Do we need "hazing" in the army? Is there hazing in the modern army. Are they beaten in the army in a year

It is impossible not to notice that recently the confidence of the population in the Russian army has increased so much that the military craft has regained the status of a priority privileged occupation, and military service is gradually turning into a school of life, as it was called in the once existing union. As soon as the state took a course towards modernization and re-equipment, cardinal changes were not long in coming.

However, the deplorable state of the armed forces of the 1990s will remain in the memory of many people for a long time to come. Even some combat officers today wonder how Russia managed to maintain its integrity in such difficult times. The defense capability left much to be desired, but it was not even a matter of technical equipment. The motivation of citizens to military service was practically reduced to zero.

Why young people do not want to serve in the army

One of the reasons for this situation was hazing in the Russian army of the nineties. The opinion poll showed that the vast majority of young men are afraid of military service not because of the difficult military life, but because of hazing. Fears were reinforced by feature films, video materials, chronicles and stories of experienced people about the hard life of the young replenishment of soldiers.

Is it worth recalling specific cases when a young man was injured or everything ended in death? To this gloomy list it is necessary to add wholesale desertion, executions of colleagues, suicide.

In 1998, the first human rights organization for conscripts was created, which is called the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers. We can say that this was a desperate step aimed at combating hazing, since it was this manifestation in the army that was named as the main reason for the above acts.

Positive or negative social phenomenon

In order to talk sensibly on the topic of hazing, you need to set yourself up for the fact that this issue is quite multifaceted, and when one truth is established, even more disputes arise. The first paradox is that they have been trying to eradicate this manifestation for many decades, but most of the men of the older generation, at the mention of a kind of hierarchy in the army, will only smile thoughtfully. Moreover, they often note that it is thanks to the upbringing by the "grandfathers" that the "spirit" becomes a real soldier.

What is this contradiction? Undoubtedly, in families that have suffered from the consequences of hazing, they will repeat about the complete eradication of this remnant of society, and former military personnel whose fate did not suffer a tragedy believe that everyone must go through such trials. The reason for the disagreement lies in the ambiguous understanding of hazing, as such.

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On the one hand, it is represented by a strict school, which is arranged by old-timers for young recruits. What's bad about it? Of course, the form of education is peculiar, but as a result, the recruit becomes independent, learns to serve, first of all, himself, observe subordination, live in a team, follow orders, and march correctly.

On the other hand, educational measures sometimes cross not only conceivable boundaries, but also the framework of legality. There are hazing, lawlessness, which is interpreted as a crime against the person. They are expressed by public humiliation, beatings, and other terrible deeds. Thus, with all the negativity, hazing will be remembered with good irony by a decent share of storekeepers, but we, nevertheless, will talk about the dire consequences of this phenomenon.

When did

The next paradox arises when trying to determine the time when hazing appeared in the army. According to the stories of real witnesses, even before the 50s, such a concept was not even discussed. The origin of the hierarchy took place during the thaw period, when many prisoners were amnestied, for whom military duty was provided.

As a result of such reforms, part of the “Zon concepts” migrated to the armed forces. But the reasons for the emergence of hazing should be discussed separately, and in this respect it should be noted that hazing in the Soviet army of the 50-60s became the basis of modern battles.

And in this matter it was not without the ubiquitous "BUT". Some documents, including works of art, indicate the peculiar attitude of old-timers towards new recruits back in tsarist times. And this is not surprising, since military service was calculated for decades, so experienced servicemen could not help claiming certain concessions with all the consequences.

Reasons for the formation of hazing

We agreed that such a phenomenon as hazing has a complex structure. It manifests itself as a set of certain rites, sometimes causing the laughter of the recruits themselves and can have significant varieties, reaching illegal acts. We will consider this social phenomenon in a negative plane and try to determine where the reasons for the emergence of hazing in the USSR lie.

