I returned home a few days ago.

A little over a year ago I was planning to join the army and there were a lot of questions in my head:
where to go?
how to get into the special forces group?
How to get into the Marine Corps?
how to dull it and not end up in motorized rifles?

I don’t even remember them all now. I didn’t have the opportunity to consult with someone who knew then, so I had to go through this path myself, blindly.

To begin with, I was drafted from the hero city of St. Petersburg and decided for myself that I wanted to go to Pskov. Special forces or airborne forces are not so important. Or, at worst, the Northern or Baltic Fleet, the Marine Corps, I really like the black beret.

It all starts with the regional military registration and enlistment office, where first I successfully and quickly passed the medical examination with fitness category A1 and at a meeting with the head of the regional military registration and enlistment office I declared that I wanted to serve in Pskov, in the special forces. I send all the guys with this desire to additionally fill out questionnaires and write psychological tests. All this is successfully completed and passed.
As it turned out, in order to be drafted into the army, you must first go to the district clinic to donate blood and have a blood test done. Only after all the commissions have been passed and the tests have been completed will you be given a summons.

The path begins from the district military registration and enlistment office, from there all conscripts are taken to the central city one, where everyone is changed into clothes and assigned to teams. By the way, they didn’t deceive me and on the appointed day they actually came to recruit a team for the GRU Spetsnaz. On this day, some group came to the military registration and enlistment office, singing army songs and veterans from the paratroopers' union holding competitions. There was a push-up competition, everyone could take part. I also took part and took an honorable 2nd place. I don’t remember how many push-ups I did then.
I don’t know for what reason, but they didn’t take me to the SPN team.
At some point, late in the evening, a young lieutenant in a naval uniform entered the room with a huge pile of military tickets. Among them was mine.
I won’t describe the details of the trip, but a few days later a conscript leaving to serve in the navy finds himself in a military town, the so-called ZATO. I ended up in Severomorsk.
In Severomorsk another medical examination was waiting for me, psychological tests were being decided once again. Once in the fleet, each private is assigned the rank of sailor and awaits the next assignment. It will be decided where it will end up: Small vessels, Large vessels, Coast Guard, Marine Corps or other individual branches of the military. If you are lucky, you can leave Severomorsk to join the Navy Special Forces, the so-called combat swimmers (reconnaissance diver). This happens in the following way: in front of the PTK, an officer in a green coat, a regular cap and an infantry-style iron on his chest comes into the office and asks all the athletes to identify themselves. In my presence, almost everyone who had anything to do with sports was taken to the SpnVmf.
There are many military units called “marines” in the Northern Fleet, but the best and real one is located in the village of Sputnik, where I ended up.

You will find information about what the Marine Corps on Sputnik is like for those who are interested.
I’ll just add some minor subtleties and differences between departments. Jumping from a parachute - Reconnaissance and Airborne Company and Air Assault Battalion. DShB and ZRADN are sometimes sent to “combat” ships. The Marine Corps Battalion goes on combat missions on ships such as Pyotr Velikiy and Admiral Kuznetsov.
Service in the Marine Corps is very interesting. These include parachute jumps, a huge amount of shooting, landing from large landing craft and combat cruises on ships.

If anyone has any questions, please email