Evening star., 1942-08-01
Training Camps Rigid Routine
Explains Russians Endurance
Young Officer Candidates Put Through
l4-Hour Daily Grind to Win Commissions

Well, in fact. he got it because
he led the first Russian infantry
regiment which broke through the
Mannerheim Line just east of Sum-
ma. on the Karelian Isthmus.
Mladentsev. the colonel's name
means baby in Russian. He is a
big, 220-pounder, this Col. Baby.
Col. Baby tells me his cadets get
up at 5 o'clock every morning. After
breakfast they have six straight
hours of field exercises and classes,
six more hours in the afternoon,
two hours of study after supper,
and they turn in at 10 O'Clock at
night. That means at least IA hours
of high-pressure work every day
They have to do it. because now in
stead Of one years training for the
better-educated men and 4 two-year
course for the lesser -schooled cadets
they all have to qualify in six
months.
Must Be Expert.
Every man here can only gain
his lieutenantcy by being expert
with rife. with bayonet. with anti
tank grenades and every aspect of
infantry fighting in this war
The toughest kind of l4-hour
daily grind Is one means of COM
pensation for this shortened train
ing period. But when you watch
these men at work you know they
have got to be good, extremely
good, or they never could stand the
pace.
Endurance and skill are two
things emphasized above everything
else in the training of Russian Army
ofncers. Long, hard marches,
which begin at less than miles
and 60 up to rs miles, are the regu-
lar diet for officers as we'll as pri-
Yates. Col. Baby says one of his
companies marched 13 miles in z
hours ~ minutes, crossing a river
en- route, and then went into active
hring practice. This kind of train
ing explains the remarkable en-
durance Of the Russian soldiers.
This camp is laid out In pines and
birches on slight knoll beside a
big lake. It's underwalks are swept
clean, its flower beds are without
single weed. and in the brown
earth along the walks are slogans
lettered with bricks. One slogan
reads: IF the enemy does not sur
render you must destroy him." An
other reads: Long live the militant
city and the friendship between
the peoples of the Soviet Union,
Great Britain and the United
States. of America"
Pictures Of Leaders.
In the dormitories, which are
spick-and-span, are pictures of
Russian political and military lead
ers, war cartoons and information
bulletin boards. Along the paths
we read such pledges as this: /:
Notifications section promises to
get so per cent of its marks excel
lent, 80 per cent good and no bad" "
Only 4 10 per cent margin Is left
for marks which are merely salts
factory.
This is the same system Of social
ist competition, applied to officers
training, as exists in every war In
duBtry and factory In tie Soviet
Union. The effect is very simple.
Every candidate for a lieutenant's
commissions must aim to do his
absolute best-every day without
the slightest relaxation Of effort.
When there is anything remotely
approaching an approximation Of
equipment and resources between
adversaries wars at long last are
won by those who work and tight
the hardest-in other words, by
those who give the most. In this
Russian ofdcers' training camp you
meet and see what alone can win
the war
(copyright. 1912, By Chicago Daily Nevs.)