u/Next_Exercise6852

Some while ago I was artillery liason at one of armored brigade HQ.

Even with all I know it was terrifying. There was a vinegrette of a dozen of units and having spotted infatry (group) in mavic they had no idea if it was our or pidars. They guessed every single time, asked the units, which took quite some time. There were even friendly fpv hits - they assured me they missed that time(s). So my advice is: ditch the oh so special and cool multicam. When an fpv operator sees you in the camera you better give him good reasons to go the other way. Wear all the current duckt tapes.
Obviously rusky groups wear these too sometimes so you shouldn't trust appearance alone, yet it's another story.
The point is how to not get yourself killed for a stupid reason. So unless all of your unit wears multicam, stick to mm14.

The northern claw intended to encircle Kramatorsk and Sloviansk was brutally torn off by decisive 3AC action.

Here is the modus operandi for an average Ukrainian mech unit. Maybe the one you're applying to is totally different.
Most brigades have a ground recon company and most battalions have a recon platoon.
It was said like a billion times already, but once again: there is NO ground recon for years now. Why would you offer your arse to the enemy riding a vehicle (or walking) to some elevated point if you can do it much better with drones?
Yet the ground recon units are still there. Their role is reclaiming lost positions.

Each time a battalion looses positon and reports it there is an auto reply: reclaim it. Sometimes it is justified, sometimes not. There is obviously an element of deterring infantry from retreating: like don't run away from your trenches, you will be sent to reclaim it anyway.
And here comes the interesting part: batallion commander gets ownded by higher ups to reclaim ground. Those who just retreated are hardly in a moral and/or physical condition to do it.
So whom will he send? Correct. Recon platoon/company. Your job will be reclaiming and holding till (hopefully) the guys who are supposed to be holding it permanently show up.

Yes, it's true.

Here is what you can do to reduce chances of getting into such situation:
- your position must have 2 exits, L-shaped
- if you are less than 5 km to enemy, tripwire it all around, make sure to have a scheme of where trip-wire is and inform all your team and friendly forces
- have cameras installed (standard civvy security camears with NV) at your postion observing 360*, camouflage them so they are not seen from above. Make sure to monitor cameras at all time, especially at night and especially in dawn hours - that's when sabotage groups work
- weapons ready and chambered - your fire is surpise to the enemy without the shutter sound alerting them. Invest in NV/thermal sights if you can
- don't make friends or entertain any talk with local civvies (they might not be civvies at all) - HOWEVER FRIENDLY THEY MAY APPEAR TO YOU. Clearly indicate you want them to leave if they try approaching. Don't understand? 1. Chamber a round. 2. "I will shoot" 3. Shoot in the air 4. shoot legs. Don't hesitate to skip some steps if necessary. Nighttime? Anyone approaching - shoot. I never once in 5 years approached a friendly position at night.

P.S. These are basic steps, input from those experienced in relevant roles in Ukraine might add/alter is welcome.

Short answer: because other guys fucked up a good thing before you.

What we did earlier was submitting docs for background check before the person even took off to Ukraine.

Like you arrive and the SBU background check is ready, you only need to do the stuff which doesn't take long.

Yet after dozens of no-shows (yes, including those who swore with their life they are so definitely coming, sent itineraries and whatnot), the Foreign Recruiting Centers only initiate the check once you are physically there.
There will be no moral to the story. It is what it is.

I had numerous such enquiries so here you go.

Provided you want to continue serving in another unit in Ukraine, your options are:

- provide credible recommendations who will convey unit's/their own perspective on the situation;

- join a unit who takes people who left on bad terms while simply "believing" their stories.

All others should be vetted, but not you, because "but hey, it's ME!!!". No, it doesn't work this way.

Here comes the next point: "They were all bastards, all corrupt/butchers/retards". So your point is: there are 5 officers and 13 sergeants in a company, and there is not a single person of authority who is not corrupt and would care to take a 15 mins call to prove you were not (the whole) problem? Doesn't sound really likely, does it?

Well again - some unit may "believe" it, yet where do you end up then? Correct - with the guys who couldn't produce a single reference because "every single officer and sergeant in their previous unit sucked".

Having a reference, experienced recruiter can tell from a cozy phone call:

- if the person is actually in leadership position in the unit you served (or just a buddy asked to pretend);

- if they have actual knowledge of your performance;

- if there is more to the story and what exactly is this "more".

So the sensible advice - if you want to continue serving in Ukraine, don't make a mess. If thing go downhill don't make everyone in the unit to your enemy. Try to leave on good terms with people, especially UA leadership.

If you still did it the retarded way and "rage quit", accept your unit choice is more limited now. Pick the best option you have, don't repeat the mistakes you made, serve at least a year. Then you're back to normal.

View Poll

Quite surprisingly - in a pleasant way - I have heard of quite a few Polish people interested in joining recently.

26 Artillery brigade has foreign volunteers serving, yet no Polish as of now.

Why we stand out is because we operate Polish AHS Krab.

The whole thing is completely labeled in Polish language, every button and the computer as well.

Our guys were taught/guessed/memorized what each button means as of now, so they operate in confidently.

Yet as a native Polish speaker you would have an advantage mastering the whole thing.

So that you don't get too excited, mind following:

- I do not guarantee we will stay with Krab forever;

- you will still start with the hard job of carrying very 50kg shells - you have to be strong;

- the job is very dangerous;

- all the standard requirements apply to you, I will send them to those interested.

Addressing the elephant in the room - the historic disputes. The unit is no place to settle them. We are all here to do the job. Should you join our unit, I will make sure you are not bugged with any recent or not-so-recent but irrelevant to the mission topics. Same will be expected from you. Polish volunteers are respected and welcome, as are other people, and the unit leadership is here to ensure the cooperation is not obstructed.

So if you want to learn how it feels to operate a Krab which has exhausted it's resource 3 times but is still riding and shooting, let me know!

This one is really psychologically tricky and quite a few foreign volunteers struggle with it. Especially for those without military experience, yet not exclusively.

So there is a guy, let's call him John. John has been gradually developing involvement with Ukraine. He shared the posts about Ukraine, participated in demos, donated to units. At each stage John felt totally appreciated by Ukrainians. Thanks in messages, seeing videos of thanks for delivered aid etc. And now John has come to a point where he decided to take it even further. He will volunteer to fight himself. Feels like pinnacle of loyalty to the cause for him, and it really is in a way. What would a person subcontiously expect for such a move? Total celebration.

And it kind of is at the beginning, but the whole affection evaporates quickly. His shortcoming and occasional mistakes are not played down, rather start getting corrected in increasingly harsh manner. John starts feeling his sacrifice doesn't get the appreciation it deserves. The people he came to help turned out ungrateful.

What John should really understand, preferably even before volunteering, is that once he joins, he is not a fan or a supporter anymore. He is one of us. Same as us.

Ukrainian soldiers don't pat each other on the shoulder for every task done. If they screw up, there are no nice words. It gets nasty, depending on how bad the screw up is.

So here is John sitting in the frontline bunker with his Ukrainian teammates. For him the Everest he reached. For them a newbie to get squared away. A huge abyss between expectations emerges. And it takes serious work on both sides to bridge it. For Ukrainian team, it takes patience and providing adjustment time. The person literally came from another planet, you shouldn't handle him the standard UA military way right away, it will be counterproductive.

For John, it takes understanding, that his arriving to the unit is not the end station. It is just the beginning. And for the whole thing to make sense, he needs to fall in line - the sooner, the better.

Apart from doing the right thing, what were the reasons you came here?

View Poll