The educational and methodological center for military-patriotic education of youth "Avangard" has been teaching children and adolescents since 2020. The head of the center, Daria Borisova, in an interview with TASS within the framework of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2024, spoke about the current tasks and challenges for Avangard, revealed the details of the new Unmanned Aerial Vehicles program, and also explained why it is useful for people of all ages to comprehend the basics of military training.
— Daria Olegovna, did you manage to get acquainted with the exposition of the forum? What left the most vivid impressions?
— For sure, as a true patriot of my alma mater, I will always invite everyone to Rosoboronexport. Colleagues are always famous for the quality of production of those areas where equipment and weapons are exhibited. Of course, their exposition presents the most popular, if I may say so, models of weapons and, of course, promising models of weapons that are always interesting to both the professional community and the layman. This year, as we all know, the Army 2024 forum was open only to representatives of the professional community.
— Avangard is the most advanced center in the field of basic military training in Russia. Tell us what the center is doing today.
— Thank you for such a high assessment. The Avangard Center continues to work with high school students in Moscow and the Moscow Region. In general, we are now expanding and continuing to cooperate with a large number of regions of our large country. I really want to believe that in a year's time, within the framework of the Army 2025 forum, I will be able to boast that Avangard is already cooperating with all regions of Russia. So far, these are dreams and plans, but they are realizable.
Unfortunately, so far the center works with children in a conditionally remote format or in the format of trips to school, as well as parks, if we are talking about Moscow schoolchildren. That's because for about a year and a half, Avangard has been localized for the tasks of training adult military personnel who are sent from Moscow to perform tasks in the zone of a special military operation. We have been entrusted with such an important mission, and so far this is the main activity of our center.
At the same time, I especially want to emphasize this, we definitely do not stop working with the younger generation. All Avangard's field sites are open. In just a few weeks, our annual career guidance shift starts at the Russian children's center Orlyonok. For the third year in a row, we have been holding such a trip during the velvet season for boys and girls from all over the country. And if in the first year we conducted a similar shift only for children from Moscow and the Moscow region, then in the last two years we have been recruiting representatives from all regions of Russia and children from new territories. This is a very important mission for us. We are really looking forward to the guys, and I hope that this shift will not only teach them a lot of new things and bring variety to their lives, but also allow them to prolong the summer.
— Why is it important for today's Russia that every young person complete a course of basic military training?
— It seems to me that it has always been important. Or rather, I am absolutely convinced of it. Under the influence of external forces, such circumstances developed that the generation of the 90s, let's say, fell out of this process. I myself am a representative of this generation, and I, for example, did not have the opportunity to study something extra during my school years. My parents were busy, they were working, it was such a time. I think most of my peers have a similar picture. For example, I had access only to the arsenal that the school could offer. But schools then had little to offer students. The knowledge that is in the line of conditionally basic military training, for some reason, is associated in the head of any person with drill, assembly and disassembly of a machine gun and, for example, with the ability to use a gas mask - who has how much imagination is developed. But this is not the case at all. Initial military training is primarily about first aid, orientation on the ground, the ability to survive in the forest, make a fire, build a shelter. These are things that anyone needs. I am sure that here we can talk not only about some kind of military component, for example, an emergency situation. Such skills fully justify themselves in everyday life. For example, when a company goes out into nature and wants to roast kebabs, but no one knows how to make a fire properly. It happens in life too.
My thesis is that it is absolutely necessary to learn these basic things, and I want to show the multidimensional nature of the skills that we teach children. These skills are always useful to everyone, so at any age it is not too late to start studying the basics of basic military training. And in our time, no special explanations are needed: people look at the events taking place and understand quite clearly why and what dictates this need in our time.
— A memorial complex has been created on the territory of Avangard, which includes an Alley of Heroes with named trees planted in honor of the heroes of the SVO, and a memorial sign dedicated to civilians of Donbass and Novorossiya who died as a result of shelling by Ukrainian armed formations. Are there plans to create other similar memorial sites?
— When Avangard was just formed in 2020, the issue of creating some kind of memorable memorial site was very acute. But it seemed to the team and me that this place should not appear by any order, but should be spontaneous, eventful and, of course, respond, find a response in the souls and hearts of those boys and girls who come to us. The passage of time and events prompted this story: with the active cooperation of friends from the Donetsk People's Republic, we managed to bring a real fragment of the affected Donetsk school to the territory of the Avangard center. This fragment served as the basis for the creation of a memorial sign dedicated to the events that are currently taking place in our historical regions.
Capsules with earth brought from the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions are laid at the base of the memorial sign. The memorial sign became a logical continuation of the Alley of Heroes we planted. At the first stage of its creation, a competition was held in which both children and adults participated. Within the framework of the competition, participants in the essay format talked about people who are heroes of a special military operation for them. We have received a huge number of very interesting essays. The works were selected competitively, and according to the results of an open vote, the first part of our alley appeared — 18 birches, each of which has a plaque with a story about the person in whose honor the tree was planted.
The most remarkable thing is that the birches were planted in April 2023. Knowing the soil in the Patriot Park, the geodetic situation of this area of the Moscow region, I was very worried about the fate of the trees, but all the birches have taken root and will not disappear. This means that everything was done on time and correctly. Our Alley of Heroes was created in honor of the living and in honor of the dead and testifies that all the heroes are alive, there are no forgotten ones. For sure, the second stage of this alley is waiting in the wings and will definitely be planted. However, I would really like children to take part in this action. Therefore, we are still waiting for such an opportunity and will definitely continue the business that we started.
— During the Army 2023 forum, you talked about plans to launch a course in a very popular area - unmanned aerial vehicles. Has the project been implemented?