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After the demobilization of all the military - participants in the Second World War, volleys of shells of real hostilities in human memory began to gradually subside. Already in 10-20 years it was possible to talk about peace and a cloudless sky. Oddly enough, but it was this fact that brought the destruction of the former solidarity into society. If a common misfortune unites, then the absence of external conflicts gives rise to internal ones. The army, on the other hand, was a kind of “mirror” of the state of society, and taking into account the fact that criminal elements fell into the structure of the troops, the Armed Forces began to gradually replenish with hazing.

The next vector could be the destruction of the Stalinist foundations. By the beginning of the 60s, the government elites, having escaped from fear of punishment, turned from creators into consumers, which was reflected in the leadership of the army. Freethinking led to the degradation of the commanding staff. This does not mean that the General Staff was replenished with incompetent commanders, but low ranks firmly settled in the field, whose responsibility was reduced to zero. The connivance of the officers did not become the reason, but was the catalyst for the appearance of general hazing.

The thaw of the 1960s was remembered by all the negative attitude towards denunciations and informing. From the political background, these terms migrated to the army. At that time, a report of infliction of bodily harm was considered as a snitch. And if the state stopped such manifestations, then what could be said within the military unit. Gradually hazing in the army began to include fights and beatings, which were silent on both sides of the conflict.

The urbanization of society and the conflict of generations usually stand in the same row, since the motive is the same. Just as the old-timers could not accept the foundations of the newly arrived soldiers, the city dwellers placed themselves above the rural, both in terms of social and mental development. On a regional scale, the periphery constantly clashed with Muscovites.

What do we have today

Returning to the question of whether there is hazing in the army at the present time, we will begin to cover the period from the end of the 90s. Attempts to stop this phenomenon have been made repeatedly. The top leadership finally began to understand that if you do not get rid of the manifestation of non-Ustavism, then problems with the contingent will arise in every draft campaign. It should be noted that all attempts were in vain, since the phenomenon, like a virus, hit the armed forces at all levels.

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Among all the proposals on how to deal with hazing, quite realizable ones were put forward, but crumbled about the cruel reality of the deplorable state of the army.

  • To occupy the soldiers, especially the old-timers, so that they simply do not have time to torture the young replenishment. For implementation, officer cadres were required, which were not available.
  • Increase the number of officers. This proposal required significant financial outlays. For the budget of that time, the task was considered overwhelming.
  • Introduction of regulatory bodies (independent). Such an approach is fraught with the simulation of the military personnel themselves in order to sabotage military orders.
  • Transfer of the army to a voluntary basis. The geopolitical situation does not allow such steps to be taken. The territory of Russia is large enough, so there is a risk of not getting enough troops.
  • Tightening responsibility for the manifestation of hazing on officers. There were banal cases of revenge, when, thanks to his own authority, an officer gave orders that humiliated a soldier. Everything happened in accordance with the charter, so hazing smoothly transposed into "Ustavshchina", which practically did not change the essence.

I didn't say anywhere that this is normal.

I would like to be wrong and be happy for Lithuania, but the situation is a little more complicated than it seems. Perhaps you've heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment? wikipedia.org

Volunteers selected not from criminals, but randomly selected healthy socially arranged adults were randomly divided into guards and prisoners. So a third of the guards showed sadistic inclinations. This is the result of a closed society (barracks in the army) and an imposed social role (submissive soldiers and soldiers assigned in one way or another to control and restore order). Second, i.e. the appointment of "guards" is optional.

In any team (medium and large) there are people who enjoy showing aggression towards others. In any team there are people with a weak will, who find it easier to endure than to enter into conflict.

I asked and talked with my brother-soldiers, so imagine, they also believe that there was no hazing. But that doesn't mean it really didn't exist.

