[1] Trained as a reconnaissance pilot, he participated in military operations against the Basmachis and in the Spanish Civil War as a soldier-internationalist.
[2][3] There were 13 children in his family, but only five lived to adulthood; in 1928 he became head of the local committee of laborers.
[5] After joining the army he was stationed in the Turkmen SSR and became an assistant platoon commander[5] in the 82nd Special Cavalry Brigade.
[3] In 1934 he was appointed as the senior observer pilot and head of the photographic service in the 40th Special Aviation Detachment, based in Stalinabad.
[4] Promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1936, he continued to serve in aviation, becoming a navigator in 1937 and later being admitted to the N. E. Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in Moscow.