The initial goal of the establishment of the Soviet "GRU" was to sabotage the enemy: to find/destroy the enemy's missile systems, headquarters, ammunition depots, etc. In March 1950, Marshal Zhukov, Minister of Defense of the USSR, ordered the establishment of 46 special brigades in the major military districts, led by the GRU - trained in strict accordance with the prescribed tasks, and soon became the sharp-edged troops of the various military districts;
After the invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviet 40th Army was assigned to the 469th Reconnaissance Company: stationed in Kabul, whose main task was to obtain information on the rebel leaders/officers and eliminate and arrest them;
However, before 1981, the Soviet Army in Afghanistan used the company and other special forces in a inappropriate way: the leaders of the Motorization Regiment used the "GRU" as a warning force against oil and gas pipeline/mine/industrial targets - the special forces could not play their combat skills and morale was greatly damaged! It was not until 1984 that the Soviet forces in Afghanistan changed: the GRU sent more special units to the 40th Army, and for the sake of secrecy, the Soviets mixed their names with ordinary troops. For example, the 154th Special Forces Detachment is the independent first motorized infantry battalion, and the independent 177th special forces detachment is the independent second motorbus battalion, which uses the new number in the internal documents of the Soviet Army and in daily life, so the GRU has long been unknown in the War in Afghanistan;
The 154th Detachment returned home after completing its mission to capture Amin and did not enter Afghanistan until October 1981. It was stationed in the city of Akchi in northern Afghanistan; in August 1982, it moved to Akbar; in early 1984, it was stationed in the city of Jalalabad for the defense of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border;
Formed in February 1980, The 177th Detachment was composed of elites from the 16th Special Forces Brigade of the Moscow Military Region and the 22nd Special Forces Brigade of the Central Asian Military Region, and it only passed the title in September 1981 when it entered Afghanistan. In 1984, it was transferred to Ghazni for the protection of important main highways;
The Independent 173rd Special Forces Detachment was established on 28 February 1980 on the basis of the 12th Special Forces Brigade of the Transcaucasia Military District on the orders of Marshal Uskinov, Minister of Defense of the USSR, and on 14 February 1984 it entered Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan, with its largest population and industry, and the only way for arms smuggling caravans, as well as the border area for Afghanistan's contacts with countries in the southwest;
The Independent 668th Detachment was established on 21 August 1984 on the basis of the 9th Special Forces Brigade of the Odessa Military District, and in early 1985 it was given the nickname "Independent 4th Motorbuster Battalion", which was stationed in the village of Shufra, near the Bagram base, which was nicknamed "Barracks Barak" due to its proximity to the "Mujahideen"-controlled Barak Castle;
The Independent 334th Special Forces Detachment was established in January 1985 on the basis of the 5th Special Forces Brigade of the Belarusian Military District, while absorbing the elite of the 2nd/9/14/22 Special Forces Brigade, the Independent 5th Motormobile Battalion. On 29 March 1985, it entered the banks of the Gunar River in Assadabad, opposite which was the Afghan Resistance Army base in Pakistan; on 21-24 April, the unit lost 29 officers and men and the leader of the detachment was dismissed;
In March 1985, the special forces detachment of the Soviet Army in Afghanistan grew in size and developed into 8 special forces detachments and an independent reconnaissance company: in addition to the above 5 detachments, another one was established in Afghanistan, and 2 were drawn from the Soviet mainland, namely the independent 370th, 185th and 41st special forces detachments, and the external number was the independent 6th, 7th and 8th motor rifle battalions, mainly deployed in Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Ghazni. In April 1985, according to Soviet Order No. 314/2/0208, they were reorganized: the 15th/22nd Special Forces Brigade was established in Jalalabad and Rashkar Gah, respectively. The 15th Special Forces Brigade consisted of the Independent 154th/688/177/334th Special Forces Detachment; the 22nd Special Forces Brigade included the Independent 173rd/370/186/411 Special Forces Detachment;
The structure of the Soviet special forces detachment is similar to that of ordinary infantry battalions: 3 special forces companies, a spitfire company, a mortar company, a maintenance support company, a communications squad and an air defense squad, with a total number of about 500 people, the Soviet army is equipped with 4 Mi-8 and 4 Mi-24 helicopters for them, and can be supported by other helicopter regiments - the special forces are completely freed from the shackles of heavy weapons, and the vehicles are unified, and the combat effectiveness is released!