Red Army airborne troops

A collection of original material by 1.JMA's Skorzeny

0329 29 August 1941 ã. :
In order to improve the leadership of the Red Army airborne troops, I hereby order:

1. To form, according to the added table of organization and equipment, the staff of the Department of the Red Army airborne troops

2. To approve the Charter of the airborne troops

3. To subordinate the airborne troops directly to the Commander of Red Army airborne troops, withdrwaing them from the disposal of the Front Commanders of the acting Army.

4. To assign the average fees of the airborne troops officers between the fees of the Airforce and Infantry officers, and for the soldiers and NCO personnel the rations and fees should be raised for 25% compared to the other branches of arms.

5. It should be assigned that for every participation in a combat airborne operation all personnel directly taking part in the operation will be awarded in the following way: officers receive the monthly fee while the soldiers and NCO personnel receive 500 roubles.

6. The supplying of airborne troops with all sorts of hardware and spare parts, as well as the storage of all stocks is to be carried out by the Central and District Red Army supply departments.

7. To appoint Major-General V.A. Glazunov as the Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army airborne troops.
The Military Council of the Red Army Airborne troops consistes of Major General V.A.Glazunov, Regiment Commisar I.S.Beljakov, Colonel E.V. Ivanov.
To appoint Colonel E.V. Ivanov as the Head of the Main Department of the Red Army airborne troops and the first deputy of the Commander-in-Chief of the airborne troops.
To appoint Brigade Commissar S.G.Kizevich as the Commissar of the Red Army Airborne troops.
To appoint Colonel A.M. Dosik as the deputy Commander of the Red Army airborne troops.
To appoint Major-General P.Ionov as the Chief of Staff of the Red Army airborne troops.
To appoint Colonel M.P. Spirin as the Inspector of the Red Army airborne troops.
People’s Commissar of Defence I.Stalin

29 August 1941
The Charter of the Red Army airborne troops.
1. The airborne troops of the Red Army are the special branch of arms and consist of parachuting troops, landing troops and air-glider troops.

2. The airborne troops are at the disposal of the People’s Commmissar of Defence and may be deployed for operational purposes to solve the following tasks:
-- assistance to the ground troops in the encirclement and destruction of enemy troops
-- disorganizing the command and control network of the enemy troops, as well as the functioning of the rear supply
-- seizing and holding the important natural boundaries, fords and other points behind the frontline
-- seizing and destroying the enemy’s airfileds and airbases
-- supporting the amphibious operations by capturing of the coastal areas

3. The airborne troops are led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army airborne troops. The airborne troops are formed, reinforced and supplied by the Chief Department of the Red Army airborne troops, the Head of which is the deputy Commander-in-Chief, acting alongside the directions issued by the Military Council of the airborne troops.

4. For the Military Council of the Red Army airborne troops the following institutions should be created: Headquarters, Inspectorate, Political Department, command and control air squadron.

5. The Chief Department of the Red Army airborne troops includes: Forming and Reinforcement Department, Armament, Supply and Maintenance Department, Training Department, and an office.

6. The Headquarters deals with
à) leadership and guidance of the operative training of the staffs of airborne units
á) design of the guidebooks, instructions and directions on the combat airborne missions and their material support
â) research and generalization of the combat experience of airborne troops deployed by the Red Army and foreign armies
ã) preparation and conduct of the airborne operations under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the airborne troops

7. The Inspectorate deals with
à) design of instructions and curriculum for the training of land and air units of the airborne troops
á) inspection of the combat training and combat poreparedness of land and air units of the airborne troops

8. Tasks of the Forming and Reinforcement Department: making up of the airborne units with personnel, NCOs and officers, examination of their fitness concerning the physical and moral/political factors to service in airborne troops.
The airborne troops are made up of: officers personnel of the airborne troops from the Chief Personnel Department of the Red Army; officers personnel of the air and air-glider units from the Airforce Personnel Department; junior officers—the graduates of the airborne NCO schools; soldiers—personnel of the best performing infantry units and conscripts

9.The Department of Armament, Supply and Maintenance is responsible for:

a) drafting of calculations and distribution of weapons, equipment, parachuting and aircraft hardware.
b) contorl of the manufacturing of weapons, equipment, parachuting and aircraft hardware, checking the environment of storage and exploitation of the above in the units.
c) drawing of plans and maintaining control over the research construction of the air-assault hardware
d) organization and control over the mainteinance of employemnt nors for the aircraft, gliders and parachuting equipment.

