The Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School (russian: Дальневосточное высшее общевойсковое командное училище имени Маршала Советского Союза К. К. Рокоссовского), also known by its abbreviation DVOKU (russian: ДВОКУ), is a

military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

. Established on 11 February 1940 as the Vladivostok Infantry School, the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School is one of the oldest military educational establishments in Russia. Opening shortly before the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, it went on to train infantry company and platoon commanders during the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. Graduates saw action in many of the military theatres during the war, many of them receiving awards and honours for their service. The school continued to train officers after the war, relocating from

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

Blagoveshchensk Blagoveshchensk ( rus, Благове́щенск, p=bləgɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk, meaning ''City of the Annunciation'') is a city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur and the Zeya Rivers, opp ...

in 1949, and undergoing several changes of name in the following years. It received several awards from the Soviet and later Russian governments, and has trained some 26,000 graduates who have served in many warzones across the world, have received honours including the titles

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

and

Hero of the Russian Federation Hero of the Russian Federation (russian: Герой Российской Федерации, Geroy Rossiyskoy Federatsii), also unofficially Hero of Russia (russian: link=no, Герой России, Geroy Rossii), is the highest honorary title ...

, and attained high military ranks. Today the school trains officers for service with the Armed Forces' motor rifle units, and with the

Naval Infantry Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. It has particular specialisations in mountain and arctic warfare, and is the only military university in Russia to offer these.

History

The school is one of the oldest military educational institutions in the country, dating from 11 February 1940 with its founding as the Vladivostok Infantry School under the orders of Peoples' Commissar of Defence

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...

. Its first head was Colonel

Ivan Chistyakov Ivan Mikhailovich Chistyakov (; – 7 March 1979) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Chistyakov joined the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and rose from ordinary soldier to junior commander. He served in Dage ...

, then assistant commander of the 39th Rifle Corps. The first class of 790 students graduated on 16 June 1941, a month before the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. To meet the demands of the war, on 16 December 1941 the school initiated its two-month advanced training courses for infantry company and platoon commanders. The school's students and graduates went on to take part in a number of the battles during the

, with around 2,000 graduates serving at the defence of Moscow and the subsequent counterattacks. In 1942 two cadet rifle brigades (the 248th and 250th) were formed from officers, cadets and soldiers of the school, and were deployed to the

Steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

and

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front (russian: Ленинградский фронт) was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front The Karelian Front ...

s. After sustaining heavy losses during fighting in 1943, the brigades were reorganized into rifle divisions and served throughout the war. In total the school trained 6,615 officers, 2,889 in 1942 alone. 23 officer graduates of the school received the title of

during the war, with several thousand receiving some form of order or decoration. On 11 February 1944 the school was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

and the diploma of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The school continued in existence after the war, and in September 1949 was relocated from Vladivostok to Blagoveshchensk, becoming the Blagoveshchensk Infantry School. It was again renamed on 1 August 1958, becoming the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School. On 16 January 1965 it was awarded a parade banner by the Military Council of the

Far Eastern Military District The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...

. As part of the 1967 celebrations of the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, the school was awarded the Memorial Banner of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

. On 13 January 1969 the school was named after

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (russian: Маршал Советского Союза, Marshal sovetskogo soyuza, ) was the highest military rank of the Soviet Union. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in 19 ...

Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who becam ...

. In April 1970, the school was awarded the

Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" The Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (russian: link=no, Юбилейная медаль В ознаменование 100-летия со дня рождения Владимира И ...

, and in December 1972 the . On 16 September 1998 the school was named the Far Eastern Military Institute by order No. 417 of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

of the Russian Federation, though on 9 July 2004 it was again renamed, this time to the K. K. Rokossovsky Far Eastern Higher Military Command School (Military Institute). On 24 December 2008 it became part of the All-Russian Research Centre for the Military Aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, though it was again separated on 28 April 2015 and placed under the direct control of the Ministry of Defence. On 5 May 2014, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces,

Oleg Salyukov Oleg Leonidovich Salyukov (russian: Олег Леонидович Салюков; born 21 May 1955) is an Army General and the current Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces. He was appointed to the post in May 2014. He was promoted to t ...

, presented the school with a new

battle standard A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countr ...

. On 22 October 2019 the school was awarded the Order of Zhukov by President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

. On 11 February 2020 the school will mark its 80th anniversary.

Work

The school trains officers for service with the Armed Forces' motor rifle units, and with the

. Specialisations offered by the school include mountain warfare training, to provide officers for the mountain brigades. In 2013 the school introduced an Arctic warfare specialisation, and since 2010 it has provided secondary vocational education for

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

s. In 2016 there were 11 doctors of sciences, 73 candidates of sciences, and 78 associate professors working at the school. Cadets and staff of the naval infantry training units have taken part in long-distance voyages aboard Russian warships in European, South Korean and Middle Eastern waters. Those training with Arctic specialisations have deployed with the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade and the 61st Naval Infantry Brigade, part of the

Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command The Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command (russian: Объединённое стратегическое командование «Северный флот»), is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jur ...

. Arctic training has also taken part alongside the exercises of the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

. Mountain warfare officers undertake training at facilities in Russia's mountain regions, and also carry out visits to similar regions in India, Germany and Switzerland. The school is the only military university in Russia that trains officers in the specialty "commanders of motorized rifle platoons (arctic)."