There are two rules. What doesn't concern you, you don't notice. What can torment your conscience, but you cannot change, you do not notice. If the psyche of people did not have such a property, they would quickly burn out emotionally. What happens to those who are professionally obliged to notice. A fact fixed by medicine, not in Russia alone, but everywhere, and initially studied in Britain and the USA, doctors, teachers, policemen suffer from a burnout syndrome.

You do not pay attention, and aggression, pressure on the weak, is everywhere. The fact that people do not notice this in schools, for example, which everyone goes through, is sad. When your neighbor teased a fat weak-willed boy in your class, it was the very thing that later, in the army, would be "hazing".

When criminals began to be drafted into the army in the USSR, this did not give birth to hazing, but made its forms criminal.

As long as it does not take criminal forms, we simply do not notice it and do not understand it. In our unit, for example, no one noticed anything special, and no one believed that someone was doing something criminal. Well, yes, ordinary stupid jokes, ordinary stupid half-joking raids, demands, the strong one will simply smile and send, and then answer Vitas' question - "we didn't have anything, what are you talking about?". And we got a weak one, and everything was bad in his family, he could not stand it and shot himself. It turned out that what was ordinary was criminal.

Regarding history, returning to the criminals and the USSR, in fact, violence as a daily life in the army was born before the Red Army itself. Open the encyclopedia of Russian life "Quiet Flows the Don" - how Grigory begins to serve in the army. I think there are plenty of other examples, this is the first thing that comes to mind.

Today I will tell you if there is hazing in the army. Before answering this question, I will explain what is hazing in the army, and what is hazing.

Hazing in the army- this is the process of training by old-timers (military personnel of an earlier conscription period) or, in other words, by the "grandfathers" of the young replenishment. And hazing in the army is the relationship between soldiers who grossly violate the requirements of the regulations and are usually a violation of the law with all the ensuing consequences.

Hazing in the army today - myth or reality?

As you understand, hazing in the army and hazing in the army are completely different things. Hazing is when young recruits arrive, and “grandfathers” or the so-called “demobilization”, military personnel of an older conscription begin to teach them, for example, how to walk correctly, talk correctly, address senior military ranks, etc. That is, there is a smooth formation of a serviceman and, in fact, from this.

Hazing in the army and hazing in the army

Hazing in the army has nothing to do with what you can see, for example, on YouTube by entering in the search films about hazing in the army. All you see there is hazing in the army.

When you join the army, you are, accordingly, a recruit. You meet half-year-olds - these are the same soldiers, but they have already served half a year, the so-called "elephants". In the general sense, hazing is when a so-called old-timer begins to humiliate a young soldier physically or morally.

Useful information for conscripts:

  • How many days, hours, minutes are left before your demobilization.

But, fortunately, today this problem in the army is generally reduced to nothing. Therefore, if mothers or young people who are just going to the army read me, remember: there is no hazing in the army!

Now the difference between the grandfathers and the new replenishment is only six months. Hazing in the army appears because servicemen in the army live in a male team and, of course, they may have disagreements. These disagreements appear for completely different reasons, even for everyday ones. So do not think that the whole army is built on the fact that grandfathers show their superiority over young soldiers.

Many people think that this is what hazing looks like in the army. But it's not!

In the general sense, hazing is when an old-timer beats a young soldier (the so-called "spirit"). Of course, a lot depends on people, and in every military team there are such “rotten” soldiers who begin to tell what kind of “grandfather” he is and how long he served.

But in fact, with the current service life, what kind of “grandfather” can he be? He served 4-5 months more than a young soldier. But still, mostly more or less adequate young people serve in the army, for whom honor and decency are not empty words, and, accordingly, they do not behave like that.

Young people, now I am speaking to you, remember, whatever the situation, always keep your head in a cold mind. Do not let your emotions get the better of you, because this momentary weakness of yours (the desire to hit someone) can lead to irreversible consequences.

Consider the moment that military people, in particular conscript soldiers, and all their deeds are multiplied by three. If in civilian life you hit someone in the face, and even if he writes a statement against you to the police, then you will receive a maximum administrative punishment.

