Some consider the army a waste of time, they say, studying at the same university, developing your own business and other civilian affairs would bring much more benefits. Others, usually those who have already served in this category, sincerely believe that the army makes a man out of a man in the full sense of the word. You can argue about this for a long time, but you won’t be able to come to a consensus.
At the same time, everyone agrees that the army is a kind of state, with its own rules, hierarchy, unwritten laws, sometimes not entirely clear to civilians. Do you know who the army calls "spirit", "elephant", "skull", "grandfather", "demobilization"? If you have heard some of these titles at least once in your life, then with others you will have to rack your brains. So, let's try to figure out who is who in the army hierarchy.
Hierarchy. Scents
The first step, which is often not taken into account by employees, is the era of being a smell. From the moment the conscript arrives at the unit, he receives exactly this title. He will move to the next step when he takes the oath, becoming a full-fledged soldier. Smellsusually they still don’t have a very good idea who a skull or an elephant is in the army, but they are full of army romance, the belief that it is in this place that they will make real friends, or maybe at this stage they are still trying to come to terms with the fact that in the near future they will be forced to live in barracks, eat in a common canteen and obey orders.
Smells learn the basics of drill training, the basics of service, it is at this stage that the first outfits happen, the first conflicts with old-timers (still not ending in anything serious), the first pains after forced marches. Simply put, the smell is someone like a pupil of the younger group of kindergarten, who is already kind of not in civilian life, but not yet a soldier.
Perfume
On the day of taking the oath, the former smell moves to a new stage: it becomes a spirit. Despite the fact that this particular stage of the service is considered the most difficult, all the fun is still ahead. In addition to legitimate foremen and officers, only the so-called elephants can command the spirit (we will talk about them a little later), and even those at the suggestion of old-timers. The spirit is an unknown animal, which at first is feared by both grandfathers and skulls: you never know how he will react to “extraordinary” relationships, he may even complain - and then everyone will be unhappy. Being a spirit determines how your colleagues will perceive you further: those who break already at this stage will never be able to restore their reputation, which is why it is important to make a good impression on old-timers. After 100 days of service, a new stepprovides a hierarchy in the army: spirit - elephant - this is the next stage.
Elephants
Elephanthood is probably the hardest time for an employee. There are already certain relations with the old-timers, they understand well what this or that soldier is like and therefore use their unwritten powers to the fullest. The best understanding of what an elephant is in the army, deciphering this " title" gives: a soldier who loves awesome loads.
Another hundred days of service, the soldier performs all sorts of orders from his elders, is responsible to them for his own mistakes and even for some mistakes of the spirits. Sometimes it is at this time that the old-timers begin to extort money from the younger ones, and the latter cannot complain anywhere, otherwise they will lose their face in front of the rest. But this soon passes: the elephant in the army becomes a skull.
Skulls (skulls)
In the modern Russian army, two hundred days later, a soldier advances further, receiving the " title" of the skull. Sometimes it is also called a scoop. The choice of a specific name depends on the preferences of a particular part. Only grandfathers and officers can command scoops, while the skull itself leads both elephants and, if possible, spirits. In fact, after the experience of elephanthood, the service goes much easier. There is less and less control on the part of the old-timers and obligations to them, there is more and more some kind of personal freedom, all the hardships of army life, which at first seemed almost torture, are more and more easily endured. But this is not the end of the army. Spirit, elephant, scoop - and then comes the grandfather, this is almost the highest step in the hierarchy.
Grandfathers
And now three hundred days have passed since the day of taking the oath. The employee already knows perfectly well what an elephant means in the army, how to dress in the time while a match is burning, how to assemble and disassemble a machine gun, how to command those very elephants and spirits. And now he becomes a grandfather. Apart from demobilizations, grandfathers are the highest caste, which can only be led by officers, and even those already respect those who have practically already paid their debt to their homeland.
Practically everything that is ordered to the grandfather is entrusted to the young, so this stage of the service can be called perhaps the most pleasant. Grandfather already feels the approach of a citizen with all the fibers of his soul. And this feeling becomes even stronger when, a month and a half before the long-awaited return home, he moves to the last step of the hierarchy, receiving the rank of demobilization.
Dembel
It seems like a month and a half?! But it is this time that is considered both the most joyful and dreary at the same time. The demobilization can already afford not to follow the commands of the superiors so precisely, only, by the way, the foremen, because the rest have not been ordered to him for a long time. There is also no particular desire to lead the young - everything is obscured by the thought of an imminent citizen. But at the same time, at this stage, the soldier understands what mark the army left in his life. Elephant, spirit, grandfather, ladle, outfits out of turn, forced marches, cooking in the kitchen, shaving under cover of night so that no one takes the bathroom - all this is about to remain inpast. It will be difficult to unlearn from what you have become so accustomed to during this time, but the demobilized people are well aware that there, in civilian life, everything will be completely different, and perhaps this new one will be much better than the barracks, orders and outfits.
Army entertainment. Assignment of " title"
Now that we know who is called an elephant in the army, how the spirit differs from the smell and how the demobilization behaves, we can move on to some army traditions associated with one or another step in the hierarchy. Interesting, for example, are the rites of "assignment" of a particular title.
