DOSAAF was the name a paramilitary society of the Soviet Union, Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Army, the Air Force and the Navy. It is a transliteration of the Russian abbreviation ДОСААФ, Добровольное Общество Содействия Армии, Авиации и Флоту. The society was preserved in a number of post-Soviet Republics, e.g., in Russia and Belarus. The name is changed in some of them, e.g., in Ukraine the counterpart is "Society of Assistance to Defense of Ukraine", and in Russia in december, 1991 it was reformed into the Russian Defence Sports-Technical Organization Российская оборонная спортивно-техническая организация - РОСТО.

The stated goal of the society was "patriotic upbringing of the population and preparation of it to the defense of the Motherland". Among the means in achieving these goals was the development of paramilitary sports. Initially, an important goal was financial support of Soviet military, by means of membership fees, subscriptions, lottteries, and donations. At the same time, ordinary sports were also supported within the framework of DOSAAF facilities: sports halls, stadiums, swimming pools.

History

OSOAVIAHIM

The precursor of DOSAAF was OSOAVIAHIM (ОСОАВИАХИМ, Союз обществ содействия обороне и авиационно-химическому строительству СССР, Union of Societies of Assistance to Defence and Aviation-Chemical Construction of the USSR) created on January 27, 1927 by merging the Society of Assistance to Defence (Общество Содействия Обороне (ОСО)), Society of Friends of the Aviation Fleet (Общество друзей Воздушного флота (ОДВФ)) and Society of Friends of the Chemical Defense and Chemical Industry (Общество друзей химической обороны и химической промышленности (Доброхим СССР)). Its goal was preparation of reseves for armed forces. Soon it has become a powerful militarized organization, with its own airdromes, radio clubs, parachute towers and firing ranges. It became prestigious and romantic among the youth to earn badges of "Voroshilov Sharpsooter" (Ворошиловский стрелок), Voroshilov Rider (Ворошиловский всадник), of distingushed parachute jumper, etc. Gradually, OSOAVIAHIM turns into a kind of back-up army training, its courses including such advanced disciplines as tactics, topography and armamament. Unlike usual draft, a person could join OSOAVIAHIM as early as at the age of 14. By 1941, the head count of OSOAVIAHIM was estimated by 13 mln.

Post-WWII

In March, 1948 OSOAVIAHIM was reorganized into three societies: Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Army (Добровольное общество содействия армии (ДОСАРМ)), Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Air Force (Добровольное общество содействия авиации (ДОСАВ)) и Voluntary Society of Assistance to the Navy (Добровольное общество содействия флоту (ДОСФЛОТ)). They were merged back into a single society, DOSAAF in August, 1951.

Late Soviet Union

Like with many other things in the late Soviet Union, the word "voluntary" actually meant "obligatory". For example, every member of Komsomol had to be member of DOSAAF (and the majority of the Soviet youth had to be comsomol members, e.g., if they wanted to receive higher education). The membership fee for students was small (e.g., in 1960s-1970s it was 10 kopeck).

See also

• SVAZARM

External link

• ROSTO, Russian Defence Sports-Technical Organization