Special Combat Training of National Units of the Red Army In Kazakhstan, Central Asia and The Caucasus in the 1920s and 1930s

The article is devoted to generalizing the experience of special mountain training of Red Army units on the Turkestan Front (since 1926 — the Central Asian Military District) and in the Red Banner Caucasian Army (since 1935 — the Transcaucasian Military District) in the 1920s — 1930s. The experience of building mountain troops in the interwar period was based on the events of the Civil War. During these years, many publications were devoted to him, but after the Great Patriotic War he was practically forgotten. Nevertheless, the experience of mining training of the interwar period is valuable for its approaches based on the maximum use of the capabilities of the human body with minimal material costs that the Soviet military department could afford at that time. One of the ways to optimize the construction of the mountain troops of the Red Army was the formation of national units in Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Caucasus, staffed by local residents, as well as pack and riding animals of local breeds. It was believed that this would significantly reduce the time for mining preparation of parts and improve its quality. In the article, much attention is paid to the peculiarities of combat training of mountain units, the development of mountaineering, the use of scientific methods in planning combat training, the deployment of military sports movement (mountaineering). It is shown that in the 1930s the mountain and mountaineering training of troops in the Central Asian and Transcaucasian military districts reached a large scale. The article concludes that during the 1920s and especially the 1930s. The Red Army accumulated a lot of experience in mountain training of troops, used in the subsequent years of the Great Patriotic War.