A soldier gets as many blows with a belt on his soft spot as he has served for months. Moreover, as some employees notice, the blows are usually so strong that the star badge is imprinted on the skin for a long time. It happens like this: the soldier lies down on a stool with his chest, placing a pillow under him to cover the causal place, and the old-timer weighs blows to him. Moreover, the young man must endure all this without squeaks and complaints, otherwise how can he be promoted further in the hierarchy?
Chest to be examined
There are also traditions that test the endurance and, frankly, the courage of fighters. One of them received the comic name "chest for inspection." From an old-timer spirits, elephants in the army sometimes hear this phrase. After it, they should rise, straighten their chest and say: “Three-layer plywood, armor-piercing, of such and such a year of manufacture (the year of birth is inserted here) is ready for battle.” Grandfather beats the victim in this very chest, and that one, if, of course, after such a blow can, grandfathersafter all, they don’t waste time on trifles, he answers: “The rollback is normal, the shells are in the box.” In the event that the youngster fails the test, it is repeated again and again.
Moose
But on this the elephant in the army does not pump up his "fun". An even more dangerous and, perhaps, multi-variant fun was called “elk”. The simplest option, the usual elk - the young puts his hands in the form of elk horns (the palm of one hand is pressed against the second hand and this structure is pressed in turn to the forehead). After that, the grandfather beats on these same horns.
The second option, more sophisticated, is a musical moose: the design is the same, only the elephant still has to sing: “Suddenly, like in a fairy tale, the door creaked”, and after the blow - “Everything has become clear to me now.” The third version - "reed elk" - after the usual elk, the elephant moves back, as if passing through the reeds. And the last view - "mad elk" - here the grandfather does not hit, but only points to an object that the elephant should hit from acceleration.
45 seconds off
One of the main things in the army is speed. This is what grandfathers teach the spirits (elephants already know this firsthand) with the help of the command “45 seconds - lights out!”. Young people line up in the cockpit, their task after the command is to run to the bed, undress (“training” is carried out in uniform), put clothes on and go to bed. If at least one spirit fails the task, everything repeats again.
The next stage of this "game" is "3 seconds - hang up!". From clothes to spirits, only shorts and a T-shirt, and they should onlyrun to bed and lie down. In case of failure, the command is repeated until the grandfather gets bored. But if the young people have passed this test, then the training goes into its final stage - “three control squeaks”. After this command, the grandfather counts the creaks of the spirit beds until he falls asleep. If he hears three, then everyone rises together and goes on to hone “45 seconds - lights out!”.
Catching butterflies
In principle, there is not much difference between what a spirit or an elephant in the army represents in the hierarchy - both of them are subjected to bullying-training by the old-timers from time to time. Another fun is “catching butterflies”, which develops both physical strength and endurance. The young one crouches, and then jumps as high as possible, clapping his hands over his head, as if trying to catch a butterfly with his hands. After that, he shows his palms to his grandfather so that he can check if the younger one has caught the ill-fated insect. Most often, the answer, of course, is negative, and the unfortunate elephant continues its “hunt” until the elder gets bored.
Letter
Elephants themselves sometimes participate in "writing". In part, as you know, there are difficulties with modern ways of communicating with the outside world. That is why paper letters are used. Physical exercise is the standard, but sometimes grandfathers are much more inventive.
When the spirit receives his first letter from his girlfriend, the elders tear the edge of the envelope, inflate it like a cracker, and then burst it on the back of the spirit's head. The sensations are unpleasant, but, as the servants believe, ifthe cotton was loud, then the girl is still waiting for her soldier. If the envelope exploded without any special effects, then you should not hope for favor.
Tiger Silence
What does an elephant mean in the army? Endless "training", checks and instructions from old-timers. Elephants and spirits are forced to adapt to the old-timers, and if they somehow interfere with the latter, "study" begins. One of its variants is “silencing the tiger”. If the older one cannot fall asleep due to the snoring of the young one, he gives the command “silence the tiger!”, After which the unfortunate one is thrown with pillows, blankets, shoes - everything that comes under the arm to wake him up. An elephant waking up from such a thing sorts out everything that has flown into it, and only after that it goes to sleep again, naturally, trying not to snore again, so as not to incur the wrath of grandfathers.
Street racing
Away from civilization, men sometimes want to drive. Considering that there are no cars in the unit, spirits and elephants are engaged in “street racing”. The guys get on all fours, slippers are put on their hands and feet. And arrange races along a long corridor along the bedrooms in the barracks. Naturally, the one who came first won. But even here it can’t do without army humor: along the route there are pit stops - places where there are additional slippers so that the “racer” can “change shoes”; the second option - "accelerators" - soldiers standing along the track and giving street racers acceleration with kicks. Sure, it sounds weird, but what wouldn't you do for fun?
Conclusion
Service is a school of life. After heryoung people learn what it means to be an elephant in the army, how to do what they don’t want at all, how to eat inedible food, how to obey the strange commands of their grandfathers - all this invariably builds character. To go to serve or not is a personal matter for everyone, but perhaps there are not so many disadvantages in this service as it seems at first glance.
