Thank you for posting this. I like such stories, even though I have never been to the former USSR. I once was working with an (incredibly skilled) C++ guy who was a former officer/engineer in the Soviet army. He told me similar stories.
Apparently one day he had to take an examination. What they did was an army radio transmitter, an AK47 machine gun, and they shoot some holes in it. Then they handed it to him and said: Fix it.
Another story he told me was about a friend who was in the submarine navy. Days before his university courses would start they got an order to go on patrol. And then he was underwater for a year instead.
Also the stories how new soldiers were assigned to bases thousands of miles away from home, apparently so they don't desert and go home etc.
I find all that very interesting. It's so different from my experience in (West-) Germany. Everything was easy in comparison here.
Apparently one day he had to take an examination. What they did was an army radio transmitter, an AK47 machine gun, and they shoot some holes in it. Then they handed it to him and said: Fix it.
Another story he told me was about a friend who was in the submarine navy. Days before his university courses would start they got an order to go on patrol. And then he was underwater for a year instead.
Also the stories how new soldiers were assigned to bases thousands of miles away from home, apparently so they don't desert and go home etc.
I find all that very interesting. It's so different from my experience in (West-) Germany. Everything was easy in comparison here.