On interaction between party and Soviet bodies for staffing non-permanent crew in the Chelyabinsk school of observer pilots in 1936-1944 (based on database of the joint State archives of the Chelyabinsk region)

No less than twenty military schools of the USSR People’s Commissariat of Defense were permanently or temporarily stationed in the Chelyabinsk region in 1936-1945, apart from the military training centers and reserve units. On the eve of the World War II, the Armed Forces of the USSR transferred to a staffing system based on the Total Defence Duties Act adopted on September 1, 1939. The problem of staffing military educational institutions with non-permanent (cadet) personnel is still relevant today, being one of the important areas of military service in the Russian state. The criteria for selecting candidates for training were, in general, regular, but their role and importance depended on the changing situation in the country and at the fronts. The staffing of military schools during the Great Patriotic War was carried out at the expense of junior officers and Red Army soldiers of military units, as well as civilian youth. This process was under the control of the Party and Soviet bodies through interaction with the heads of military-educational institutions. The article examines the issues related to the solution of the staffing problem of the Chelyabinsk school of observer pilots in the pre-war and war years. This issue is considered with regard to socio-political trends in the country during this period. The documentary basis of the article was the published Orders of the People’s Commissar of Defense of the USSR (1939-1944), as well as the materials of the Joint State Archive of the Chelyabinsk region. Some documents are used for scientific study for the first time.