police on the other. it's a rite of passage for thousands of young russian men a chance to find out what they're really capable of. i was joining them on this journey of discovery and god knows it was going to be tough. to take a deep breath and hold it. was your full name around. never ever done in this once. i swim. back everything's fine you could. take these two are the right ten to arm to a side to squeeze out a. perfect. iraq sauna i can't believe i'm actually writing this i'm going to join the russian paratroopers the video of it. my fellow recruits are all just eighteen and they

look it this is their first sign away from their parents but at least for now some of them seem to nervous the regiment spaced into a few hours drive away from moscow and when we pulled into the barracks i knew there was no turning back. comrade soldiers you're in the military now no more joking any more hair according to military regulations we perform our active duty now to positions dress left turn right for a single reich march on the double. you know we're going to try the brown we're going to with a band member eighty eight. i'm packing personal belongings in three minutes gather in the car door. this is boot camp all the new guys are locked into gether in the complex for a minimum of one month and it's as crowded as i feared they must be at least eighty

bunks in this one room and we were issued on new beds and told to make them quickly . make the bed. first smooth out the lower mattress then put the upper mattress on it one bed sheet on top. to slow. the faster faster faster any questions pile of everything's clear twenty seconds left. or everyone shakes must be the same level. that's not how you make a bad. cut the foot under the mattress and on our. beds were all books jobs that we passed inspection i'm going to have to get used to

being ordered around to morrow the hard work begins. oh rise and shine come on a. faster faster put on your sports uniform comrade paratroopers gone soldiers passed up faster you don't have much time. as i thought was just a walk in the park at six am we're awake at six ten we're up and running. this is just a short walk a couple of kilometers to get the haul something because we're only getting stops it's. finished the

exercise. even though i'm probably fit to them i've been for years this is a totally different level. one to. you know of course push. up. do as many push ups as you can. i can safely say i'm never going to get used to doing nakul pushups on gravel. the way you are you tired soldier. do you think it's going to be easy. and go on with the exercise. come on come on come it morning. let's get ready to run. or. is this we don't call them good soldiers or bad so just. become on to the

conference for many conscript into a good soldier is a bad one but the main thing is us. you have to want to become better almost a year they'll be back home. but it's true men who understand the army way of life and if the shoulder to shoulder with their comrades. are years not enough to become a real soldier no but at least a year of army service behind your soldiers is quite a good experience to have made a lot. three times a day when marched into the mess hall to eat the food is bland tasteless and portions are strictly controlled. this is where you get a real good look at who's actually in the army there are lads here from all over russia and some from the old soviet union. guys with the faces of hardened veterans and kids that look like they haven't started shaving yet it's an interesting mix

and a little intimidating. what do your family think about you being in the army of it is just part of me. well they're not worried i've told them it's a good military base everything's fine nothing seemed particularly difficult to me . those little bilham i must serve in the army that's what i believe. yes i don't respect people who avoid military service. you call them commands partial disassembly today i also have my first meeting with my new best friend my a k seventy four assault rifle in coma this is what's going to save your life so god help you if you don't look after it taking care of your gun means knowing it inside and out and we're all expected to be able to strip it and put it back together some of the guys can do this in twenty seconds or less from now on more about accuracy.

and machine guns are hard so all new comers hard their hands in your hands will get used to it and become harder more agile you're not going to touch a gun as though it were woman you do everything quickly you shouldn't be too gentle some people become so skilled at it that they can assemble and disassemble it with their eyes closed and with one hand for instance if you get wounded you'll have to assemble it with just one hand they improvise. notching drill. they are on the nerves or on to this one. one. one zero. one. two one. in front of your choice or. one. stronger. to the right so much. like. one of

the territory but do not change your. so after. your one three. zero one of your feet. driving around right leg left. one one one two three. brown yeah yeah. your moves are terrible. that will not do. as you are now one of marching practice for you. right after dinner. another constant for us every day is going to be marching practice the fundamentals of soldiering put your hands and feet in the right place at the right time to the right rhythm i guess this is why they call it

a drill because unless it's common to your skull until it sticks it's easy to mess it up. we can spend hours on the square trying to get it right. one thing we all have in common is how exhausted we are by lights out eleven pm you've got dozens of men ready to collapse the russians have a saying that something stinks like a barracks and it's certainly true we're just all too tired to care. i knew today was going to be tough when we lined up in front of our heavy equipment we put on a flak jacket helmet gas mask and webbing about twenty five kilos worth and we're told get ready to run.

