General Boris Gromov is one of the few who managed to stay afloat while remaining true to himself and his ideals. Having gone through Afghanistan, he always opposed any attempts to resolve issues within the country using forceful methods. But listened to him, unfortunately, not always.
Childhood and education
Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov is a hereditary military man, a native of Saratov. His father never saw his son - he died just on his birthday, November 7, 1943. At the age of twelve, the boy entered the Suvorov military school in Saratov, his hometown. An example for him was his elder brother Alexei, who by that time was already a Suvorovite. Two years before graduation, the school in Saratov was abolished, and he, along with his company, was transferred to complete his education in Kalinin (modern Tver).
At the end of it, at the age of nineteen, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was drafted into the army. Then he continued his studies at the Leningrad Higher All-Arms Command School named after Sergei Kirov, which in 1991 wasrenamed St. Petersburg, and eight years later it was liquidated by a decree of the Russian government.
The beginning of a military career
After graduation, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov was seconded to a military district in the B altic States, where he rose from a platoon commander to a company commander of a motorized rifle division. In his youth, General Gromov acquired an opinion of himself as a talented, ambitious and promising young officer. Therefore, he was sent to study further, at the Moscow Military Academy named after Mikhail Frunze. The training ended with a red diploma, after which Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov returned to his native military unit in Kaliningrad, where he already led the battalion.
Two years later he was promoted to chief of staff of the regiment, and since 1975 he served in the military district of the North Caucasus for five years, where he commanded a regiment for two years and then led the division headquarters. There he received the rank of Major.
"Hot spot" - Afghanistan
Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov made a serious and quick breakthrough in his military career during the armed conflict in Afghanistan, where he was promoted three times. In 1979, a ten-year conflict began on the territory of a Muslim state, where the state forces of the republic, united with a contingent of Soviet troops, faced armed resistance from the Mujahideen, who were supported by the forces of the North Atlantic Alliance and leading Islamic states. UN then actionThe Soviet army qualified as a military intervention.
General Gromov also arrived in the heat of this armed conflict, Afghanistan became for him a truly career springboard, where he arrived to serve three times during the entire time of the confrontation. At that time, he was already 37 years old, shortly before that he was awarded the rank of colonel, and he had excellent managerial experience behind him. Upon arrival, he was given command of the 5th Guards Motorized Rifle Division. For the first time, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov served in a hot spot for two years. Here he received the shoulder straps of a major general.
He continued to improve his education at the Kliment Voroshilov Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which he completed with honors. He returned to Afghanistan twice more: his last stay ended with an operation to withdraw troops.
Last year in Afghanistan
During his last trip abroad, General Gromov went through two more rungs of the military career ladder: at the age of 44 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and two years later, the shoulder straps of a colonel general flaunted on his tunic.
In the third stay in the epicenter of the armed conflict, he led the fortieth army. He was her last commander. In addition, General Gromov also served as the authorized representative of the Soviet government for the temporary stay of troops in Afghanistan.
Under his leadership, the operation "Magistral" was carried out, which consisted in the withdrawal of the blockade of the city of Khosta, for a long timebesieged by the militias. The actions in which General Gromov Boris Vsevolodovich showed his courage and heroism were marked by the highest state award: in March 1988 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Military merit
While in Afghanistan, General Gromov quite often took over the leadership of not only covert operations, but also open battles. His task was to achieve the maximum effect from the ongoing operations with minimal losses in the ranks of the personnel.
It was he who was entrusted with the organization of the withdrawal of parts of the armed forces of the Soviet army from the territory of the Afghan state. At the same time, he himself was among the last Soviet military who left a foreign country. Within a year after these events, he led the troops of the Red Banner Kyiv Military District.
First political steps
The arrival of General Boris Gromov in big politics happened already at the end of the socialist history of the country. He was among the last people's deputies. In parallel, in November 1990, he served as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union. At the time of the GKChP coup in the fall of 1991, the general was on vacation. He was called to the capital to organize the capture of the White House with the involvement of internal troops. However, Boris Gromov spoke out against the assault, which never happened.
In October 1991, Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov, biographywhich began to gain sharp momentum, headed the Central Officers' Improvement Courses for Command Staff "Shot". In December of the same year, he became deputy commander of the ground forces, a few months later he was transferred to the first deputy commander of the general forces of the CIS Armed Forces. He worked for three more years as Deputy Minister of Defense.
Tough stance of disagreement
During the hard times (early 1990s) he had to confront the official authorities more than once and refuse proposals, the moral aspect of which he did not share. In particular, in the fall of 1993, the issue of seizing the White House and resolving the conflict by force was acute. However, Gromov reacted with a categorical refusal. He also did not participate in the seizure of the building of the Supreme Council of Russia. In 1995, disagreement with the actions of the state leadership regarding the use of the Armed Forces in resolving internal conflicts led to the fact that he wrote a report on his release from his duties. Official dismissal from military service was announced when General Gromov reached his sixtieth birthday in 2003.
People's Trust
Deputy mandate General Gromov received in the parliamentary elections of 1995, where he was the representative of Saratov in a single-mandate constituency. In the Committee on International Affairs, he was responsible for armaments and international security.
Deputy Gromov remained in parliament and in the next electoralcycle. The zero years were marked by the election of a retired general to the post of governor of the Moscow region. He worked in this position for twelve years.
Governor's chair
Three years later, the voters did not change their minds and again elected him the head of the region. When regional leaders became an appointed nomenclature, the President approved him in this position for one more term from 2007. He left this job at the age of 69.
After the resignation of the governor's powers, he moved to the Federation Council as a representative of the parliament from the Moscow region. Then he became a deputy of the Moscow Regional Duma.
To the ruling party, United Russia, he joined ten years ago. The public activity of the general began with the election of his leader of the "Combat Brotherhood", the All-Russian Movement of Veterans of Local Wars and Military Conflicts in 1997. He also heads the "Twin Cities" - an international association. General Gromov during his long service career was repeatedly awarded orders and medals not only from the USSR and Russia, but also from countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Afghanistan. On his tunic there are many awards received during his service in the Soviet Armed Forces, including for operations in Afghanistan.
Private life
Gromov Boris Vsevolodovich, whose family has experienced many serious trials, can truly be called a happy family man and a man. However, there were no tragedies. He was suddenly widowed when his eldersons Maxim and Andrey were nine and five years old respectively. The error of the air traffic controller led to a collision in the air of the military transport aircraft AN-26, in which his wife was flying, with a passenger airliner TU-134. That day, 94 people were killed in the sky in two planes.
In the same tragedy, Yevgeny Krapivin, a close friend and classmate of the general, died. He was on that plane with his two sons. After his death, his wife Faina was left with two twin daughters in her arms. Gromov and Krapivina experienced the tragedy together, supporting each other in every possible way. After five years, they still decided to get married, and their daughter Elizabeth was born. She was baptized by Yuri Luzhkov, at that time the mayor of Moscow.
At the last Duma elections, Gromov Boris Vsevolodovich again received a deputy mandate. It is not difficult to guess where the people's choice is now, given his exceptionally active nature. He widely uses his organizational skills and considerable life experience in social and political activities.