Facilities

The school has extensive training and educational facilities, including gyms, libraries, collections of specialised military equipment, simulators and assault courses. There is a field training base, special ice training courses, canteens, classrooms and lecture theatres, and a recreation club. The Amur Military Patriotic Park "Patriot" is located on the grounds of the school's training facilities. The school also houses a museum of military history, founded in 1976. It consists of four exhibition halls detailing the development of the school and its graduates.

Teaching structure

The school originated as a centre for training command personnel in a short period of time, achieved by reducing the number of subjects taught, and lengthening the teaching day from ten hours to twelve. With the demands of the Second World War, from 16 December 1941 the school offered advanced two-month training courses for company commanders and platoon commanders. In 1956 the school switched to solely training rifle platoon commanders. From the beginning of the 1968–1969 academic year the school began teaching higher engineering classes, and since 1994 it has taught a five-year "multipurpose tracked and wheeled vehicles" speciality. From 2002 onwards the school teaches four-year command management courses with the specialisations "Application of motorized infantry units", "Application of marine infantry units", and "Application of motorized infantry units (mountain)". Students graduate with the rank of lieutenant. Since 2010 the school has also taught vocational education courses with secondary military special training to civilians in either "The use of motorized rifle (tank) units" or the "Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles". Foreign military specialists also attend the school for instruction in the specialties "The use of motorized rifle units", "The use of tank units", and "The use of military intelligence units." It has also carried out the professional retraining of demobilised servicemen.

Band

The Band of the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School dates back to 1940 when it was created in

. The band provides music for garrison

military parades A military parade is a formation of soldiers whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. The military parade is now almost entirely ceremonial, though soldiers from time immemorial up until the lat ...

, swearing-in ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, evening roll call, wreath-laying ceremonies, and burial ceremonies. Its repertoire includes the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

s at most 25 countries and is platoon-sized. Many musicians were sent to the front during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and received awards as a result. Musicians served with different units that spanned from those

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

to the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front. In later years, musicians from this band were also recognized for their service in the Soviet-Afghan War and the

First Chechen War The First Chechen War, also known as the First Chechen Campaign,, rmed conflict in the Chechen Republic and on bordering territories of the Russian FederationФедеральный закон № 5-ФЗ от 12 января 1995 (в реда� ...

. In May 2003, the band became the laureate of the First Regional Festival of amateur art among soldiers of the Russian Far East. It has also taken part in events such as

The Amur Waves International Military Bands Festival The Amur Waves International Military Bands Festival is an annual military music event and military tattoo held in Khabarovsk on Lenin Square, Khabarovsk. Participating in the festival are Russian and foreign military bands, folk groups, and hono ...

.https://amur-waves.ru/en/news/the-band-of-the-far

Graduates

Since the Second World War graduates of the school have served during the

Sino-Soviet border conflict The Sino-Soviet border conflict was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China in 1969, following the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious border clash, which brought the world's two largest communist states to ...

and

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

and in Vietnam, Egypt, Syria, Laos, Cuba, the North Caucasus region, and South Ossetia. 37 graduates have been awarded the titles of

and

. Notable graduates include Major General Yuri Viktorovich Kuznetsov, awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union for his service in Afghanistan, who returned to become head of the school from March 1993 to November 2002. Over a hundred graduates have gone on to hold senior military ranks, including

Army Generals Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...

Viktor Samsonov, and , and Colonel Generals and Valery Belyaev. From 1940 to 2016 26,437 officers graduated from the school in 104 graduations. Since its first award in 1961 279 graduates have been awarded the school's gold medal. The school sends teams to compete in many of the all-Russian competitions, and in 2016 teams from the school won the "Suvorov Onslaught", "Sniper Frontier" and "Baltic Derby" competitions. In 2013 the school was recognized as the best military educational institution of the

Russian Ground Forces The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

, and was awarded the challenge cup of the

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces (Russian: Главнокомандующие Сухопутными войсками России) is the chief commanding authority of the Russian Ground Forces. He is appointed by the Presiden ...

. In 2014 and 2015 the school took second place. Staff and students are also involved in many of the military exercises carried out by the armed forces, and have participated in the "Zapad 2013" and Vostok 2014" exercises, as well as the joint Russian-Chinese "Peace Mission 2014", the Russian-Mongolian "Selenga 2015" and the Russian-Indian "Indra 2015". The school also liaises with local and regional government bodies in the area, particularly those of Amur Oblast and the city of Blagoveshchensk. Staff and students worked on relief efforts after the 2013 China–Russia floods in the region.

Leadership

Former heads

*Colonel

(1940-1941) *Regimental Commissar Andrey Kryuchkov (1941-1944) *Colonel Sergey Voroshilov (1944-1947) *Major General Dmitry Tomilov (1947-1950) *Major General Aleksey Pavlov (1950-1953) *Major General Aleksandr Malchevsky (1953-1954) *Major General Panteleimon Shioshvili (1954-1957) *Major General Afanasy Bondarenko (1957-1959) *Major General Sergey Savitsky (1959-1962) *Major General Aleksey Chetverov (1962-1967) *Major General Nikolai Baranov (1967-1976) *Major General Efim Leonov (1976-1984) *Major General Viktor Labushev (1984-1993) *Major General Yuri Kuznetsov (1993-2002) *

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Vladimir Gryzlov (since 2002)

Deputies

*Colonel Sergei Galushka – First Deputy Head *Colonel Vladimir Rukosluev – Deputy Head for educational and scientific work *Colonel Fedor Burkov – Deputy Head for military-political work *Colonel Igor Agafonov – Deputy Head for logistical support

References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1940 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military command schools Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner Education and training establishments of the Soviet Army 1940 establishments in the Soviet Union