The strength and patience of generals' wives are legendary. Not every woman can withstand years of travel from one garrison to another, the lack of comfortable living conditions and the constant expectation of her husband from service. In our material, the generals of Russia talk about what sacrifices their spouses have to make and what qualities a real general's wife should have.
Colonel General Valery Baranov It is only in the cinema that a woman marries a general. In real life, she usually marries a lieutenant, a senior lieutenant, or, at most, a captain. Yes, every officer dreams of being a general. But I, for example, graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command School, and there are now six generals from our platoon of 30 people. From a company with more than 100 cadets, there were about 12 of us (generals). So count how many officers 'wives become generals' wives.
Being the wife of an officer is a very difficult, difficult duty. After all, an officer, especially a junior officer, is on duty all the time, he practically does not come home. If this is a deployed military unit, then these are obligatory night training in firepower training, shooting and driving. In addition, once a week, you still need to go to the outfit. And there are only seven days in a week. It's good if you spend at least two or three days completely overnight at home.
For example, her husband became a regiment commander; she has to meet and interact with the wives of the regiment's officers. There is no such thing that she does not participate in the life of a regiment, division in a certain direction. This is the same commonality between husband and wife, they work for the same business.
I changed my place of service 19 times, served in Mongolia, Transbaikalia, GSVG (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. - M24), the North Caucasian Military District, in the Moscow Military District and many others. My wife has been with me all this time. In food, we officers are usually picky: what my wife cooked, we eat. She also does not have enough time for everything: children, cooking, household chores. Today women say: when Saturday and Sunday come, I work in all-inclusive mode: the washing machine is on, the stove is on, and everything else is also on.
Any woman, if she marries, even if not for a military man, has to sacrifice something. Only by sacrificing something, you can create a good, wonderful family and live in peace and harmony for as long as my wife and I have lived, and this is already 47 years.
Colonel-General Viktor Barynkin First of all, the general's wife should be tolerant. Secondly, deep love and respect for her husband. Tolerance is expressed in the fact that she always has to wait. It is necessary to be able to withstand it.
And then, wives get more, because they have children. As a rule, officers do not do enough with raising children. They also carry the whole family, all the household, so even the officer's move to a new place of service is handled by the wife herself. The officer took the suitcase and drove away, while his wife took care of the rest. Therefore, one can only envy them: their tolerance, love and respect for their spouse.
General of the Army Anatoly Kulikov A general's wife must have such qualities as to be able to go all her life with her husband from lieutenant to general. We have been together with my wife for 52 years now, we have three children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. My wife never resented and did not interfere when it was necessary to move in the service to a new place. And I had to do it as many as 19 times. And where did we not live! Even in the barracks.
In general, in such marriages there are a lot of women who came from military families. After all, a lot depends on what kind of education the future wife of the officer received in her family. If she is not spoiled, if she knows and understands the difficulties and hardships of military service, then, of course, she will walk this path with her husband with dignity. But the main thing is her devotion, love for her children, the ability to quickly settle in a new place, cook and be able to wait for her husband.
Natalia Loskutnikova