In the army, all this is multiplied by three, if you hit a soldier, and he wrote a report on you, then you will be 100% sent to the so-called "diesel" - a disciplinary battalion (disbat), where you can serve a year, one and a half or maximum two years. And this minute momentary weakness can lead to such disastrous consequences.

Therefore, it is better to send such an opponent to three Russian letters than to bite your elbows later. Summing up, I would like to say once again: there is no hazing as such. There are conflicts at the everyday level and not quite adequate soldiers from the senior draft, who think that they are mega cool soldiers.

Also, what I wanted to say in this article: in the army there is hazing and hazing. Only hazing is a good concept, the process of training young recruits, hazing in the army is any situation that violates military regulations or laws and can lead to bad consequences.

I didn't say anywhere that this is normal.

I would like to be wrong and be happy for Lithuania, but the situation is a little more complicated than it seems. Perhaps you've heard of the Stanford Prison Experiment? wikipedia.org

Volunteers selected not from criminals, but randomly selected healthy socially arranged adults were randomly divided into guards and prisoners. So a third of the guards showed sadistic inclinations. This is the result of a closed society (barracks in the army) and an imposed social role (submissive soldiers and soldiers assigned in one way or another to control and restore order). Second, i.e. the appointment of "guards" is optional.

In any team (medium and large) there are people who enjoy showing aggression towards others. In any team there are people with a weak will, who find it easier to endure than to enter into conflict.

I asked and talked with my brother-soldiers, so imagine, they also believe that there was no hazing. But that doesn't mean it really didn't exist.

There are two rules. What doesn't concern you, you don't notice. What can torment your conscience, but you cannot change, you do not notice. If the psyche of people did not have such a property, they would quickly burn out emotionally. What happens to those who are professionally obliged to notice. A fact fixed by medicine, not in Russia alone, but everywhere, and initially studied in Britain and the USA, doctors, teachers, policemen suffer from a burnout syndrome.

You do not pay attention, and aggression, pressure on the weak, is everywhere. The fact that people do not notice this in schools, for example, which everyone goes through, is sad. When your neighbor teased a fat weak-willed boy in your class, it was the very thing that later, in the army, would be "hazing".

When criminals began to be drafted into the army in the USSR, this did not give birth to hazing, but made its forms criminal.

As long as it does not take criminal forms, we simply do not notice it and do not understand it. In our unit, for example, no one noticed anything special, and no one believed that someone was doing something criminal. Well, yes, ordinary stupid jokes, ordinary stupid half-joking raids, demands, the strong one will simply smile and send, and then answer Vitas' question - "we didn't have anything, what are you talking about?". And we got a weak one, and everything was bad in his family, he could not stand it and shot himself. It turned out that what was ordinary was criminal.

Regarding history, returning to the criminals and the USSR, in fact, violence as a daily life in the army was born before the Red Army itself. Open the encyclopedia of Russian life "Quiet Flows the Don" - how Grigory begins to serve in the army. I think there are plenty of other examples, this is the first thing that comes to mind.

Hazing in the army

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Hazing in the army

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With the approach of military age, the majority of young people, and especially the parents of future defenders, have an increased sense of fear, sometimes turning into panic. These fears are not connected with the upcoming change of scenery and physical activity, but with a frightening phrase: bullying in the army. Next, we will consider whether there is hazing in 2020.

The situation is often aggravated by the stories of retired "demobilizations", by the way, often embellished, as well as numerous videos on the network and media notes. The result is the unwillingness of the guys to join the army and the search for all sorts of reasons to get a deferment or avoid service altogether. At the starting points, one can often meet sobbing mothers who escort their sons, as if to the front.

The concept of "hazing"

To answer the question , is there hazing in the army, it is necessary to figure out what this concept means. During the service, young people are forced to change their lifestyle and social circle.

