[newsnerd99]

I was clearing out some old patches and found this one:

I don't remember where it came from...I've had it for at least ten years. Any idea of what it says or what it's for? Thanks in advance...

 

[SfcRet]

it's a arm patch for the then MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (MVD) troops, militia, police. The literal translation says INTERNAL ARMIES

 

[JIMMY C]

No pic as far as I can see.

 

[ij70]

No pic as far as I can see.

Wait for it to load. It is there.

 

[Begemot]

More like "Internal Forces" if you want a literal translation. The Russians actually use the word Armija (though spelled in Cyrillic, of course) for "Army." So -- when you see "CA" on their stuff it stood for Sov'jetskaya Armija / "Soviet Army. Probably a better translation of your patch would be "Domestic Forces." Say that a couple of times and tell me you can't imagine someone inventing the organization to match it here in the USA. I'm betting you can. And if you find that a bit unnerving, I say good for you. The Soviets played the name game very well. So to properly translate their propaganda requires, in my view, a similar creep factor in English.

 

[ij70]

More like "Internal Forces" if you want a literal translation. The Russians actually use the word Armija (though spelled in Cyrillic, of course) for "Army." So -- when you see "CA" on their stuff it stood for Sov'jetskaya Armija / "Soviet Army. Probably a better translation of your patch would be "Domestic Forces." Say that a couple of times and tell me you can't imagine someone inventing the organization to match it here in the USA. I'm betting you can. And if you find that a bit unnerving, I say good for you. The Soviets played the name game very well. So to properly translate their propaganda requires, in my view, a similar creep factor in English.

I think Internal or Interior Forces is better. Like Sfc said, they belong Ministry of Interior (Internal Affairs is too literal). From their website, they have an infantry division and some support units these days.

 

[car99]

I think the Pogranichniki or border forces were part of the organization too, and probably still are. This force was always pretty disciplined, and make our border patrol look like Walmart greeters.

 

[ij70]

I think the Pogranichniki or border forces were part of the organization too, and probably still are. This force was always pretty disciplined, and make our border patrol look like Walmart greeters.

Yes and no. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, the Border Forces were part of KGB. Today they are part of FSB which is reorganized KGB. They have been part of Ministry of Interior from 1953 to 1957.

The reason Border Forces are so much more impressive then border patrol is that they are not a para-military force the way border patrol is setup, they are a full time military force trained and organized along the lines of army infantry. When they have problems, they roll out infantry carriers and mortars. What does border patrol do when they have problems? They call state governor and ask him if they can borrow his national guard. See the difference?

 

[newsnerd99]

Thanks so much guys...I appreciate it!