Some consider the army a waste of time, saying that studying at the same university, developing your own business and other civil matters would be much more useful. Others, usually in this category, include those who have already served, sincerely believe that the army makes a man a man in the full sense of the word. You can argue about this for a long time, but come to a consensus will not work.
At the same time, everyone agrees that the army is a kind of state, with its own orders, hierarchy, unwritten laws, sometimes not completely understood by civilians. Do you know who the army calls “spirit”, “elephant”, “skull”, “grandfather”, “demobilization”? If you’ve heard some of these titles at least once in your life, then you’ll have to smash your head with others. So, let's try to figure out who is who in the army hierarchy.
Hierarchy. Smells
The first step, which is often employees and is not taken into account, is the era of beingness by smell. From the moment the conscript arrived at the unit, he receives this very title. He will go to the next step when he takes the oath, becoming a full-fledged soldier. Smells usually don’t really well represent who the skull or elephant is in the army, but they are full of army romance, the belief that it is in this place that they will make real friends, or maybe at this stage they still try to come to terms with that in the near future they will be forced to live in barracks, eat in the common dining room and obey orders.
Smells learn the basics of drill training, the basics of service, it is at this stage that the first outfits occur, the first conflicts with old-timers (not yet ending in anything serious), the first pain after marching throws. Simply put, the smell is someone like a pupil of the younger group of a kindergarten, who is already seemingly not in civilian fashion, but not yet a soldier.
Perfume
On the day of taking the oath, the former smell moves to a new level: it becomes spirit. Despite the fact that this stage of service is considered the most difficult, all the fun is yet to come. In addition to legal elders and officers, only so-called elephants (they will be described below) can command the spirit, and even those from the service of the old-timers. The spirit is an unknown animal, which at first both grandfathers and skulls were afraid of: you never know how it will react to “extra-articulate” relationships, it can even complain - and then it’s bad for everyone. Being in the spirit determines how your colleagues will perceive you further: those who break down already at this stage will never be able to restore their reputation, which is why it is important to make a good impression on the old-timers. After 100 days of service, the hierarchy in the army provides a new stage: spirit - elephant - this is the next stage.
Elephants
Elephantism is probably the most difficult time for an employee. Already there is a certain relationship with the old-timers, they well understand what a particular soldier is and therefore use their unwritten authority to the fullest. The best understanding of who the elephant is in the army, the decoding of this "title" gives: a soldier who loves awesome loads.
Another hundred days of service, the soldiers carry out all sorts of instructions of the elders, bears responsibility before them for their own mistakes and even for some mistakes of the spirits. Sometimes it is at this time that old-timers begin to extort money from the younger ones, and the latter cannot complain anywhere, otherwise they will lose their face in front of the others. But this soon passes: the elephant in the army becomes a skull.
Scoops (skulls)
In the modern Russian army, after two hundred days, the soldier moves on, receiving the “title” of the skull. Sometimes it is also called a scoop. The choice of a specific name depends on the preferences of a particular part. Only grandfathers and officers can command scoops, while the skull itself directs both elephants and, if possible, spirits. In fact, after experiencing elephantiasis, service is much easier. There is less and less control on the part of the old-timers and obligations to them, some kind of personal freedom appears more and more, all the hardships of army life, which at first seemed almost torture, are more and more tolerated. But the army does not end there. Spirit, elephant, scoop - and then comes the grandfather, this is almost the highest step in the hierarchy.
Grandfathers
And now three hundred days have passed since the day the oath was taken. The employee already knows very well what the elephant in the army means, how to dress for the time while the match is burning, how to assemble and disassemble the machine gun, how to command those elephants and spirits. And so he becomes a grandfather. Apart from the demobilization, grandfathers - this is the highest caste, which can only be led by officers, and those already respect those who have almost given their duty to their homeland.
Almost everything that grandfather orders is entrusted to the young, so this stage of the service can be called almost the most pleasant. Grandfather already feels the approach of a citizen with all the fibers of his soul. And this feeling becomes even stronger when a month and a half before the long-awaited return home, he moves to the last stage of the hierarchy, receiving the title of demobilization.
Dembel
It seems like a month and a half ?! But it is precisely this time that is considered both the most joyful and dreary. Dembel can already afford not so accurately following the commands of his superiors, only, by the way, elders, because the others have not been given a decree for a long time. There is no special desire to lead the young either - the idea of an imminent citizen obscures everything. But at the same time, at this stage, the soldier understands what trace the army left in his life. An elephant, a spirit, a grandfather, a ladle, out-of-turn orders, march-throws, cooking in the kitchen, shaving under the cover of night so that no one takes a bath - all this is about to remain in the past. It will be difficult to unlearn what it is so used to during this time, but the demobilization is well aware that everything on the civilian side will be completely different, and perhaps this new one will be much better than the barracks, orders and outfits.