this is what they call a forced march and its brutal two kilometers would normally be a breeze but soon the extra weight has your shoulders in agony and my new boots are killing me. just to give us twenty minutes to recover in the shade but i was struggling and i was wondering how the others were coping with everything . well life changing it's not civilian life now we live according to army regulations thinking all about yourself you start telling your comrades about adjusting the uniform and things like that where one scene now. two arms. of the several dummy runs would be a case we were ready for the real deal live fire exercises and they don't disappoint. or the private brown ready to fire fire first up range shooting

targets one hundred pieces. or the weather was becoming a real problem though it was already way of a thirty degree is when i was starting to overheat private brown firing fiery finished. but i think you'd still be proud of my first effort. brian brown. you're a good shooter there's no shot to tell you. but you don't hold a gun firmly enough against your shoulder. only to recoil so the bullets go hire. the best part is seeing the end result. when i know i haven't wasted my time on these guys it wasn't all in vain. i can say that i've taught them to tell you with a first shot to take a parachute jump. if you see the results of all of my efforts everything else is routine in this tough life of ours. i also learned that i'll be firing

a bazooka this week you'll no doubt be pleased to hear. private brown ready to file. the target whether grenade or fire don't worry i have been having lessons so hopefully i won't blow myself up. i can't hear anything. that's the real army. and my young comrades with brian let me get out of here.

please. it was a problem very hard to take. the plunge again long here there's a lot happened that had sex with her make their lives. a little. bit let's. play. live.

that was a new alert animation scripts scare me a little the elite elite there is breaking news tonight and they are continuing to follow the breaking news lead alexander's family cry tears of joy and in great things rather that there had to be adequate regard and a quart of walls around a liar is a story made sort of movies playing out in real life. little little. little

. you know the one year's military service is compulsory here for many aged eighteen to twenty seven but many try to avoid it some legally others less so. in two thousand and thirteen six hundred fifty thousand conscripts reported for duty but that's only seventy percent of those who are eligible. more recruits into the ranks is a priority for the top brass. as for me i think i'm finally starting to get in the fitness work is becoming a little easier i'm getting better with my gun and feeling more like a real part of the unit. of course there's one thing that we're all waiting for more than anything else the thing that makes the body of a unique. what. they

were got the main parachute and there were three homicides to pick the parachute away properly. yeah we were going to you know me with that side of the canopy all of us have to undergo a minimum of two weeks parachute training before our first jump and there's a lot to take in which team up and work in pairs but the captain is always nearby to make sure we're doing it properly a mistake here could literally be the difference between life and death but you who's doubling down carefully go go go. go take the chamber off the cloth stop. ok stop don't lift it you can't pull it here. it would end badly. my training partner yvonne isn't far into his military service but he's finding it tough being away from home. i can see america. must be difficult being here with. to me and to her yeah but we can get over it.

i mail or this is much better than calling on the phone or sending messages she says it's always so nice to have my letters that makes her want to cry i received my first mail here in the first week of service and i will remember it forever. everyone's rising home about the jumps it's a real rites of passage here the first time you feel like a power if i'm honest i'm trying not to think about it too much i've never been particularly happy with heights. but it's not just the air we have to be at home and there's a special reconnaissance unit assigned to the sea and river missions which might have to gather information or clear mines for following troops and i was invited to

an underwater training session. little bit of the instructor uses signals to indicate when the valve is closed he will give a no air signal if you want out of there you look for the nearest partner and take a spare mouthpiece from him what you know what up in this situation that it's important not to panic keep calm and look for a partner. everything is going well up to the point we practiced what to do if your runs out you're not supposed to hold your breath while diving but you certainly don't want your lungs to be empty when your supply goes dead. this year. because you'll be under your apia enemy take him and lock him. there's also the possibility you might have to engage the enemy so in a scene that reminded me of an old movie i was sort of the basics of underwater for

