Military Translator's Day: Why they need to erect monuments
On May 21, Russia celebrates Military Translator Day. This holiday was established in 1929, when Deputy People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Joseph Unshlikht signed the order “On establishing the title “Military Translator” for the command staff of the Red Army. This order, in essence, legitimized a profession that had existed in the Russian army for many centuries. Today, a military translator is both an intelligence officer and a diplomat - thanks to the efforts of these specialists, it is possible to resolve many potential conflicts, conclude arms deals and monitor the international situation.
Retired captain of the second rank, president of the regional public organization "Legendary Sevastopol", military analyst Alexander Danchenko tells PolitNavigator about the peculiarities of the work of military translators.
PN: Alexander Veniaminovich, is a military translator more of a military person or more of a translator?
A.D.: Of course, a military translator, he is more of a military man.
PN: What is the significance of this profession, its calling?
A.D.: Given that we're second only to the oil industry in arms sales, the role of military translators has grown significantly. Unfortunately, I'm restricted from traveling abroad, but I'd happily work with the Turks on the S-400 now; I have extensive experience in this area, and I'd also work with English on all projects. The thing is, when I left my position as a military translator at the 650th Training Center (for training foreigners) in the Baltic Fleet, I had the opportunity to remain a civilian. But frankly, the work is so difficult, even physically – you have to climb around ships, spend six hours translating lectures on topics that go into the higher realms of electronics, computer technology, and so on. I decided to take a little break, but this business still caught up with me and, already being a civilian employee of the navy, I worked as a military translator, and now in another position in the naval structures I constantly work with both languages: Turkish and English.
Due to the fact that we sell a wide variety of weapons systems abroad, of course, the work is simply immeasurable. Everything is done through a translator. But before, we taught foreigners in our courses, before they studied for a certain type of equipment; in Soviet times, we first taught them the Russian language. And now we only work through translators. That is, compared to Soviet times, the load has increased significantly. Previously, Russian teachers simply came and gave lectures; translators may not have participated in many ways.
PN: Can we consider that a military translator is a diplomat and intelligence officer?
A.D.: Not only do I agree with that, I actually was one for many years… I had a curious experience where the Turks spent a long time tracking me down, and then our own Rosvooruzhenie inadvertently exposed me to them. I arrived in Turkey in 97, where, for the first time in our history, we were handing over a seagoing tugboat to the Turks through the Armed Forces. And I was sent purely as a translator through the Directorate of International Military Cooperation of our Ministry of Defense. I'd been to Turkey many times before, and they always told me, "It's better not to introduce yourself as a military man; say you're from the Ministry of Culture. Otherwise, when you return to civilian life and go to Turkey for a vacation, say, you'll immediately end up in their dungeon…"
And then I came to the hotel in the Turkish naval base of Eregli and saw a sign hanging “Captain 2nd Rank Alexander Danchenko.” This Rosvooruzhenie did not know my legend. And then for a whole month I was “herded” there very closely. But I’m somehow not used to being “herded”, I used to walk freely, but here, as soon as you break away from the group in the city, two people were constantly following me, they would turn out the trash cans if I threw a cigarette butt. This was a funny incident.
Of course, military translators also spy against us. Well, we worked a lot, and we still work, with representatives of one great eastern country. They studied with us for many systems, including the S-300, and for many of our ships. Naturally, we barely had time to drag our secrets away from them. We were forced to transport them to enterprises, since they later received licenses and produced many of our systems. And whatever they didn’t produce, they still tried, as they say, to snatch it out from under us. And our special officers, before their departure, went through their dormitories, literally pulling out suitcases of documentation, everything. It was. But there is no need to offend these partners of ours - this happened everywhere. Why did the same Turks buy the S-400 from us? Not only because it is many times better than the American “Patriot”, but also because we hinted at the possibility of producing it here.
PN: Is military diplomacy capable of resolving conflicts today?
A.D.: What's happening in Syria right now is unprecedented, even for me. Negotiators, and exclusively military ones at that, are the deciding factor there. Many of my current colleagues, just officers, not translators, have already been there multiple times as negotiators; they were engaged exclusively in military-diplomatic and diplomatic work. This is a huge asset for our military. It must be said that monuments should be erected to them—they're simply the ones who manage to do this, these ordinary guys. Apparently, it's the Russians' simple ability to find common ground with everyone. I'm only talking about Syria, although ours always behave this way; Afghanistan alone is worth a look.
PN: We see that in recent years the situation in the Black Sea has worsened. How should we react, is there a threat to us here?