Army entertainment. Assignment of "title"
Now that we know who the army is called an elephant, how the spirit differs from the smell and how the demobilization behaves, we can move on to some army traditions associated with one or another level in the hierarchy. Interesting, for example, the rites of "appropriation" of a particular rank.
A soldier receives as many belt hits on a soft spot as he served for months. Moreover, as some employees notice, the blows are usually of such force that the plaque-star on the skin is imprinted for a long time. It happens like this: a soldier lays on a stool with his chest, placing a pillow beneath himself to cover the causal place, and the senior officer weights him off. And all this young must endure without squeaks and complaints, otherwise how can he be promoted further along the hierarchy?
Chest for inspection!
There are traditions that test the endurance and, frankly, the courage of the fighters. One of them got the comic name "chest examination." From the old man perfume, elephants in the army sometimes hear this phrase. After it, they should rise, straighten their chest and say: "The plywood is three-layer, armor-piercing, such and such a year of release (the year of birth is inserted here) is ready for battle." Grandfather beats the victim in this very chest, and that, if, of course, after such a blow can, the grandfathers do not trifle, says: "The rollback is normal, the cartridges are in the box." In the event that the young fails the test, she repeats again and again.
Elk
But on this the elephant in the army does not pump up its “fun”. Even more dangerous and, perhaps, multivariate fun was called "moose". The easiest option, the moose is ordinary - the young one puts his hands in the form of the horns of an elk (the palm of one hand is pressed to the hand of the second and this structure is pressed in turn to the forehead). After that, the grandfather hits these very horns.
The second option, a more sophisticated one, is a musical elk: the construction is the same, only at the same time the elephant still has to sing: “Suddenly, like in a fairy tale, the door creaked”, and after the impact - “Everything became clear to me now.” The third version - “reed elk” - after an elk the usual elephant backs away, as if passing through the reed. And the last view - "mad moose" - here the grandfather does not hit, but only points to an object that an elephant should hit from overclocking.
45 seconds - hang up!
One of the main things in the army is speed. This is exactly what grandfathers teach spirits (elephants already know this firsthand) with the command “45 seconds - hang up!”. Young people line up in the cockpit, their task after the command is to run to the bed, undress (“training” is carried out in uniform), put their clothes on and go to bed. If even one spirit fails the task, everything is repeated anew.
The next stage of this “game” is “3 seconds - hang up!”. From the clothes on the perfume there are only cowards and a T-shirt, and they should only run to the bed and lie down. In case of failure, the command is repeated until the grandfather is tired. But if the young have passed this test, then the training goes to its final stage - “three control squeaks”. After this command, the grandfather counts the creaks of the beds of perfumes until he falls asleep. If he hears three, then everyone rises together and goes on to hone "45 seconds - hang up!"
Catching butterflies
In principle, there isn’t much difference between what a spirit or elephant in the army represents in the hierarchy - and that and that from time to time are subjected to bullying-training by the old-timers. Another fun is “catching butterflies”, developing both physical strength and endurance. The young man crouches, and then jumps as high as possible, clapping his hands over his head, as if trying to catch a butterfly with his hands. After that, he shows his palms to his grandfather so that he checks to see if the younger one caught the unfortunate insect. Most often, the answer is, of course, negative, and the unfortunate elephant continues its “hunt” until the elder is tired.
Letter
Elephants themselves sometimes participate in the "letter". In part, as you know, with modern ways of communicating with the outside world there are difficulties. Therefore, paper letters are used. Exercise is the standard, but sometimes grandfathers are much more inventive.
When the spirit receives its first letter from the beloved girl, the elders tear the edge of the envelope, inflate it in the manner of clappers, and then burst on the back of the head of the spirit. The feelings are unpleasant, but, as the servicemen believe, if the clap was loud, then the girl is still waiting for her soldier. If the envelope exploded without any special effects, then you should not hope for favor.
Tiger mute
What does the elephant mean in the army? Endless "training", checks and directions from senior staff. Elephants and spirits are forced to adapt to old-timers, and if they somehow interfere with the latter, "study" begins. One of its options is to “kill the tiger.” If the elder cannot fall asleep due to the snoring of the young, he gives the command “off the beaten path of the tiger!”, After which the unfortunate person is thrown with pillows, blankets, shoes - all that will turn up by the arm to wake him up. An elephant who wakes up from such a thing takes apart everything that flew into it, and only after that he goes to bed again, naturally, trying not to snore again, so as not to incur the wrath of his grandfathers.
Street racing
Far from civilization, men sometimes want to drive. Given the fact that cars are not observed in the unit, perfumes and elephants are engaged in street trading. Guys get on all fours, slippers are put on hands and feet. And they arrange races along a long corridor along the bedrooms in the barracks. Naturally, the one who came first won. But even here one can’t do without army humor: along the route there are pit stops - places where additional slippers stand so that the “racer” could “change shoes”; the second option - “boosters” - soldiers standing along the highway and giving street racers speed kicks. Of course, it sounds strange, but what can’t you do for fun?