10. The Training Department leads and overseas the activities of training facilities and courses, develops methodological manuals and curriculum for the cadets, controls the maintainance of the time limits and quality of the parachuting programs in airborne schools and courses.

11. The aerial element of the airborne operations support is carried out by the Red Army Airforce, which must: supply the airborne operations with adequate combat and reconnaissance avaition; allocate additionally (notwithstanding the available aircraft of the airborne troops) cargo planes fit for rapid deployment of personnel and cargoes.
f.4, op.11, d.65, l.432

On the 3rd of September 1941 a major plan for airborne troops deployment after the blood-bath they have encountered in "Barbarossa" as ground forces have been accepted, demanding the employment of the volunteers and conscripts of the year 1922 to boost the soaring ranks of Soviet paratroopers. Moreover, the plan sugested bu General Glazunov and approved by Stalin forecasted the emergence of special courses for junior and middle rank airboren officers, numbering 500 in total, in the city of Saratov; to be followed by the school for platoon commanders numbering 1000 cadets on the basis of existing Infantry School in the city of Kujbyshev; with additional courses for 400 tug-glider pilots in Saratov within the existing school for primary aerial training of the Red Army Airforce. The plan also detailed the deployment of the existing Soviet airborne troops after their reinforcement, as well as outlined the creation of extensive new paratrooper units.

1st Airborne Corp

Personnel--3068, lacks 7260
Formation completion date--October 1st
Combat training completion date 1.10.1941-01.1942
Combat readiness date--January 10, 1942
Military District--Volga

2nd Airborne Corp

Personnel--4200, lacks 6128
Formation completion date--October 1st
Combat training completion date 1.10.1941--01.1942
Combat readiness date--January 10, 1942
Military District--North Caucasus

3rd Airborne Corp

Personnel--3763, lacks 6565
Formation completion date--October 1st
Combat training completion date--1.10.1941-01.1942
Combat readiness date January 10, 1942
Military District--North Caucasus

4th Airborne Corp

Personnel--736, lacks 9592
Formation completion date--October 1st
Combat training completion date--1.10.1941-01.1942
Combat readiness date January 10 1941
Military District--Volga

5th Airborne Corp

Personnel--7600, lacks 2728
Formation completion date October 1st
Combat training completion date 15.10-1.11.1941
Combat readiness date November 10th 1941
Military District--Moscow

6th Airborne Corp

Personnel 0, lacks 10328
Formation completion date--October 20th
Combat training completion date 20.10.1941--20.01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 1st 1942
Military District--Ural

7th Airborne Corp

Personnel 0, lacks 10328
Formation completion date--October 20th
Combat training completion date 20.10.1941--20.01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 1st 1942
Military District--Volga

8th Airborne Corp

Personnel 0, lacks 10328
Formation completion date--October 20th
Combat training completion date 20.10.1941--20.01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 1st 1942
Military District--Volga

9th Airborne Corp

Personnel 0, lacks 10328
Formation completion date--October 20th
Combat training completion date 20.10.1941--20.01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 1st 1942
Military District--Volga

10th Airborne Corp

Personnel 0, lacks 10328
Formation completion date--October 20th
Combat training completion date 20.10.1941--20.01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 1st 1942
Military District--Volga

1st mobile airborne brigade

Personnel 0, lacks 3284
Formation completion date--October 1st
Combat training completion date 01.10.1941--01.1942
Combat readiness date-- January 10th 1942
Military District--Ural