. one quick and permanent way to disable your opponent is to. but of course in the pool you need to make sure you get his regulator back to him quickly. one thing you learn quickly is that life in the video of a is rarely quiet if it's not to shout you don't want to or one hundred steps. is always the regimental song. at least it comes down a bit in a free sun we still battle mind you although it's a little more mental than physical and we're always finding out new things about each other. i want to sign a contract. like i didn't expect to like it here so much actually all the men in my family have been in the military so i want to go to military academy to keep

doing my military activity. check makes. congratulations thank you very much i'll have to practice more it played well. my friend alan seems to have mapped out his future most of us are still preparing for a. week from tired to tired to toughen up our feet and then it's on to the trampoline from the center one by one ground. it's anything but bouncy. i should live count down. yes there will be it can happen while you're airborne that a fellow jumper moves towards you so to avoid collision you have to give a command our command to divert. our hold the back one

soldier push him more and keep your legs together. harder harder. you have to pull yourself on your shoulder level better make sense. of it tension please first to how you exit the aircraft information the closer your group the better you should bend your knees slightly like you do on the ramp when you get ready to land god and yes yes some are questions you know some right number one toke up and go on. we were ready for a big chess we hope to ourselves up to all model plane and prepared to jump. i just hoped it was going to go smoothly.

so the five hundred one five hundred to five hundred three five hundred four five hundred five kind of pay. because face guys. go by so that if you're in your right mind about to be scared. and start everyone's afraid. everyone gets scared. but you have to overcome that fear and take that step to jump off the plane properly and wait for your parachute to deploy. and then you'll be overcome with emotion. when you're on guard duty you have plenty of time to watch people and even though i've seen tempers flare several times the only thing that's been thrown around is some colorful language it seems to have been drummed into the guy is that the man next to you might save your life one day and you need to treat him accordingly.

i've been trying to put my faith in a parachute to save my life logically i know it would in reality i'm not so sure. there was some for my last boot camp jump. the exercise in the model plane had gone my goal work but as i saw the ground get further and further away everything became horribly real. even watching someone else wasn't making it easier. i was forty metres up and every fiber of my being was telling me to head straight back down the ladder. just was the most susceptible could have been at the foot of the uk but after we hook you up you step on the spare bed on my commander ready you adopt the stands upon the command go you exit the tower you already.

know about all we did we did. we got to get ready that was dr brown our. good news at least that is what isis put on when you emacs and tower try to turn towards it driving around come on. already. ready to put your hand on the harness faster and use them. so. there was a nightmare one off of my brain saying you see it safe you train for this and the other screaming at me if you jump over this tower you're going to die. james. must concentrate as much as possible get used to what i feel something's holding me it's ok they're out of fear anything it's really

frightening. it's just. sort of. what will you see the lower your head. ready. to step with your left foot the one. i really don't want to. i don't want to. i'm just done nothing that i don't want to do. i hated myself for not being able to jump high hopes i'd get another chance but that was good to have to wait to camp was almost over and i was looking forward to watching the troops take the pledge of allegiance. not a low power trip or guards. ard. it's a proud moment for the soldiers and their whole families are there to see them i

swear to fulfill my military duty honorably defend freedom independence and the russian federation my people in my homeland and they give a veterans are on hand to offer the new soldiers some words of advice. would i serve the russian federation congratulations and good luck in the paratroopers i wish you good discipline good fighting kit and good studies i serve the russian federation. my wish is for these guys to serve conscientiously. well for the year so that in the event of war. or any other unforeseen circumstances we'll be able to fulfill our combat role. there's no question my time in boot camp has been the most physically demanding of my life but you quickly feel that you're part of something special. the sense of

comradeship is very genuine here even for an outsider. i've got no doubts that in a combat situation these guys would lay down their lives for each other among a group of nonprofessional soldiers many still teenagers that shocked me most of all some of them will stay and others like me are destined for regiments around russia. still possible get the opportunity to redeem myself but for now i'm on leave. although you already know that.

i would rather ask questions to people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on r.t. question more. playing. live

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president obama's absence becomes a highlight of a key summit of asia pacific economies in indonesia where the american government shutdown now threatening the president's focus on asia. never let a good crisis go to waste china turns to europe for investment opportunities snapping up companies all over the continent and. the swiss army simulates a war against a debt stricken french government death sentence to recover stolen gold. a.t.m. in the russian capital you will.