The modern image of the Russian army looks, frankly, pale. Yes, we are undergoing transformations, and we are not losing hope, and we are trying to look forward to the future with optimism. But here's what's remarkable-sad. Currently, there is a whole generation of officers and ensigns serving in the army and navy, in the view of which the army looks eternally persecuted, downtrodden and forgotten. And this is exactly the army that not so long ago was the most powerful, having a colossal spiritual and moral potential, deep historical roots and glorious traditions. Only our army was able to stop and clear half of Europe of the fascist plague, Even greater France, the eternal enemy of Germany, was conquered in just two weeks. On our Russian wall, Hitler's vaunted machine broke off the teeth of its flywheel. The great army of a great country proved once again that it has no equal in the world. Today, the successor to the victorious army, the Russian Armed Forces are in a severe crisis that has been going on for several years. The current lieutenants had just started school when the April breeze of ' eighty-five began to blow, then turned into an all-out tornado. The army held out, but it looked like a mighty tree after a storm - with broken branches, sparse leaves. Today, the young defenders of the country, alas, do not know another army. We decided to offer readers a conversation between two military personnel belonging to different generations. The name of the first of them is known to the entire army. The name of the second one is well-known among the younger generation of armed defenders of the Fatherland, and is perfectly familiar to those who have passed through hot spots. So, the conversation about the views on life today and the past, on the state of affairs in the army now and in the past, about our historical roots and future opportunities is led by veterans of soldiers and military conflicts: a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Sovi ... Read more