Abdygany Mamanov, who served in an aviation regiment, decided to go to Afghanistan on his own. His military career continued in various countries, covering both Europe and Africa. Nevertheless, he believes that the most important moments in his life are not related to geography, but to the people and lessons he learned from war.
On the 37th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, he shared with 24.kg his memories of how, in his youth, he wrote a letter to the Minister of Defense of the USSR, how he procured scarce goods in Afghanistan, and why films about war often differ from reality.
Reference 24.kg
The Afghan War of 1979-1989 was a military confrontation between the government forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, supported by Soviet troops, and Afghan mujahideen.
The Soviet Union quickly controlled most of the territory but was unable to defeat the insurgency, which received assistance from the West, China, and several Islamic countries.
The introduction of Soviet troops began on December 25, 1979, and the last soldiers left the country on February 15, 1989. According to various sources, the USSR suffered losses of 13,833 killed, 53,753 wounded, and 417 missing in action.
How an appeal to the Minister of Defense led to service in Afghanistan
I entered the Kharkov Military Aviation Technical School, which was not easy for me, a native of Osh, as I spoke little Russian. In my free time, I studied hard, and the teachers, noticing my persistence, inflated my grades on exams. By the second year, my academic performance had significantly improved.
When it came time for distribution, I asked the commander to send me to the Central Asian Military District, but he said he only sends slackers there, so I ended up in the Prikarpatye Military District, which was considered one of the best.
I spent several years in western Ukraine. It was a beautiful land with kind and hardworking people. I made three friends: Valera Moiseenko from Belarus, Igor Gnoevy from Russia, and Sasha Fedorenko from Ukraine. We were inseparable.
In 1982, during the May holidays, we wrote a letter to the Minister of Defense of the USSR out of emotion. We did not think that such officials are usually not addressed directly.
Abdygany Mamanov
We asked to send us to Afghanistan to fulfill our international duty. The next morning, with a clearer head, we decided to withdraw the letter, but it turned out to be too late — our request was approved. Thus, on September 12, 1982, I found myself in Afghanistan.
Military operations in Kunduz: hunting for mujahideen
I served in an aviation regiment in Kunduz, where we established communication for aviation, used tropospheric radio communication, and encrypted messages. We corrected the strikes of Soviet troops.
Once we received information about a meeting of enemy commanders and sent a Mi-8 helicopter with a flare bomb to their hideout. After the explosion, assault troops and infantry moved in, and we were able to neutralize part of the mujahideen, while the rest were captured.
To conceal their actions, mujahideen often wore ordinary clothes, but there were no random people among them. Enemies were found with diagrams of Soviet helicopters indicating vulnerable spots, prepared by high-class foreign instructors.
Each mujahid had documents with information about their skills and experience, for which they were entitled to bonuses — for a killed soldier, for an officer, for destroyed equipment.
Everyday life in Afghanistan: scarcity, moonshine, and tears of a compatriot
In our unit, there were only two Kyrgyz officers. One of them was Senior Lieutenant Saifutdin Azizov, whom I was glad to meet. He is a true hero, a pilot-sniper, modest and courageous.
One day, a man approached the fence of our airbase and asked for water in Kyrgyz. He turned out to be a Kyrgyz whose ancestors had once arrived in Afghanistan and put down roots.
We were given extra rations, and sometimes there were leftover products. I gathered two boxes and gave them to him. He cried and asked about Kyrgyzstan, dreaming of visiting it at least once.
I spent just under a year and a half in Afghanistan, of which seven months were in business trips. The guys from the unit would give me money, and I would buy jeans, tape recorders, and other scarce goods (they were brought to Afghanistan from Japan and Hong Kong). The command did not like this.
Something was also sold at the airfield, but at inflated prices. I would change into civilian clothes, hide my weapon, and go to the market. Sometimes, to relieve stress, I would buy moonshine made from grapes, which smelled terrible but did not cause a headache. From time to time, I visited friends from the academy: Sasha Fedorenko was in Bagram, and Valera Moiseenko in Kabul.
Observing the successes of our pilots, I concluded that the best crew is an international one. When people of different nationalities are gathered in one unit, they complement each other and handle tasks better. Those who are divided by any criteria will never win.
War is not romance
There are many films about army life, and many viewers get the impression that war is romantic. In reality, it is a terrible tragedy. I saw young guys in Afghanistan who lost limbs.
Serving in the army, you are deprived of holidays and personal life. You must be ready to carry out combat missions at any time, without sparing yourself. You constantly learn and are responsible for complex and expensive equipment. To cope with this, you need iron nerves, discipline, and complete dedication.
Nevertheless, I am grateful to war for one thing: for friends. We parted ways more than 40 years ago and scattered around the world, but true friendship knows no barriers. We keep in touch through the internet, and some emigrants dream of returning.
My close friend, a medical service major, married a German woman and moved to Germany. Many years later, after his wife's death, he returned to Kyrgyzstan. He is an experienced surgeon and spent 10 months performing complex surgeries, including heart surgeries. He wanted to stay but could not find a suitable position and returned to Germany, where he immediately found work.
After Afghanistan: the path of a colonel
After returning from the war, I got married and served in Germany from 1984 to 1989, where my eldest son was born. Then I was in Orenburg, and in 1992, at the invitation of the Kyrgyz government, I returned to my homeland and joined the National Guard.
I went on business trips to countries such as Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Turkey. In 2002, I was sent to India to study English, and later became a student at the military staff academy of the armed forces.
By that time, I was already a colonel, and I was settled in a separate cottage, like a king. I felt at home, but soon realized that in India all military personnel are respected, and after retirement, they do not need to look for work — everyone is provided with a decent position in civil service.
In 2006, I was sent to Sudan as a peacekeeper and military observer under the auspices of the UN. Our multinational unit helped to end the civil war.
I served in the National Guard until 2007. I was lucky that the commander was General Abdygul Chotbaev, who did everything possible to make the guard a full-fledged military formation capable of performing any tasks. He still demonstrates amazing work ethic and keeps us veterans in shape.
Last lessons
After retiring, I worked at the US Air Force Transit Center at Manas Airport, where I was the senior representative from Kyrgyzstan in the engineering department. My knowledge of English helped me get there.
The center provided cargo delivery to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. There were only two internationalists at our base. I remember how our commander invited us for coffee and said, "Afghans do not like America, but they speak positively of the USSR."
The Soviet Union built many multi-story buildings, hospitals, roads, and the famous Salang tunnel in Afghanistan. Afghans came to us for education. No one helped them more than we did, but they realized this too late.
Currently, I am the chairman of the commission for patriotic and moral education of youth in the Oktyabrsky district of Bishkek. Together with other veterans, we conduct lessons in schools, universities, and military units.
I have noticed that many young people are concerned about how to earn more while putting in less effort and hardly think about their homeland. This is due to shortcomings in upbringing, and we try to correct this as best we can.
I do not approve of wars and do not like to talk about this topic. What is the point of fighting and sacrificing people's lives if, in the end, there will still be a peace treaty? It is better to find common ground right away.
