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 wrong james. ever done in this once. i swim. back everything's fine to. take these two are the right ten to arm to a side squeeze called 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 at it this is their first time away from their parents but at least for now

none of them seem too 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. come on 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 work in bed number eighty eight. pack your personal belongings in three minutes gather in the car door. this is boot camp all the new guys are locked in to gather in the complex for a minimum of one month and it's as crowded as i feared there 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. 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. 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 tomorrow the hard work begins.

rise and shine come on a. fast or 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 started . finish the

exercise. even though i'm probably fits of the i've been for years this is a totally different level. one to. you know of course push. up. do as many pushups 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 in the morning. let's get ready to run. or. is this we don't call them good soldiers or bad soldiers. become on to the

conference for many conscript into a good soldier is a bad one. but the main thing is i still. has 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 of the shoulder to shoulder with their comrades. are years not enough to become a real soldier i know but at least a year of army service behind your soldiers is quite a good experience to have made a log. 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 is 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 . both little but a man must serve in the army that's what i believe. yes i don't respect people who avoid military service. you call them a special 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 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 do you. drill. the arm moves around to this one. two one. one. one. two one. in front of your choice. one. stronger. to right march. one.

tree but do not change your. so after. your one three. homestead one of your feet. driving around right leg left. one one one two three. ronnie brown yeah yeah well you know our moves are terrible. that will not do. our 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 coming into 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. 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. shares to arms. to several dummy runs would be a case we were ready for the real deal live fire exercises and they don't disappoint. private brown ready to fire fire first up range shooting targets one hundred meters. or the weather

was becoming a real problem though it was already way over thirty degree is what 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 blame myself. i can't hear anything. because the real army. and my young comrades with brian let me get out here.

before you leave with the economic ups and downs in the final months they belong to the old sang i and the rest of the life it's a neat case you will be everything on me. dramas the trying to be ignored. stories others refuse to notice. food since changing the world right now. so picture of today's leaves my own designs from around the globe.

look to. the. israel is the country iran threatens to wipe out with them the iranian leadership openly says so in this sense there is no difference between rouhani enough. for his visit to new york rouhani publicly declared that their goal is to annihilate israel. 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 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. 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 day unique. look here we've got the main parachute and there are three harnesses 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 we see him 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 is 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's forbidden 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 us. 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 it 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 rushing 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 a home and there's a special reconnaissance unit assigned to the c n 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 but 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 but you know what up in this situation is that it's important not to panic keep calm and look for a partner when. everything was going well up to the point

we practiced what to do with 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 on your. enemy take him and block 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 can just regulator back to him quickly.

one thing you learn quickly is that life in the middle of a is rarely quiet if it's not a shout you don't want to or one hundred steps. is always the regimental song. at least it comes down a bit enough 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 the military academy to keep doing my military activities. checkmates. 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 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 then a fellow jumper moves towards you so to avoid collision you have to give a command command to divert. our holding 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 as tension please first to how you exit the aircraft information the closer

you group the better you should bend your knees slightly like you do on the ramp when you get ready to land 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 i'm prepared to jump. i just hoped it was going to go smoothly. so the five hundred one hundred two five hundred three five hundred four five hundred five kind of pay. because those guys. go by so that if you're in your right mind. to be scared is that.

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. it was time for my last boot camp jump. the exercise in the mobile play in the coal

mine coal work but as i saw the ground get further and further away everything became horribly real. even washing 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 would 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're at it. you know about all we did we did. we got does get ready that was dr brown our. good news at least get us lessons this little when you emacs in tower try to turn towards it brian brown come on.

already. ready. put your hand on the harness faster. so. there was a nightmare one off of my brain saying you've seen it safe you train for this and the other screaming at me if you jump over this tower you're going to die. it just. looks and concentrate as much as possible it used to but i feel something's holding me it's ok they're out of fear anything is really frightening. it's just a. circuit. will hold a little lower your head. half a step with your left foot the one. i really don't want to.

i don't want to kill someone just like on the thing 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 bit of 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 honorably. 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 in through others like me i destined for regiments around russia. still possible all get the opportunity to redeem myself

but for now i'm on leave. you already know that. pulls. a. little writes. a. little. pink the young girls

can bowl for the future harder. between two and three hundred million guns the united states so you can act like they're not here and keep kids away from them. the plaza site is a law or you know i mean this teaches them a lot of for a responsibility and simply come to play it through the eyes of children if we can't do it for our children alone for our future what is the country will say for . put it on your cultural comment watch as the banking news college face i just i feel alone.

a pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm sure. the olympic torch is on its epic journey to structure. one hundred and twenty three days. through two thousand nine hundred ton two cities of russia. relayed by georgians oh some people for sixty five thousand shillings. in a record setting trip by land air sea an outer space. a limbo a torch relay. on r t r two dot com. more

news today. again flared up. these are the images cold world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china operations are rooted a clue. michigan is. going to take three. large free. range mentioned three. three. two three. golds three blog video for your media project and a free meal dog r t dot com. lead . the los. lobos.

will sell the phillies first something holding the. whistleblower edward snowden raises his head about the parapet as he makes his fast public appearance in months outlining the moment a rights to privacy. a global day of action against genetically modified crops as bonsai trying to monsanto cops a major backlash from consumers scared of that house. and deadlock and no desire to compromise leave the united states just days away from a catastrophic default with scientists whackers and even the sake of raising paying the price.