question re training

[Aguirre]

I have been wondering about unit training, specifically the training of Soviet troops. I know that specialist Soviet units (e.g. ski, engineers, possibly cavalry) are supposed to have recieved 'superior' training compared to most units, but what does this actually mean? I remember reading somewhere that German units recieved 16 weeks' training initially (which I suppose would make them regulars, in game terms), and then 8 weeks' later on in the war (which would make them greens). If anybody can provide information on the training of various kinds of Soviet units, and perhaps comment on how this would be represented in the game, I would be extremely grateful.

[General Bolt]

From the movie Emeny at the Gate:

The man with the gun shoots. When the man with the gun is killed, pick up the gun and shoot.

The man with the gun shoots. When the man with the gun is killed, pick up the gun and shoot.

[Sgabuzzino]

I read somewhere that Zhukov spent a long long time (as a cavalry man) learning how to use a sabre and a lance.

However, a) I could be mistaken,

you want more information

c) he trained in WW1

Making this useless, but we are having fun aren't we?

[Aguirre]

Yes, we are, and yes, I do want more information. I have been looking at the memoirs section of the Russian Battlefield site, and it seems that most of the veterans report a standard training period of about three or four months, but people who served as riflemen were somtimes rushed to the front much earlier. So I may have partially answered my own question.

I had thought that those "when the man with the gun is killed, pick up the gun" stories were exaggeration, but I just read an account of a guy being drafted in year eight into a militia unit in which there was one rifle and one sabre for every five men. There must have been a few left over from Zhukov's cavalry days.

[Sergei]

I suppose you'd have to define if you want to know the planned or actual amount of training and pre-war or during the war. Also, are we talking about combat training or just service in general (even today Russian conscripts spend time digging up potatoes from fields, I'm sure they also spent lots of time in political training in 1930's). In which case I still wouldn't know the answer, but it's worthwhile to keep in mind when reading accounts.

[Corvidae]

Soviet Penal Troops recieved almost no training,

They were cannon fodder,

Soviet militia and irregular troops(partisans), recieved little formal training

Soviet regular infantry normaly recieved extencive drill training, but little musketry training, (during the early war period,41/42, a lot of regular infantry were rushed to the front with little or no training)

Soviet cavalry, recon, and guards, were very highly trained,

Soviet naval troops were very highly trained,

Quality of training varied, a heavily purged unit generaly had few good training sargents left, An unpurged unit had all its training personel, and so could better train recruits,

There was also the matter of officer corruption and incompetence, this had an effect on training quality as well,,,

[Aguirre]

Thanks for the responses. Due to ad-hoc recruitment, training cut short, and time spent enlisted but not in combat training (now that you've mentioned it, Sergei, I can find examples of this), the whole process seems to have been so haphazard during the war that there might not be any detailed, definative answers.

[Amedeo]

Originally posted by Corvidae:

Soviet Penal Troops recieved almost no training,

They were cannon fodder,

Soviet penal troops were composed of people that was sent there as punishment from a regular unit, so they had the same training as their "normal" comrades.

BTW I'd dare to say that people in Soviet penal battalions (as opposed to penal companies) had in fact better training than the average rifle unit,

since they were all former officers.

Regards,

Amedeo

[Corvidae]

Amedeo, It was my understanding that penal units were composed of a mix,

some purged officers and soldiers, and some assorted people dredged from regular prisons, plus, a few political dissidents, i suppose that some units would have trained personel, but penal units were also seen a a usefull way of emptying prisons, ,