the CIS countries. There are no troops in the Commonwealth that would combine the qualities of motorized rifle, airmobile and airborne units in practice. Including in Russia.

"Not a mouse, not a frog, but an unknown animal" - something like this skeptical comment about the mobile forces of one of my friends paratrooper, who left the division in the worst times for her. After the trip to Vitebsk, I am ready to contradict him. "Unknown little animal", having acquired the characteristic features inherent in the previous landing force, inherited firepower and technical equipment from the mother infantry.

There is no military transport aviation division in Vitebsk now, it has long been disbanded. Helicopter detachments remained. This means that mobile forces, unlike the airborne Forces, have become "mundane". They can't all go up in the air together. Heavy military equipment can no longer be transferred over long distances. But on your own, please.

The Vitebsk Mobile Force brigade took into account the Afghan experience of its predecessor. Those who served "beyond the river" will easily remember that the division in Afghanistan gradually switched to IFVs and APCs, purely "ground" units were created, powerful artillery and tanks were attached.

Although the division has now been reduced to a brigade, but this is a special brigade-powerful and mobile at the same time. Its battalions received infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems, artillery, communications, which cannot be transferred by air. The airdrop spirit has also been preserved. Despite the" great exodus " of officers, experienced cadres who had passed the school of Afghanistan remained in the ranks. They are present in almost all headquarters, battalions, and command units and subunits.

Such, for example, as the Guards Colonel Lucian Surint. As part of the 103rd Division, in the first plane, he flew to Kabul in December 1979. He fought for more than two years. He was awarded two orders and medals. The"Afghan" officers Anatoly Starikov, Boris Elfimov, Igor Bibikov, Oleg Sergeichev, Vasily Knyazev and many others can match him. In the Russian amphibious units, they have countless acquaintances and friends. So let them be happy for their colleagues. Everything is fine with them, men!

The surgical knife of the reformer painfully went through the Vitebsk landing force. Those who held the knife did not always follow the famous Hippocratic reminder: "Do no harm." Many vital organs were cut off alive. It's good that they caught on in time. Units of the Belarusian mobile forces were given honorary names, battle flags, and family numbers. The usual uniform with a vest and a blue beret - the eternal pride of paratroopers-remained unchanged.

The mobile force brigade has a strong Renaissance spirit in it today. The" windswept " troops, despite their infancy, are quickly getting back on their feet and actively reviving. The units provided for in the concept of mobile forces have been formed and staffed, and the organizational structure is becoming more and more clearly defined. Combat training is in full swing in the battalions. It is based on parachute training. Everyone jumps in the team-from the commander to the girl chef.

A delegation from Russia was present at one of the exercises of the mobile forces. Russian officers liked a lot of things. And the way companies marched on infantry fighting vehicles, and counter-combat, and landing from helicopters. It seems that the Belarusian experience of creating mobile forces that combine the air mobility of airborne troops and the firepower of motorized infantry has interested its neighbors. Indeed, there is something to be learned.

Recruitment, for example. The Minister of Defense gave the mobile forces the right to select young recruits themselves. Go to the military enlistment office, study conscripts, select those who are suitable for you.

The Belarusian paratroopers are slowly getting back on their feet. Officers who have previously left the army are returning to their companies and battalions. So, you saw the perspective, meaning in the service. They are keenly interested in everything that happens in the Russian Airborne Forces. They curse politicians and incompetent ministers who "framed" their paratrooper friends in Chechnya. They stopped being envious of their Russian colleagues ' salaries. In the mobile forces of Belarus, they are one and a half times lower, but they are paid regularly, without disruptions. And food rations. In general, you can live. And serve in the" windswept " troops, the best of which, as they believe, is not in the world...