Elite, confident ready for action, the "ВДВ" (Airborne) of Russia are the best-trained best-conditioned fighting force of Russia's military. First, the Russians are "inventor or innovators" of the airborne forces forming the first parachute units in the early 1930s. The rumor of the United States or Germany having been the first nations to deploy soldiers from aircraft is utterly false in fact, and as with all other modern day military technology, the Soviets were first and rest of the world followed. Early day Russian paratroopers had no fear of death. One example of their bravery was in order to get more troops to the drop zone these brave men would climb on top of wing of the plane lay face down holding to a rope and once aircraft was over drop zone they would let go of rope and jump off the plane... In 1939, Soviet paratroopers had the distinction of making the first combat jump in history when they dropped behind the Finnish lines during the Soviet invasion of Finland… During World War II, Russian Airborne troops totaling approximately 14,000 men were dropped into the rear area of the Nazi German forces attacking Moscow. The Russian paratroopers fought bravely in the line for four months defeating the Nazi’s making this the longest-running airborne operation in history. 87Over the years, the 76th division participated in many historic battles most recently Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Chechnya. The paratroopers of the 76th are proud brave disciplined tough fighters used in counter-terrorism and peacekeeping missions their blue berets literally can be seen in every conflict zone in the world. Today, the proud heritage of 76th "ВДВ" division continues and it gives me great honor, say these men are my friends... Carlo DiSieno