Two-week spring military camps have become annual since 1991. Summer military camps that last roughly a month and a half have become regular since 1988. Before that the camps were held in Magadan region near villages Uptar, Sokol, Stekolniy. Since 1980 the cadets started traveling around “The Kolyma Gold Ring” – approximately 900 miles via Kolyma highway, stopping at Lake Jack London and youth summer camps.

    MSTC PODVIG has firm patronage connections. Annual spring and summer military camps are organized jointly with Far Eastern Military District Command, 11th Air Force, Far Eastern Regional Emergency Command Center. Spring camp lasts two weeks, the route is as follows: Magadan-Khabarovsk-Magadan (the cadets used to go to Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski); summer camp lasts three months – a month and a half in Magadan and a month and a half in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Ussuriysk (starting from 1988) and a five-day tour of China (starting from 1994).

    The typical program of the camps is: parachute jumps (from a Mi-8 helicopter or a An-2 airplane), driving a T-80 tank and BMP armored personnel carrier, firearms practice (AK-74, AKS, AKSU assault rifles, PM service pistol, PKM, PKT and RPK machine guns, SVD sniper rifle, AGS-17 grenade launcher and RPG-7 rocket launcher, etc.), hand-to-hand combat classes, physical, combat, engineering training and drill, explosives training, manual of arms evolutions, tactical war games, etc. A cultural development program is also important: frequent museum and theatre visits, amateur talent activities are a priority too. The cadets have participated in a celebration dedicated to the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok for years. Their participation includes martial arts and hand-to-hand combat and manual of the rifle demonstration.

    During the camps the cadets meet the highest commanding officers, what ensures a complete and reliable feedback of the commanding cadres with the upcoming generation. The most prominent of the cadets are awarded by these officers personally. It is of course clear that a boy would treasure a letter of commendation he had received from a two- or three-star general. The boys’ and parents’ attitude towards the military changes a lot after these camps.

    On such trips the cadets attend public meetings, talk to war veterans, the families of the officers, the pre-conscript youth, showcase mobile picture stands, museum exhibits, movies about PODVIG activities. As a rule, the youth find common grounds quickly, and soon one can hear quite frank talks of the healthy way of life, youth employment, importance of military service, of the future of the country, etc. There are usually loads of questions about club’s activities, its history, about the ways of creating something like PODVIG in local conditions, and even requests of becoming a PODVIG cadet. It is not rare to see local officers’ children taking part in the cadets’ activities. Even two US students became cadets and took part in military camps.

    Every camp is a great opportunity to teach the boys to be self-dependent. Keeping clean and neat is an experience and work at the same time.

    A chronology of all the events is carefully written during the whole time of the camp. The information is filed and stored in the Analytical Department of the club.

    From time to time the cadets go to trips around “The Kolyma Gold Ring” (about a thousand miles total): they stop at remote villages, meet their peers, war and labor veterans, the community. They tell about the club, show the pictures and movies, exchange gifts, show their skills – concerts, hand-to-hand combat demonstration, etc. Tours and competitions are held whenever possible. This helps the boys to learn more of the history of their region. Such meetings are interesting for both the local kids and the cadets.
Starting from 1993 the cadets annually visit China. The boys make this tour from Vladivostok, where they are stationed during most of their summer camp. This trip lasts five days. Why China? This country is Russia’s closest neighbor – just like the USA – and the border is this close to Vladivostok. Why not get hold of the opportunity? A couple hundred feet of border, and you’re in another country with its own different culture, ways of life.

    The mothers adore their children when they see them after the military camps – self-sufficient, strong, disciplined… And the stories that they tell, the new experience and impressions! That’s when the quietest kid suddenly becomes a chatterbox – when there’s either two weeks or a month and a half of fun and novelty to tell about.

    But the cadets hardly understand what effort is applied to make every trip like this happen. PODVIG has accumulated a great number of friends and sponsors for its thirty years of existence, and its requests for assistance never went unanswered. The help and support of officers and servicemen, journalists and veterans, and many different people all around the Far Eastern region of Russia make the dreams of the boys come true.