The word
Spetsnaz actually stands for Special Forces. This term is used for a lot of
different militant groups around Russia. If the soldier was able to
complete Spetsnaz training it means that he is one of the elite. The
Spetsnaz training is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Green Berets training.
Although it is the equivalent, that doesn’t mean they are exactly the same. I
am a proud son of a marine, and a patriot, but when I look at some of the
training sessions used by the Spetsnaz, I have no problem saying that I would
never want to be the guy having to stand toe to toe with that killing machine.
I’m not
going talk about the show Deadliest Warrior, which did square off the Green Berets
and Spetsnaz against each other, and the Spetsnaz won the “contest” with a
very close victory. As much as I find much of the weapons tests to be very
useful on that show, I rarely agree to the outcomes of their face off. I can
however see the Spetsnaz getting the upper hand in a one on one hand to hand
fight, and that is because of the extreme conditions of their training. Some of
the techniques are swimming in pools with barbed wire strung across it, tied to
chairs and beaten to a pulp, tied and dragged around by vehicles, having concrete blocks smashed with sledge hammers while sitting on a man's chest, smacking bare skin with heated poles, etc. Sound
crazy to you? What does that accomplish you ask? It works, it’s inhuman and
cruel, but a fully Spetsnaz trained soldier will never be caught crying after
being hit in the back with a bat. Instead, the assailant might find a knife in
his throat before he realizes the Spetsnaz shrugged off the blow. He's had worse in training after all.
