These words are written on the banner of the well-known security corporation "Condor"in the Ural region. These are the basic principles by which employees of the company, established in November 1991 for the purpose of social protection and rehabilitation of military personnel of the Armed Forces, security agencies and troops and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, discharged from the reserve, veterans of the Afghan war and other armed conflicts, live and work. Today, every third employee of the corporation is a former officer or ensign of the Armed Forces. It is headed by Reserve Colonel Sergey Aksenenko, whom our correspondent met.

- Sergey Alekseevich, how did your career as an officer develop?

- In 1972, I graduated from the Baku Higher Combined Arms Command School. I got to serve in the Carpathian military district as a commander of a motorized rifle platoon, which I commanded for only two months. It was the same as now, the period of rejuvenation of the army. I got a company. Eight months later, he left to serve in the Group of Soviet Troops in Germany, where for three years he also commanded a company. Then again, he served in the Prequel-as the chief of staff of the battalion, the battalion commander. In 1982-1984, he fought in Afghanistan and commanded a mountain infantry battalion. Replaced by the Ural Military District. First he was the commander of a training battalion, then the chief of staff and commander of a motorized rifle regiment.

- In the book "Password-revolution" there is an essay "Third Battalion", which tells about you and your service in Afghanistan. The author mentions that you are from a military dynasty...

"It really is. My father Alexey Yefimovich, political instructor of the Great Patriotic War, retired lieutenant Colonel. My two younger brothers and I became officers. All graduated from the same school.

- Sergey Alekseevich, you are a combat officer, a knight of the Order of the Red Star, a person about whom the song "My Lieutenant", popular among "Afghans", is even written... And yet, which of the moments of your army biography remains the most memorable for you?

- I remember crossing the Hairaton Bridge from Afghanistan to the USSR for the rest of my life. I did not return from the war in the usual way - on foot, not by plane, as most people do. He served 160 kilometers from Hairaton, in Northern Afghanistan, where the Taliban are currently fighting the opposition, in the province of Samangan. The provincial government gave me a black Volga. Accompanied by my two APCs, I drove up to the bridge and walked across it. All the documents were in my hands, and from the things - a soldier's duffel bag, in which all my belongings fit. In the middle, where the white line was drawn, I wanted to do something memorable. I had a pack of cigarettes with me - I smoked a lot then. I threw my cigarettes away in the Amu Darya and decided that from now on I would not smoke any more... But that's not why the memory of this transition lives on in me. I suddenly realized that I was starting a new life. The war is over. And what lies ahead should have been, in my opinion, beautiful!

- Didn't you feel like you were coming back as a different person?

- I did not return as a different person, but as a person with different life values. What had seemed important before the war suddenly seemed so insignificant... Take the basic everyday troubles, which are quite a lot in the life of an officer: the lack of a roof over your head, material difficulties... None of this seemed so important. There are some things that are more valuable: relationships between people, attitudes to life itself, to your loved ones. I learned to enjoy communication with friends, with nature, enjoy the sun...

- The question arises: why did a promising officer who graduated in absentia from the Frunze Military Academy, the commander of one of the few deployed regiments of the Ural Military District at that time, decide to leave the Armed Forces?

- At the end of 1993, I realized that the current situation in the country and the army is disastrous for the cause to which I devoted my life. The decision was very difficult: sleepless nights, endless thoughts... And there was even a piece of paper with two columns: "for" and "against"...

- How did your life develop "in civilian life"?

- The question of where to apply your army experience, how to get settled in a peaceful life, certainly arises for everyone who leaves the army system. He worried me, too. There were different offers. I unknowingly accepted one of them. He went to work in the security service of a seemingly respectable company, then was appointed deputy general director for security of a now infamous association. Two months later, I realized that what they do there, to put it mildly, comes into certain contradictions with Russian legislation, and I quit. I haven't worked anywhere for several months. It was the most difficult period. It felt like life was over. So I was in a state of depression until I met Oleg Vladimirovich Borisov, also a former officer, a military counterintelligence officer. He left three years earlier than I did, and during that time he set up a security company, the Condor Corporation. He was one of its founders and then its head. We talked to him. This, I believe, was the beginning of the real countdown of my civilian life.

The corporation was created just for the social rehabilitation of people like me, former military personnel and law enforcement officers. The basic principles of the company turned out to be very close to me: traditions, relationships between employees, attitude to the profession.

I consider it characteristic of Condor to take care of each individual employee. Here's just one example. Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Nazarov worked for us for some time. Then he returned to the army, was sent to the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, where, after serving for a year, he died. The corporation, despite economic difficulties, bought his family a two-room apartment. The widow receives a monthly allowance from Condor.

- Probably, this is the implementation of the words that are written on the banner of the corporation: "In work - professionalism, in friendship - reliability!"

- Among other things, there is also the corporate code, which is mandatory for everyone who wants to work for us. The Code is our ideology. If the person being accepted to Condor doesn't like it, that's clear: we won't work together.

- Please tell us about the people who work at Condor.

"The people are wonderful. Moreover, specialists of various military professions. We have representatives of all branches of the armed forces. In particular, we have a former pilot - instructor Rashid Kashapovich Mingazeev, one of the best operational duty officers. Excellent specialists are former Chief Intelligence Officer Igor Nikolayevich Ushakov, former paratrooper officer Gennady Mikhailovich Borisov, former border guard Hero of Russia Sergey Evlanov and other great guys, including those who passed the Chechen War.

- A few words about the tasks that the corporation solves.

- Our tasks are specific: this includes physical security, protection of offices, banks, and cargo escorts. This includes explosion safety, which is provided by a unit headed by an "Afghan", a former sapper officer Valery Arkhipov, who has about 17 thousand mine clearance operations behind him. By the way, this is the only division of its kind in Russia. Now we are moving to the international level: our specialists are invited to work in Angola and Yugoslavia. In addition, we provide a lot of security advice. We have our own security training school. There is a solid dog training service.

- What would you like to wish to the officers serving in the Armed Forces and those who are preparing to leave for the reserve today?

- I want to wish the current officers that everyone really feels like an officer who is taken care of by the state. And to those who are preparing for retirement in the reserve, I want to say: your life does not end, but its new round begins. Your knowledge and experience gained in the Armed Forces will also help you "in civilian life".

The conversation was conducted by Colonel Alexander KERDAN, senior permanent correspondent for the Ural Military District of Orientir magazine.

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