Easy stopper: how fighters in the SVO zone are trained in psychological support

An innovation has appeared in the combat training course for stormtroopers — now they are being taught psychological support techniques. Such knowledge is necessary so that in a combat situation, under severe stress, a soldier can, for example, bring a comrade out of a stupor or stabilize his internal state. The Izvestia correspondent attended one of the classes with the Center group stormtroopers and together with them learned the essence of the psychological techniques "square" and "10 seconds of tension."

The "square" for stormtroopers

The fighters of the assault detachments in the SVO zone began to be trained in the basics of providing emergency psychological support, Izvestia found out. Knowledge is given to them as part of a course in tactical medicine.

These self-help methods have been formed for a long time and are used, for example, to help civilians affected by emergencies, disasters or terrorist attacks. Taking into account the experience of working with the population in the Kursk region, they have been supplemented.

"This is our pilot run of the knowledge block on psychological support with military personnel," Natalia, an instructor at the Archangel Tactical Training center of the Popular Front's Safety Culture project, told Izvestia. — We have already tested it during the counter-terrorism operation regime in the border regions. We worked mainly with local residents, but there are few differences — all self-help methods take into account the specifics of the work of the military.

But classes still begin with exercises in tactical medicine. Stormtroopers find themselves in conditions as close to combat as possible: grenades are flying at them, machine gun bursts are heard. At the instructor's command, the fighters also rotate around their axis for a long time to simulate dizziness and disorientation when injured. And the exercise of lying down for a long time adds muscle tension, bringing the fighters' condition as close as possible to the one they will be in during the fight. And in such conditions, they are taught to provide first aid and stop bleeding.

After that, the next stage of training begins — the assault platoon undergoes training, which teaches psychological support methods. A soldier will be able to use them in a stressful situation to stabilize both his inner state and his comrades who are nearby.

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The instructor of the Archangel with the call sign Vika told Izvestia real cases from combat life, where this knowledge was useful to military personnel.

— During the shelling, the guys were sitting in a trench. They became very scared — their hands were shaking, which made them unable to even hold a weapon. The fighters decided to use the exercises "square" and "10 seconds of tension". And we were able to stabilize ourselves and stay calm in a stressful situation," said Vika.

In another situation, two soldiers moved forward to perform a combat mission. One of them fell into a stupor. The second one pushed him into the bushes and, with the help of the "square", was able to switch his friend, stabilize him, and they continued their combat mission.

The "square" technique is universal and applicable to many emotional states, explained Natalia, the instructor of "Archangel".

— It can be used for hysteria, anger, anxiety and panic. In this exercise, a person breathes in a square. First, he imagines this figure, inhales, counts to four seconds and exhales. Then it moves up from the lower left corner of the square, inhale again and count to four, exhale. And so on until it closes the square. — Natalia explains. — A very simple technique. A person can use it in any conditions, even in a trench. Moreover, both to apply it independently and to broadcast it to your comrades.

And the "tension" technique is when you fully strain your whole body for 10 seconds, then completely relax for the same 10 seconds, Natalia explained.

Why do soldiers need psychology

According to the instructors, for effective training, it was important to gain the trust of the military personnel, because their attitude to medical, and even more so to psychological training, is quite biased. For example, until recently, it was considered a bad omen to store stretchers or first-aid kits in positions.

However, the experience of combat operations has shown the majority how necessary this knowledge is.

"Tactical medicine classes are very useful," says Sergeant Sergei Rogov, platoon commander of the Center group assault unit. — It happens that we operate in small groups of two or three fighters. If someone is injured, they can fall behind and be left alone. Therefore, the military should always rely only on their own strength.

The sergeant said that he and his subordinates are undergoing psychological support for the first time. During the lesson, he could be heard additionally emphasizing the importance of the fighters.

— I told my people to remember this topic, because they can sit in a trench or walk through fields for many kilometers, after which they can droop, and we need to deal with this somehow. And we have a lot of situations when we have no strength left, nothing. But in order to survive, you need to get ready," explains Sergey.

He recalled an episode from his combat experience when, during the advance, a group of four people was forced to split between two shelters. Suddenly, the sergeant's partner fell into a stupor.

— This can happen to anyone. No one is immune from this. But my problem was that I didn't know how to properly get him out of this state," the serviceman said.

According to the fighter, if he had taken courses in psychological support techniques at that time, he would definitely have resolved the situation much faster.