2nd mobile airborne brigade

Personnel 0, lacks 3284
Formation completion date--October 1st
Combat training completion date 01.10.1941--01.1942
Combat readiness date-- January 10th 1942
Military District--Volga

3rd mobile airborne brigade

Personnel 0, lacks 3284
Formation completion date--November 1st
Combat training completion date 01.10.1941--01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 10th 1942
Military District--Volga

4th mobile airborne brigade

Personnel 0, lacks 3284
Formation completion date--November 1st
Combat training completion date 01.10.1941--01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 10th 1942
Military District--North Caucasus

5th mobile airborne brigade

Personnel 0, lacks 3284
Formation completion date--November 1st
Combat training completion date 01.10.1941--01.1942
Combat readiness date-- February 10th 1942
Military District--North Caucasus

Reserve airborne regiments NN1-4

Personnel 0, lacks 12000
Formation completion date--November 1st
Combat training completion date 01.11.1941--03.1942
Combat readiness date-- March 1st 1942
Military District--2 in Volga MD + 2 in North Caucasus MD

Reserve airborne regiments NN5-10

Personnel 0, lacks 18000
Formation completion date--December 1st
Combat training completion date 01.12.1941--01.04.1942
Combat readiness date-- April 1st 1942
Military District--Ural+ 2 in Volga MD+ 3 in North Caucasus MD

f.4, op.11, d.62, L.326

¹ 00253 8 äåêàáðÿ 1942 ã.

And yet, as this gigantic campaign of raising powerful airborne force was implemented, the ever-rising need for capable manpower suggested that the existing airborne units would be spared the massacre some of the troops experienced in early 1942 in the vicinity of Vjazma, so for the duration of 1942 the Airborne Corps and Brigades were undergoing extensive training and were planned to be used as reserve combat troops.

On the 8th of December 1942 the following order N.00253 appeared:

"1.I hereby order the Head of the Chief Department of Troop Forming comrade Shchadenko together with the Military Council of the airborne troops to form 10 new Guard Airborne Divisions with the new TO&E, numbering 10670 men each, instead of the 8 Airborne Corps and 5 mobile airborne brigades.

2. I order that the following commanders be appointed:

1st Guards Airborne Division--Major General A.F. Kazankin
2nd Guards Airborne Division--Major General P.I. Ljapin
3rd Guards Airborne Division--Colonel I.N. Konev"
4th Guards Airborne Division-- Major General P.A. Aleksandrov
5th Guards Airborne Division--Colonel N.G. Travnikov
6th Guards Airborne Division--Major General A.I. Kirzimov
7th Guards Airborne Division--Major General T.M. Parafilo
8th Guards Airborne Division--Major General A.G. Kapitokhin
9th Guards Airborne Division--Major General F.J. Solovjev
10th Guards Airborne Division-- Colonel V.P. Ivanov

3. The divisions should be formed: first set of 5 divisions--before December 15 1942, second set of 5 divisions before December 25 1942.

4. Afteer the divisions are formed it should be ordered that the term of their paratrooper and general training would be four months.

5. Before that time the Head of the Chief Department of Troop Forming should ensure that the divisions are supplied with the lacking soldiers, NCOs and horses.

6. The Commander of the Red Army Artillery comrade Voronov should ensure that before December 25 1942 the artillery units are completely supplied with manpower and equipment(artillery regiments, anti-tanks squads, 120mm mortar batteries and regimental batteries), detaching for these purposes:

à) Of the reserve Artillery Brigade and artillery units of the Far-Eastern Front --2500 junior officers
b) Of the Reserve artillery Brigade and artilery units of the Transbaikal Front--1500 junior officers.

...Allocating for these purposes junior officers of the Far-eastern Front and the Transbaikal Front and 8000 horses of the Central Asia MD

Signed: J.Stalin"