"We are already very excited in this trip. We are already at Clark Airbase and we are waiting our flight, an Ilyushin IL-96, in which on board is one of the most powerful people in the world, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. President Aquino is already in Moscow, and we are the guests of honor in this event, so a sense of pride and honor were with us. And not a minute too soon, the IL-96 of the Russian Federation lands on the tarmac and the honor guards were already on attention, M14s in hand, and the Russian delegation began to step down from their plane. And of course President Putin stepped down, followed by
No. 2 Dmitry Medvedev, and the heads of the Russian Armed Forces. We saluted them, and then we got to shake their hands. Then, they invited us inside their IL-96. As soon as I first stepped foot inside the plane, you could feel that you were teleported to a Russian History Museum. From the paintings from the time of the Czars, to models, maps and portraits from the time of the Soviet Union, to the charts and leaders of the Russian Federation. With insistence, the Russians offered English subbed episodes, and we offered Russian subbed episodes to them in return. I was so interested in watching old Soviet Military films, that the Head of the Strategic Rocket Forces himself showed me a video of pretty much every single rocket used by them, from the V2s they captured from Germany post-WWII, to the R7 Semyorka, the world's first ICBM, to Frogs, Lunas, Scuds and Iskander Tactical Ballistic Missiles to the Topol and Topol-M and the RS-24 Yars. My other friend is interested in subs, and the other one in guns, and another one in tanks, and another one in planes, and another one in naval vessels. Our Corps Commander was more interested in the leaders, so he got to talk more with Putin and Medvedev than the rest of us.
One thing is certain though. We represent the Philippines in this year's Victory Parade, a first time ever, so we must not let them down. So I guess this is Goodbye Philippines and Hello Russia.
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ROTC Exchange trip to Moscow
RandomChosen ROTC Cadets and Officers have been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get in an exchange trip to one of the most powerful militaries in the world, the Russian Armed Forces and are just in time to participate in the largest and grandest of a...