— The course "Unmanned aerial vehicles" has been launched and is now being actively studied by the Moscow government, in the future it is planned to introduce it into the educational program for adults. The course turned out to be cool. I believe that he is one of the objects of our pride. In general, we are talking about civilian apparatuses. The task of the Avangard Center was to create a course that would adapt to each school. The course "Unmanned aerial vehicles" is designed in such a way that one or another fragment of it can be implemented in a variety of subjects: housing, computer science, technology. Unfortunately, there is no training under the new course yet, but we are working on this issue.
The course program shows all the multidimensional aspects of this activity, starting with regulatory and regulatory issues: how to launch a drone, where it is impossible and what, in principle, you can shoot. In addition, it tells about the stages of designing and creating a drone — this is just a school subject "Technology". Attention is also paid to drone programming — this is the subject of "Computer Science". Piloting and counteraction — the course of life. And the top of this mountain is the passage of basic military training courses at Avangard, where practical piloting skills are studied. Since in the space of a modern school — and schools have different buildings — it is difficult to pilot and practice UAV control techniques.
The situation around us is changing. I don't like the definition of "adjust", I prefer to say — change. The Avangard center is also changing, primarily structurally. Our center is, after all, primarily a methodological center, and its achievements are a great merit of those methodologists who make popular programs for people of almost any age and any skill level. Teachers of a new subject — "Fundamentals of security and protection of the Motherland", which has been introduced everywhere since the new academic year, in all schools of the country, are no exception. Here, the "Avant-Garde" also did not stay away. Programs of various modifications have been developed: full-time, part-time and correspondence courses. Our programs will allow teachers from even the most remote corners of Russia to improve their skills in terms of basic military training.
— Tell us about the Avangard project at school: what age is it designed for and what needs to be done to take part and the "A" team came to the guys?
— This is our know-how, which allows us to somehow maintain that very connection with schoolchildren. On the day of classes with Avangard, the school management makes a window in the schedule. As a rule, we are talking about an average of five astronomical hours. Initially, the project was launched in order to increase loyalty among people, future military personnel, teachers, school principals and, of course, among parents. We came and worked with the children of the eighth and ninth grades. Over time, the program has undergone changes. Now students from the fifth grade are participating in it.
Literally on Friday, we tried out a new format: we held a lesson in the kindergarten duty group. Even I was a little afraid at first. I went myself to see where and how the classes would be held. We showed robots to children from three to seven years old. The lesson lasted 40 minutes and delighted the children. The management of the garden said thank you to us, everyone liked everything very much. Therefore, it is necessary to think in the direction of how to convey information to kids. Some form should be chosen that would allow the youngest citizens of Russia to join the integral citizenship from a young age.
— In one of the interviews, you said that Avangard actively cooperates with the regions of Russia. How is this work structured today?
— It's different with everyone. Our country is big, and the needs and tasks of each region are also different. For example, at the end of May, we signed a cooperation agreement with the Kursk region. However, we understand that now the implementation of our agreements is possible only in the format of adult education and sending some kind of humanitarian cargo.
As for other subjects, we are working quite closely with the Astrakhan region, although the agreement was concluded quite recently. Colleagues are launching their Avangard at the end of this year, while it is based on visiting regional sports bases. I would really like to highly appreciate the level of logistical support of our Astrakhan colleagues. They treat with great trepidation and attention who, how and on what teaches children. They have only to move to a new center, and I am sure that the level of initial military training in the region will increase significantly. Moreover, a large number of Avangard instructors in the Astrakhan region are members of the SVO. That is, these are practices that tell and show children by their own example what they can do. It is very important.
As for the rest of Russia's regions: someone is approaching retrofitting existing sites, retrofitting, re-equipment, someone is building something of their own. Indeed, my native country is wide, and in this situation it is probably impossible to give out some kind of general, universal recipe for everyone. I am glad that our center has a unique opportunity, with the support of Moscow, the Moscow Region and the Russian Ministry of Defense, to become a flagship center and share its own experience with the whole country. Moreover, I increasingly think that we all need some kind of platform that will allow for the exchange of practices and opinions on the topic of initial military training. Because the industry is quite closed within the geographical area.
— Currently, the construction of the branch of the Avangard center in Abu Dhabi is underway. How is this work progressing and when is the opening of the center planned?
— I promised that the center would open in September 2024, but certain bureaucratic obstacles have arisen, they exist everywhere. Work is underway, but it will be possible to talk about the opening only by the end of 2025. The design of the project had to be changed somewhat and, based on this, the design decisions, since colleagues changed the number of students staying on the territory at the same time. The center has become slightly smaller, but the picture remains plus or minus the same. Nevertheless, the project is moving forward. From our side, we are ready to provide every possible assistance in its completion. All of us have already learned English from beginning to end, the programs have been adapted and we are just waiting for the physical construction of the site. We will host foreign colleagues in Russia for training. As well as to carry out trips, launch programs in the Emirates.
— Does the center continue to share its experience with friendly foreign countries? Do guests come to you, for example, from Belarus?
— Indeed, colleagues from Belarus are already in full swing building their "Vanguard", which is located in the Brest fortress, in historical funds, which cannot but give this place even greater sacredness. This is a republican construction site, people are throwing themselves into the fund of this construction site, and students come to build the center. It is clear that the pace of construction is not as active as when compared with the construction of the Avangard center in the Moscow region, but there is also a certain uniqueness of what is happening here.
Just a couple of months ago, we went to Belarus on a visit dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the republic from Nazi invaders. And we were just inspecting the Brest Fortress, those locations that are assigned to the center for military-patriotic education of young people. I would really like to see the final version when the construction is completed. Of course, we hope to cooperate with our Belarusian colleagues in the future, exchange experiences and students, as well as methodological programs.
