The Guardsman

The Guardsman (Guardsmen, plural) is the mascot of Moscow Guards Carrier School. The Guardsman is considered a sacred symbol of the student body and the school's involment in the Great Patriotic War. It is also the nickname for students who attend Moscow Guards.

## Symbolism

The Guardsman is shown to be a soldier in a Great Patriotic War type uniform, wearing a Plash Palatka type canvas over his shoulders. This is reminiscent of the Moscow Artillery School's old uniform, which usually consisted of surplus uniforms of the Red Army, and old Ssh-36 helmets that were given to students on active duty during the Great Patriotic War.

## Origins

The Guardsman traces it's roots back to the original Moscow Arms and Infantry school, an old military boarding school dating from the time of the Tsar. It shut down in 1925 in an effort to de-imperialize the school system of Russia.

The school grounds were converted into an arms factory in the early 1940s, as war started up in Europe. Located in the Eastern suburb of Moscow, it was almost shut down as the Battle of Moscow came underway.

Located in the Troparyovo-Nikulino District, southwest of Moscow City Center it was right before the outer ring of the Moscow cityzone. Fearing a possible breach in the lines that would give leeway to the Germans to invade Moscow, the Red Army high command attempted to shut down the arms factory, which at the time was making the new semi-automatic rifle, the SVT-40. The arms factory ended up staying open, supplying the soldiers bit by bit, to the best of their abilities.

In November of 1941, the factory converted from a rifle producer to an Anti-Air assembly line, in order to support Anti-Air efforts in the city. As the war went on, the Moscow Machine Gun and Cannon Factory, as they now called it, started to recieve heavy bombing raids by the Luftwaffe, as intelligence came in on their location.

One factory worker by the name of Yuriy Drozdetsky, who was 16 at the time, asked the head of the factory if they could make use of the Anti-Air they were making and ward off the planes themselves. His proposal was turned down, being told that there were not enough able bodied men and women to operate them, and that factory workers would have to make do with the bombing raids.

Furious, Drozdetsky told the head of the factory that he would find people to man the guns, and he would teach them himself how to do it.

With that, he founded the Moscow Air Artillery Academy.

He took the proposal to the Council of Ministers, and was surprisingly approved. Drozdetsky was able to recruit children, mostly orphans and those who had nothing better to do at home, to join him in protecting Moscow.

## The Guards Title

Nearing the end of the air raids on Moscow, Drozdetsky's school had shot down a total of 37 aircraft, considered quite a lot during the time.

As the older boys started to age, and Drozdetsky nearing his call for conscription, by order of Comrade Stalin, the graduating class of the school was either to stay or form their own Anti-Air Artillery unit. The boys decided to stay in Moscow, teaching the next generation how to use the guns themselves. As proof of their good work, the Moscow Air Artillery School was given the "Guards" honorific, and still carries it to this day.

In 1944, Drozdetsky went on to fight in Operation Bagration as an artilleryman. In 1945, he earned the Hero of the Soviet Union award for his efforts in the defense of the motherland, and innovations in military education for artillerymen and officers.

By the end of the war, the school stayed open to teach artillery and tankery to younger students. It was renamed into the Moscow Guards Artillery Academy in regards to it's new tankery program, which opened in 1950, following a visit from a certain Major General.

## Moscow Guards Artillery Academy (MGA3S)

The Moscow Guards Artillery Academy was converted into an unofficial Suvorov School of Russia in 1985, as students would often parade after the Moscow Suvorov Music Corps. In 2004, a vote was held to move the school and merge it with the Leningrad Naval Academy. The school passed through and the students were moved aboard Pryzhok.

As it could no longer be just an artillery school, the "Artillery" was replaced with "Carrier" and "Academy" was simplified to "School."