Soviet Political Officers question

[Matt Wiser]

One thing about the Soviet (and Pact) armed forces were the Political Officers. One question that comes to mind is: were they Party Hacks by and large, or did they have some training to function as line officers should circumstances dictate? This would be true in such units as airborne, air-assault, and Naval Infantry, as well as tank, motor-rifle, and both artillery and air-defense arms. If you've read the book Hostile Waters the Zampolit on K-219 was the most hated man on the boat: even the KGB Security Officer was respected-mainly because not only had he been to sub school, but was a qualified watch officer-and he took his turn as Officer of the Watch, which earned him the crew's respect. Before the accident, the Zampolit was giving a lecture in the crew's mess, and the skipper decided to do a Crazy Ivan. The exec reminded him "Sir, the Zampolit is giving a lecture in the crew's mess." And the Captain replied, "So? Seeing him fall on his ass would be good for morale." The man was later banned from the sub service after it was found out that he'd been the first officer into a raft, even before some injured crew, despite the skipper's order that the officers were to be the last off the boat, after making sure all of their men were accounted for.
One other skipper, the Captian of K-108 (an Echo-II SSGN) was another skipper who had no use for Political Officers: he considered them drunks, pests, inept nags, and useless cargo that he had to haul around. "You have been as useful as a suitcase on my submarine for the last two months", he told a Zampolit after the man berated the skipper for playing jazz on the PA system to pump up the crew (from Blind Man's Bluff).

And were SAF political officers even rated pilots or ground officers?