Jan 20 2009
Red Army Chorus: U.S. Army Training Aid?
Back in the olden days, during the Cold War, the Army made sure its officers and senior NCOs were not only well schooled in U.S. doctrine and tactics, we had to know the way the Soviet Army planned to fight as well.
I remember taking a test that required me to sketch out the exact location of every armored vehicle in a Soviet Motorized Rifle Regiment’s attack formation. Man, I had that stuff down cold. I couldn’t do it today to save my life, but back at Ft Benning, Ga. in 1982 I could read those Red Army formations just like Brian Urlacher reads the Detroit Lion’s offensive formations now.
Some of the instructors at the Infantry School liked to set the mood for these “Know the Enemy” classes with music from the Red Army Chorus. I stumbled across these video clips the other day. Boy, they sure triggered some memories.
This first one is the one we heard the most. It’s called “Off We Go” (although only the most studious amongst us knew the title at the time) and was created by the Red Army Chorus in 1945. That was their big year you know
The Soviet Army tune that came in second at our infantry school classes was “Katjusa”.
Now for some reason, “Kalinka” did not make it to Ft Benning when I was there, which is rather surprising seeing how popular it has become in American culture. You hear the organists play it at baseball and hockey games all the time. Yul Brynner sang it in the movie Taras Bulba as well. Go figure.
While we’re discussing the subject, you might as well check out another version of “Kalinka”. I think that the guys in the audience would agree that these performers are much easier on the eyes than the singer in the last clip.
Anyway, thanks to the Red Army Choir for perking up the curriculum and helping us remember their maneuver arms doctrine. Those were some of the liveliest classes we had at the U.S. Army Infantry School.