The “old-timers”, who have lived in the men's team for several months, and have already adapted to the harsh army everyday life, quite reasonably considering themselves more experienced, explain the existing rules to the new recruits. "Grandfathers" teach "young" combatant step, observance of subordination, communication with colleagues and other features of the service.

Hazing is a kind of social phenomenon that implies the transfer of experience. However, this concept should not be confused with relationships that are called hazing in the army.

Situations related to moral humiliation, extortion, physical violence are a gross violation of the requirements prescribed in the military regulations. These actions are treated in the Criminal Code as crimes against the person and are punishable by the current legislation. It is precisely with "non-regulation" that officers in military units and higher authorities are actively fighting.

Today, hazing in the Russian army is significantly different from the former concept and should not cause fear among recruits. Since 2008, young people have been sent to serve for only one year, so it is difficult to call experienced "grandfathers" who entered the army six months earlier than recruits.

Most young people are familiar with the legislation of 2020, and the fear of being punished stops them from committing rash acts and crimes. In addition, modern soldiers have the opportunity to communicate with relatives via mobile communications, which means they can inform relatives about what is happening.

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Hazing that periodically arises in any part is often the result of personal hostility, disputes in domestic matters and other disagreements that are inevitable in every team.

The history of hazing in the army

Hazing appeared back in the days of the Tsarist army, when the period of compulsory service was calculated not in years, but in decades. The soldiers had to repay their debt to the Motherland for 25 years. Naturally, there could be no question of equality between those who were just called up and the "old men" who had served for more than one year.

During the Great Patriotic War, the army was a single entity. Regardless of age and length of service, the soldiers performed the same tasks in the same way, defending their homeland. The common misfortune united the servicemen, leaving no time and energy for hazing and other disagreements.

In the Soviet army, the situation has changed radically. The surge of hazing in the army came at the end of the sixties. In 1967, the term of service in all troops was reduced by one year. Old-timers often took out their anger by mocking recruits who were to serve 12 months less. At the same time, by decision of the government, former criminals began to be drafted into the army, who contributed in the form of prison customs and procedures.

The dashing nineties, which left their mark on history, did not bypass the army either. Low wages have become one of the reasons for the significant outflow of military personnel, which led to unrest and the flourishing of hazing.

Hazing in the Russian army, as a way of learning and transferring experience, will always be. And hazing must be stopped.

  1. To avoid conflicts, recruits should take the advice and explanations from the "grandfathers" calmly, not perceiving this as a desire to exalt themselves in the eyes of the young. Any aggression causes a response, which can lead to negative consequences.
  2. It is better to direct all energy in the right direction, doing physical training, studying the charter, and communicating.
  3. A modern conscript should be aware that in six months he himself will be considered an old-timer and will also become a mentor for young people.
  4. The army is, first of all, a male team in which you will have to adapt and serve quietly, and possibly find true comrades. Often military friendship lasts a lifetime.
  5. Do not be offended, but remember that conflict situations in a civilized society are resolved without the use of physical force.

The rules prescribed in the charter are the same for everyone, and punishment will certainly follow for their violation. As in any society, in the army you can encounter individuals who provoke conflicts or consider themselves better and “cooler” than everyone else. The main thing is not to lose self-esteem and be able to restrain emotions, so as not to regret the consequences later.

According to statistics, the army "non-status" is gradually becoming a thing of the past. Whether it disappears completely depends on the military personnel themselves.

The conflict between recruits and old-timers is an inevitable part of everyday life in the army

Despite the fact that hazing in the modern army due to a short service life is quite rare, hazing, unfortunately, exists. The conditions will depend on many factors: the part in which the young man will fall, the relationship between soldiers and officers, general discipline.

For many guys, and more often their parents, this topic is most relevant. Most of the demobilization stories are far-fetched, but there is some truth in them. Only young people who are physically and mentally ready for the upcoming trials, communication with a new team, and a change of scenery can serve without problems.