The maroon beret is a uniform headdress. The highest form of distinction of servicemen of special purpose units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, and after 1991 of the Russian Federation.
The maroon beret is awarded as a result of challenging qualification tests and is a matter of exceptional pride.
The qualification tests for the right to wear the maroon beret are allowed for contract servicemen and conscripts (who have served in special forces for at least a year) and who have shown solid knowledge and skills in all combat training subjects of this course (with an overall rating of not lower than "good"), positively characterized in service.
The main tests are carried out in one day and include a march of at least 10 km, followed by overcoming the obstacles of the SPP (special obstacle course) in extreme conditions, examination of training for the assault of high-rise buildings, acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat.
From the moment of successful passing of the tests, the soldier has the right to wear a maroon beret with everyday and dress uniform. In the column of the military card "Special marks", a corresponding entry is made and sealed with the official seal of the unit. Later, a certificate with an identification number is issued, confirming the right to wear a maroon beret.
The exam for the maroon takes.
On April 4, 1996, by the decision of the Council of the Maroon Berets of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, with the wording "for courage and courage shown in battles", the first and only woman in Russia was awarded the first and only woman in Russia - military assistant of the 48th operational regiment "Typhoon" Galina Filippovna Kalinnikova …
Galina was born on January 14, 1963 in the city of Novocherkassk, Rostov region.
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From 1970 to 1980 she studied at secondary school number 6 in the city of Novocherkassk.
In 1987 she entered the Tselinograd Medical College located in the Kazakh SSR
After graduating from college, in 1989, she returned to her homeland and volunteered for military service - as a nurse in the Novocherkassk 1st District Military Hospital of the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the request of the commander of the forming group of special forces "Typhoon" before the trip to Nagorno-Karabakh, a nurse was assigned to the detachment. The choice fell on Galina Kalinnikova. Upon returning from a business trip, Galina submitted a report to the regiment commander, about her enrollment in the Typhoon group. The report was satisfied and in October 1992 Kalinnikova left for her second business trip to North Ossetia. During the First Chechen War, special forces of the internal troops were stationed in the village of Samashki in the Achkhoi-Martan district of Chechnya. Fierce battles were fought in these places. Thanks to her work, the lives of many fighters were saved. Captain Igor Sokolov,the deputy commander of the Typhoon, said that the surviving members of the detachment are ready to bow at her feet.
At the end of December 1994, a convoy of two Urals and an infantry fighting vehicle was ambushed by militants. The first Ural was blown up by a mine. When Kalinnikova rushed to the burning Ural to save the wounded, she realized that she herself was shell-shocked, but managed to inject the soldiers with anesthetic and bandage them.
From an interview with the magazine of special forces "Brother".
After undergoing a course of treatment at the hospital, Galina Kalinnikova submitted a report on her return to the Typhoon. The request was granted, and in April the paramedic returned to her duties. In the spring of 1995, Kalinnikova received the Order of Courage. When the special forces group was disbanded in August 1998, Galina Kalinnikova remained in the 48th operational regiment of the 100th Don. She retired in 2004 with the rank of warrant officer of the medical service.
Order of Courage.