{"id":24860,"date":"2018-02-09T18:21:06","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T18:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/09\/so-you-think-you-want-a-grand-military-parade\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:08:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:08:59","slug":"so-you-think-you-want-a-grand-military-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/2018\/02\/09\/so-you-think-you-want-a-grand-military-parade\/","title":{"rendered":"So you think you want a grand military parade?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MOSCOW \u2014 Three years ago, I had the pleasure of covering my first ever Russian Victory Day parade directly from Red Square. As someone who grew up watching too many Cold War movies, I walked into the event with naive, boyish excitement. Standing front row as what felt like the entire Russian military paraded by, I must admit that it was not a disappointment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the 70th anniversary parade, a major event in contemporary Russian patriotic lore. And it was the year the Victory Day parade became something more than what may have been an earnest, albeit very Russian, event to mark a solemn and hard fought victory. As talk of a new Cold War proliferated, the parade was used to unveil scores of new vehicles and weapons for the world to see, and fear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those, like me, hoping to get a peak of what President Vladimir Putin\u2019s massive military modernization program was producing, the parade was a goldmine. Tanks roared onto the brick pavement of Red Square, followed by every armored vehicle in Russia\u2019s arsenal. Massive bombers flew in tight formation trailed by the red, white and blue stripes of their flag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy enough as an American to witness such a spectacle and wonder why the U.S. military does not parade <\/a>like the Russians do. In four years of witnessing these parades, I have concluded that it is only something that a government that feels politically or militarily insecure would do. <\/p>\n\n\n\t