Russian Priests to Get Military Training

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On Friday, a statement by the Central Military District said that a group of Orthodox priests would undergo military training at a Minoborony university in Moscow. They’ll take a month-long course in military history, tactical concepts, and military regulations, as well as how to offer psychological and emotional support to troops. The statement didn’t say when the training would take place. In the past two years, the number of chaplains in the forces almost tripled, now, it stands at more than 80. Earlier this year, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that the recruitment drive really took off under after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s appointment in November 2012. The training is part of a project to restore a full-scale military chaplaincy in Russia, which existed from the 18th century to the start of the Soviet era. Then-President Dmitri Medvedev announced the plan in 2009. In March this year, a group of VDV chaplains jumped with a large mobile chapel that they set up in the field upon landing near Ryazan, 196 kilometres (122 miles) southeast of Moscow. A Minoborony official said that the airborne chaplains made the jumps to “improve the morale of the young fighters”.

27 September 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://www.en.rian.ru/military_news/20130927/183772300/Russian-Priests-to-Train-at-Moscow-Military-University.html

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30 March 2013. RIA-Novosti Video. VDV Paratrooper Priests Jump with Mobile Chapel

VDV chaplains awaiting the “green light” to jump

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Exterior of inflatable mobile field chapel

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Interior of mobile field chapel… icons are stuck to the walls with velcro fasteners. Do note that the priest’s wearing a telnyashka under his riassa, and that the ribbons on his riassa indicate that he’s a former serving officer.

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Chaplains now serve with all manner of military units as “Assistants to the Commander” (in place of the old Sov-period zampoliti (“Political Assistants”)

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Foreign cadets at the Ryazan Margelov Higher Airborne Command School (Twice Order of the Red Banner) take all of the above in… shall they take their observations home with them? One hopes so…

The sign in the background reads, “Parachutist! If the chute doesn’t open – pull the ring!”

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Click here for a 3-minute vid of a group of VDV paratrooper chaplains jumping from a transport plane with a large mobile chapel that they set up in the field upon landing.

30 March 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/video/20130330/180326277/Russian-Paratrooper-Priests-Jump-with-Mobile-Cathedral.html

22 March 2012. They Pray in the VDV, So They Say…

VDV cadets in a field chapel in a tent… do note that the Mother Church doesn’t use the blasphemous “peek-a-boo” iconostas. Of course, being Orthodox, we shouldn’t just rip them down… that’s NOT the Orthodox way. I’ve no doubt that we can convince most of those led astray by Schmemanndorff Renovationism to return to normal Church usage. After all, we ARE Orthodox who follow the Tradition, after all, not wandering Angliochians or Uniates…

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Here are VDV chaplains in parachute training harness

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VDV chaplain sitting on a bench in front of an Antonov An-2 utility transport used for parachute training. The An-2 is one of the best STOL “outback” bushplanes out there. It’s rugged, “unbreakable”, and easily-maintained… and can beat many far-more-expensive Western counterparts… it’s been around since 1946 for a reason…

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VDV Chaplains to Test World’s Only Paradrop Church

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Next week, military sources reported that chaplains assigned to the VDV (Airborne Forces) would take a crash course to operate the world’s only paradrop Orthodox Christian church. On Tuesday, a Defence Ministry spokesman said that the one-week course for the priests, many of whom are experienced parachutists with more than 500 jumps, would take place at a VDV polygon in Ryazan Oblast in central Russia. Archpriest Mikhail Vasilyev, the ranking VDV chaplain, told RIA-Novosti that Orthodox Christianity has many rituals utilising many religious items, which makes serving believers without a church impossible. The paradrop church has religious items strengthened for rough field use in a special carrying crate, as well as a diesel generator, air conditioning, a refrigerator, and a multimedia unit complete with a mini-theatre booth and projector. Official sources told us that, since last fall, the number of Orthodox Christians in the VDV grew 10 percent to reach 90 percent of all paratroopers.

8 March 2012

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120307/171825666.html