Russian Priests to Get Military Training

RIA Novosti ^ | 9/27/13

[marshmallow]

MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) – A group of Russian Orthodox priests will undergo military training at a Defense Ministry university in Moscow, the Russian army said Friday.

The clergymen will undergo a month-long course in military history, war tactics and military regulations of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as how to provide psychological and emotional support to troops, according to a statement by the Central Military District. The statement did not say when the training would take place.

The number of chaplains in the Russian Armed Forces has almost tripled in the past two years and currently stands at more than 80. The recruitment drive has really taken off under Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, British newspaper The Telegraph reported earlier this year. Shoigu was appointed to the position in November last year.

[katana]

Having read a book about Russia's war in Chechnya written from the perspective of and by an enlisted conscript this article makes me wonder whether these priests will also suffer the daily beatings by half drunk noncoms and officers. At least as of a few years ago the Russian Army resembled a scene from the Lord of the Flies.

[cunning_fish]

Bull crap. Every idiot in Russia has to undergo military training. AKs, RPGs and hand-grenades were standard equipment in a Russian school gym. As far as late 1980s you had to hit three pop-up man-sized targets placed as far as 300 yards using just 15 rounds (last target at 150 yards in full-auto!) as part of GTO (ready to work and defend) test just to graduate a secondary school. No college for kids who couldn’t handle AK well.

[Arthur McGowan]

If a Democrat is elected in 2016, I would not be averse to a Russian invasion.

[katana]

Personally I would have no problem with qualifying every American teen in the rough equivalent as a condition of high school graduation. But this is the sort of thing I was referring to. The Russian army has a tradition of brutality within the ranks. Corporals beat up privates, sergeants beat the corporals, and on up the line. Just wondering how they'll treat their priests.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread482009/pg1

[FormerLib]

I bet the Russian Army has no room for nonsense like Atheist Chaplains like we now have in the United States.

[Freelance Warrior]

I bet the Russian Army has no room for nonsense like Atheist Chaplains like we now have in the United States.

Atheist chaplains? Charming idea. But do they get that 'atheist chaplain' is a nickname for political officers? The Red Army had them, called comissars at first and politruks later.

[FormerLib]

The Red Army may have had commissars but the Russian Army sure doesn’t.