Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel (pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is an elite Russian special forces unit, under the command of the FSB. Vympel is the sister unit of Spetsgruppa "A" (Alpha Group), an FSB unit. Origins KUOS As most of the training in the KGB academy concentrated on plainclothes operational work focused on espionage and counter-espionage, in 1955 the First Chief Directorate of the service established the Development Courses for Officer Personnel ( (), Latinized abbreviation KUOS) – a training cadre with the purpose of training general duty KGB officers in irregular warfare and combat tactics for clandestine operations overseas or as a stay-behind cadre and backbone for the formation of partisan units in case of a foreign invasion. In 1966 these courses were taken out of the structure of the First Chief Directorate and co-located as an independent training center together with the training center of the Soviet Border Troops (the KGB's own military force) in Golitsyno, Moscow Oblast. The KUOS graduates had their baptism by fire during the Prague Spring in 1968. A year later the KUOS was absorbed into the KGB Academy (Higher Red Banner School of KGB of the USSR, ) as part of the students' curriculum – initially a three-month course. In 1970 the KUOS relocated again to Balashikha, the position of the director was promoted from a KGB Major/Captain 2nd Rank to a KGB Colonel/Captain 1st Rank and the duration of the training increased to seven months. Zenyth The main purpose of the KUOS center was the regular and irregular combat training of KGB Academy cadets as part of the establishment's curriculum. The secondary purpose was in case of a rising tension in a specific region to generate a tailored task group out of the cadets currently in an advanced stage of their training. Such example is the Operation Storm-333 (), which gained a legendary status in Russia. From the cadre of KUOS the Special Operations Task Group Zenyth was formed to take part in the liquidation of the Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin alongside the Grom Team (Russian for "thunder") of the KGB's Alpha Group. The Zenyth Task Group was headed personally by the director of KUOS Colonel Grigoriy Boyarinov (who was in charge of the KUOS