Joined the AFU via TIKTOK? TOP recruiting in the “ROLAND” UAV unit. From AWOL to drone pilots!

Speaker 1

It's okay that you can't complete this task. You know, a soldier will be found who performs this task better. And you, then, will be able to complete some other task.

Speaker 2

We are currently in the BPS "Rolland" battalion, and most of the servicemen joined this battalion through social networks. The guys were filming humorous videos, and of course, this yielded results. Now they have a fully formed battalion. And what is interesting is that most of them were AWOL. And let's ask them about their experience, how they managed to do this.

Speaker 1

We are moving the antenna to a better spot for better communication quality. At the beginning of the battalion's formation, we had a general problem with personnel. Tytse did not provide enough people for there to be enough for us as well. Therefore, we decided to find people on our own.

Speaker 4

Petro the media guy, he shows, basically, life in the army. Meaning, most of the videos [show] what every soldier, sergeant there goes through. In combat, in battle, and so on. Meaning, I gave him free rein. We were sent coordinates, we need to take off.

Speaker 3

There is such a big spider there. I'm afraid to go out. Get the magazine from Magduk. Come on, read it. They turned on the jamming. It was there yesterday. The drone isn't working. They won't believe it. Batkyne charging on the retrik carrier. But that was the day before yesterday. The generator isn't running. They won't believe it, again. We are moving the antenna to a better place for a higher quality connection. That's how we'll do it.

Speaker 1

There is a lot of military content on the internet. Humor eased the tension a bit, it helped draw attention in general, so that people would click through, so that they would see us as living, real people. And this helped develop recruiting.

Speaker 5

Why is it day outside? Reprimand. It should be night.

Speaker 1

Syros too. Reprimand. And what are you doing on the positions? Clean and with a haircut. Reprimand. People will look now and say that you are not fighting. Reprimand. You are shaming the honor of the unit. You should be dirty, unshaven, and stinking.

Speaker 4

Reprimand. I copped a reprimand from senior management for one video. That's life. Plus or minus one reprimand, it won't affect anything, but…

Speaker 1

People repost, they smile, repost, and all of this works for us.

Speaker 5

Andryukha, and one last thing. I'm going to the position. And

Speaker 2

Why such bad luck? A company commander who was in the SZSI himself. Yes, yes. What percentage of the unit you have now recruited consists of those who are themselves from the SZSI?

Speaker 5

95% of personnel.

Speaker 4

This is better than from the street, just freshly mobilized, because time needs to be spent on him for basic military training.

Speaker 4

And here we already have an experienced soldier. The majority of ours, 90%, are from the infantry. And they just need to be retrained in terms of specialty.

Speaker 5

We uploaded targeted videos. That is, each video corresponded to a specific profession.

Speaker 4

Looking for a chief technician

Speaker 5

companies of the unmanned systems battalion. Combat crews need FPV pilots and heavy bombers, as well as winged drone pilots. When we were looking for drivers, we recorded a video directly. We are looking for drivers for trips to the front line or for rear positions. Such categories and skills are required. And people responded in the comments or wrote to us in the spreadsheet.

Speaker 1

We have positions for you, even if you don't learn to fly. In my profile description

Speaker 3

Pinned questionnaire.

Speaker 1

When we started receiving so many applications that I realized I couldn't handle it alone, the commanders themselves began recruiting fighters. In other words, every company commander, every separate platoon commander, was responsible for recruiting personnel specifically for their own unit. Meaning, if you take a crappy soldier, you'll be serving with him. Somewhere

Speaker 4

Three to three and a half thousand questionnaires passed through us. That is, company commanders, platoon commanders called people who left questionnaires, some civilians left them, and civilians joined who passed without OVP. That is, someone tried through a recommendation, then they wrote on our TikTok that here is everything they said,

Speaker 1

That's how it is. As soon as a profile appeared, everyone rushed to quickly block that person for themselves, so that only he would call her, and not someone else. Many people didn't believe that recruiting was conducted this way. They thought it was some kind of deception, that we were somehow deceiving people. They needed to see live communication between real, living people. We held live streams every evening for two to three hours. In our chat, there were

Speaker 5

also our commanders. I will answer people's questions. In other words, I explained how it will actually be, how the training will go, what I guarantee him, what I cannot guarantee him, how the recovery process will go.

Speaker 6

Washes away sins, erases memories of exes, lifts ancestral curses, clears credit history, removes territorial claims, cures separatism.

Speaker 2

Was there some trust right away?

Speaker 7

Honestly, yes. Because for all, even such tiny, tiny questions, I immediately had an answer. I went in, saw one video, saw two, then watched a couple of streams, there was communication, different people write there, they ask such questions.

Speaker 4

When we started forming, we only had the core of the battalion. That is, about 40 people in the battalion.

Speaker 1

…was. In five months, we completely formed the battalion. Every day, when you work with real people, express emotions, it encourages you again. Every morning you wake up with a specific purpose, with a goal. This helps you continue to serve, live, smile, keep your spirits up, and encourage others. I think that is what our entire battalion generally holds onto—some positive emotions from the work, from the media side, from everything that surrounds us.