The IFF Veterans Club is a society that was formed after the disbandment of the OMER SKI. This club includes former ship employees who were engaged in research in the field of cosmotechnologies. The most important task of the special vessels that were sent on expeditions was to support radio communications by space mission personnel, and to monitor spacecraft in orbit. Today, the top management team of the Club, dealing with all administrative and managerial issues, is a meeting of members of the society. This meeting shall be convened at least once in twelve months. Since the meeting is quite rare, during the break all the activities of the society are led by a special Council of the Club. Its members are chosen by a general vote of all veterans of the society at once for 4 years.

Today, the chairman of the club's council is Viktor Viktorovich Mitropov. This man is a professor at the AVK, as well as a captain in military sciences, he completed his service in the rank of colonel.

History of OMER I&C

The 9th Separate Marine Command and Measurement Complex (9th OM KIK) was founded in 1973, and is part of the KIK, which was subordinate to TSUKOS, since 1970 - GUKOS is subordinate to the MO. In fact, it was a detachment of ships that had special equipment to support radio communications with astronauts and track spacecraft. In addition, these vessels carried out research work.

The group worked for almost 35 years, during this period hundreds of expeditions were carried out, a huge number of different tasks were solved, both military and civilian. The group participated not only in Soviet, but also international programs related to space. The main task of these programs was aimed at the study and exploration of space. This fleet eventually became known as the "Sea Space Fleet," in fact, it was from this name in 1997 that the name of the Club was adopted. This organization exists to this day not only because there are active members in its structure, but also because the Mitino Cultural Center took it under its care. This institution is budgetary, and belongs to the Ministry of Culture of Moscow.

The club is a community organization based on common interests, mission and goals. Each member of the society is united by a common path traveled, history, work and hobbies. Club members are united not only by military activities, but also by activities in civilian life. The organization works in accordance with the laws of the RF, in addition, the club has a charter. All tasks and goals of the club are determined by the leadership of the organization.

In order to fulfill the tasks of patriotic education of the younger generation and the preservation of heritage, with the assistance of the cultural center, a special exposition of the Morflot Museum was created. Now this organization is also part of the Union of Veterans of the Space Forces. With the advent of the museum, most of the organization's activities are aimed at promoting achievements in the field of cosmonautics, as well as the achievements of Russian science, and so on.

How the museum began to work

Since the beginning of its foundation and in the next ten years, the museum has been headed by Valentin Fedorovich Zhidkin. He began managing the museum until 2015, starting this year, the management of the IFF council was entrusted to Elena Borisovna Mitropova. Under her leadership, a search is carried out for documents that refer to both the ships themselves and the participants in the expeditions. Today, the museum fund consists of more than 1000 exhibits, which allowed it to enter the general network of Russian museums related to the history of cosmonautics. Items included in the museum fund are included in the archival and museum funds of the Space Forces of the Russian Federation and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the constant development of the museum and a large exhibition fund, the IFF has a special certificate issued by the Moscow Museum.

It is worth noting that society and the museum are engaged in wide activities in the field of science and the history of the development of cosmonautics. That is why the Club is in close cooperation, but only with the state corporation Roscosmos, but also with a large number of other organizations related to science. This is the Cosmonautics Museum related to the exhibition of achievements of the national economy (VDNH), and the Moscow Polytechnic, and the Department of Culture of the capital, and the Museum of the World Ocean, and so on.

What's Happening Today

Today, the Club annually participates in seminars and conferences of both regional and all-Russian level. In addition, members of the organization often participate in academic readings, in round tables devoted to the discussion and study of issues related to the problems of the history of space exploration.

Museums and members of the society pay great attention to publishing and literary activities, especially with regard to the memoirs of members of the club. For this, universal assistance is provided in collecting materials for memoirs and in their subsequent publication. Since the formation of the club, a significant number of not only memoirs, but also monographs have been released. In particular, with memories of expeditions and long sea trips.

There are certain dates on which the council of the society constantly conducts mandatory fees for members, this is the formation day of the 9th OM KIK, the so-called part day and, of course, Cosmonautics Day. The first meeting is held on April 26, the second on November 12. These days, representatives of society not only communicate with each other, discussing various issues related to space and research, but also talk about their experience, and communicate with each other about their life. On these days, people who are not members of the council and are not members of the club, but associated with science, space and research, are also invited to meetings. First of all, these are past and current astronauts, scientists, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and Space Forces. Veterans of the Second World War and public figures often catch up.

The club's activities attracted the attention of representatives of the current government, including representatives of the Russian government. For active participation in the patriotic education of Russian citizens, several members of the organization were awarded honorary badges, most of the club members also have certificates of honor. Representatives of the club received most of the awards in 2009, and they were awarded by employees of the current Aerospace Forces and GICS Titov. At the beginning of 2019, the VKS flag was solemnly awarded to the Club Museum by representatives of the VKS on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief.

Over the past period, society has paid increasing attention to the preservation of a huge heritage in the field of astronautics. It is worth noting the special role of society in preserving the last research vessel Cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev. Thanks to the efforts of the society, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation decided to accept the ship as part of the Patriot Military Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation. True, so far the acceptance of the vessel has not happened. However, representatives of society are still actively working to resolve this issue, including addressing the president of the country, as well as deputies of the State Duma, Ministers of Culture and the Ministry of Defense, and so on.

The club's activities were not suspended even during the epidemic, in order to solve the problems facing society, a special form of work and cooperation was developed in a difficult epidemiological situation. In particular, members of the society actively interact using modern applications and services for remote interaction, including Skype, Zoom, TimWewer and social networks. Various portals constantly host materials related to the history of the domestic cosmonautics and fleet, as well as rocket science. In particular, a special chat was created, which includes almost all club members and representatives of the Club Council. This led to discussion of current issues, as well as collegial decisions.

Society plays a significant role in the education of the younger generation, its members not only try to convey useful information to young people, but also seek to respect the rights of each member and defend their interests. What is the International Law of the Sea, the history of research and expeditions of the 9th OM KIK, the achievements of modern cosmonautics and the fleet, these and other questions can always be answered from the veterans of the Club's Command and Measurement Complex.

E-mail: kapitanov2006@yandex.ru

Ph. (917) 507-75-11