Young Army Cadets National Movement
Established in October 2015, the All-Russia "Young Army" National Military Patriotic Social Movement Association (Всероссийское военно-патриотическое общественное движение «Юнармия», sometimes transliterated as Yunarmiya) is a youth organization supported and funded by the Government of Russia through the Ministry of Defence of Russia with a mission to train future personnel for the uniformed services and to instill the values of patriotism, national service, national and military history, remembrance of past military operations and campaigns and of the fallen of its armed forces, and to help develop the country as its population grows.[1][2]
Russian bobsledder Dmitry Trunenkov serves as the Chairman of the Governing Committee, which supervises its 117,000 members, mostly from youth groups and Cadet Corps nationwide. While being a successor to the military courses in both the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization and the Komsomol during Soviet times, and keeping the traditions of the Great Patriotic War services of these organizations, it is affiliated to the Russian Armed Forces, DOSAAF and the MoD Armed Forces Central Sports Society. Its motto is "For the glory of the Fatherland!"
Brief history
This national movement was part of a larger range of youth programs and organizations which were launched on October 29, 2015, by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the behest of Minister of Defense General of the Army Sergey Shoygu. The Young Army Movement's aims are to improve the state policy in the field of education of the younger generation, create favorable conditions for the harmonious development of the personality of children and young people, the formation of moral values and guidelines, as well as education in military and patriotic themes.
Thus, the Young Army Cadets (Юнармеец),[3][4] as they are called, are from a wide number of youth groups and the Cadet Corps and Schools all over the country, the latter preparing youth for service within the Armed Forces. The YAM thus forms the military division of the wider Russian Youth and Students Movement, formed in 2015 under the Federal Service of Supervision of Education and Science, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
Activities of the Young Army Movement
While the component organizations of the YAM prepare youth for service in the armed forces or in the civil sector, each of them is expected to have the youth within the movement's component units training in the following:
- Small arms training
- First Aid
- Pathfinding
- Ceremonial duties, including marching and arms drill
- Hand combat and martial arts
Uniform and traditions
Young Army Cadets are distinguished by their red berets. Being a new organization, Young Army Movement units tend to wear their gray uniforms (used since early 2016), while their component organizations and Cadet Corps wear their own uniforms (the latter military-styled), with peaked caps and/or sailor caps (the latter for naval cadets).
See also
- Cadet Corps (Russia)
- Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (United States)