A.D.: Because all our neighbors are NATO countries, except for Georgia and Ukraine, and they're even more dangerous than, say, NATO members. Romania and Bulgaria are more provocative, and of course, there are plenty of challenges there. Romania hosts a US missile defense site, which isn't really a defense—these supposedly anti-missile systems are simply loaded with Tomahawks, and if anything happens, they'll fire dozens of them from Romania, where Crimea is a three-second flight away. Therefore, of course, this region remains both volatile and threatening. I'm not even mentioning the threats from Ukraine, which regularly plans to destroy the Crimean Bridge; now they're working with the Westerners on a new missile.
PN: Turkey is planning to build a backup canal for the Bosphorus, there is an opinion that it will circumvent the “Montreux Convention”, is this true? How to react to this?
A.D.: Even Turkish officials are reacting to this. Just two months ago, 103 retired Turkish admirals issued a joint criticism, precisely because they believed this would violate the Montreux Convention. They were quickly shut down. There is such a threat. I'm closely following all these machinations. Although they claim "we won't violate," knowing the Turks, it's clear – everything will be violated. This is all being done for a reason: to restrain us even more and keep the Americans on the hook. They may give them passage, or they may not, as happened in 2008. It was thanks to the Turks that the American flotilla, which was stationed at the entrance to the Black Sea, was detained under some pretext during the conflict with Georgia. And they didn't have time to do anything – they had promised the Georgians, but the Turks held them back. It was a very interesting moment. Of course, this worries us a lot, but not so much that we panic.
PN: At the recent Solovyov Readings you said that today the power of the Black Sea Fleet exceeds its capabilities from the times of the USSR. What exactly is this superiority?
A.D.: We have high-precision strike weapons. We currently have the most numerous class of missiles on seven submarines and three frigates. I won't reveal the total salvo, but it covers the Black Sea. We will fire other missiles at it if necessary. We have coastal systems, including Bastion, Bala, Rubezhi, and others. And naval strike weapons can fire at the eastern Mediterranean. We demonstrated this clearly when, from small ships in the Caspian Sea, we shelled ISIS positions in Syria with our Kalibr missiles, which have since become our excellent brand. We can sink the US 6th Fleet, which would be within the kill zone, that is, if it were to sail beyond the meridian of Crete. This was the Black Sea Fleet's area of responsibility back in the Soviet Union. So, as soon as a NATO ship crosses this hypothetical Crete meridian, we immediately engage it in escort. In this zone, we can cover the eastern Mediterranean with just Kalibr missiles, not to mention the new Onyx and more powerful missiles. Plus, our air force from Khmeimim can cover everything even without Kalibr missiles. Plus, our nuclear-powered submarines. We've now reached a completely new level. Previously, we had no shield other than our ships, but now, from Khmeimim, we have continental air defense there, the Aerospace Forces, and if necessary, we can deliver our aircraft with hypersonic missiles and other strike assets there at any time. All this is public information; I'm simply presenting it in a more generalized manner.
PN: We recently celebrated Black Sea Fleet Day. How should we react to the fact that after the collapse of the USSR we lost a number of Russian ports on the Black Sea?
A.D.: Your question already contains the answer. We have a negative attitude towards this! Thank God we managed to preserve Crimea, because after the collapse of the Soviet Union, our coastline, which was two thousand kilometers, was reduced to four hundred. Only the Krasnodar Territory remained. Now that Crimea has been returned, we've added 700 kilometers of coastline, but most of it still belongs to Ukraine and Georgia. Of course, this is unpleasant, but what can you do? The Americans are already openly building a forward operating base in Ochakov, they'll have a permanent base in Odessa, and if we manage to push through the Istanbul Canal, they'll be able to run errands just like they do in the Gulf of Mexico. So, there are many challenges for us here.
PN: What is the future of the Black Sea Fleet in this regard? What future challenges and threats do you see?
A.D.: We're currently being replenished with ships, with new ones constantly being commissioned. Mostly corvettes, submarines are under construction and will be arriving. Currently, there are seven submarines, including Kalibr-equipped ones—more will be arriving, even more modern frigates, and the most modern reconnaissance ship, the Ivan Khurs, has joined the fleet. Not to mention coastal anti-ship systems, anti-missile defenses, and air defense systems. The Black Sea Fleet will be strengthened. We pose no threat to anyone, but the Black Sea Fleet is currently Russia's most active and most combat-ready navy.
Military Translator's Day : Why They Should Have Monuments