"General Staff of the Worker and Peasant Red Army
February 17th, 1937
#57198s
To:
Commander of the Leningrad Military District, Army Commander 1st Class comrade Shaposhnikov
Chief of Ordnance and Technology Supply of the RKKA, Army Commander 2nd class comrade Khalepskiy
Chief of Artillery of the RKKA, Division Commander Rogovskiy
Chief of the Automobile and Armour Directorate of the RKKA, Division Commander comrade Bokis
The General Staff of the RKKA considers it necessary to create a battery consisting of the four SU-5 SPGs with 122 mm howitzers out of those assigned to the 11th Mechanized Brigade with all necessary support units and carry out large scale trials.
The plan of trials and a detailed program is to be jointly composed by the Chief of Artillery, Division Commander Rogovskiy, and ABTU Chief, Division Commander Bokis, to be presented for approval no later than March 1st.
The report to the Chief of the General Staff of the RKKA on the results of the trials will be composed by Division Commander Rogovskiy and Division Commander Bokis, which must participate in the trials personally or send a personal representative, in order to determine the effectiveness of these vehicles as artillery support for mechanized brigades.
I ask the commander of the Leningrad Military District, Army Commander 1st Class comrade Shaposhnikov, as well as the Chief of Ordnance and Technology Supply, Army Commander 2nd Class comrade Khalepskiy, to establish the deadline for the trials and provide said trials with all necessary supplies.
I ask Army Commander 1st Class comrade Shaposhnikov to take part in the trials.
Inform me of the timeframe of the trials.
Acting Chief of the General Staff of the RKKA, Corps Commander Levichev"