Born 1 January 1948 in
the village of Rvy, Tula Oblast.
Education:
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Graduated from Ryazan' Airborne Troops School (1969).
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Frunze Military Academy from 1978 to 1981
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General Staff Academy (1988 - 1990).
Career:
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Commander of an airborne platoon at Kaunas. Served
as commander of a training company at the Ryazan' school, battalion
commander in Lithuania and chief of staff of a training division.
-
Deputy Commander of the 354th Airborne Regiment
in Afghanistan in 1981-1982. Six months later became Commander.
-
Chief of Staff of the 7th Airborne Division at Kaunas
1983 to 1985.
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1985 became Commander of the 103rd Airborne Division
in Afghanistan.
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Spent a total of five years and three months in the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
-
1990-1991 First Deputy Commander and then Commander
of Airborne Troops,
-
First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and
Chairman of the State Defense Committee of the RSFSR.
-
Became Deputy Commander in Chief of the CIS Joint
Armed Forces in January 1992.
-
Appointed First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia
on 3 April 1992,
-
and Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation
on 18 May1992.
-
Relieved as Minister immediately following the first
round of the June 1996 Presidential elections. (Krasnaya Zvezda 20 Jun
96 p 1).
Miscellaneous:
-
Awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
for "executing combat missions with minimal human losses" in Afghanistan.
The award was conferred after the decision was made to withdraw the troops
from the DRA. (Moscow ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA in Russian 26 Sep
92 p 7). In August 1991 Grachev, who was Commander of Airborne Troops,
refused to storm the "White House." (Komsomol’skaya Pravda 20 May
92 p 1). Minister of Defense (Krasnaya Zvezda 7 Apr 92 First Edition
p 1) ) Awarded Marshal's Star (Krasnaya Zvezda 28 Jul 92 p 1).
-
GRACHEV's son Sergey was a serving officer and
married to the daughter of Col-Gen Dmitriy KHARCHENKO (Komsomol’skaya Pravda
12 May 94 p 1).]
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