Many myths, mostly of a black nature, were invented about Soviet penal battalions and companies during the Second World War. Although reality was often very far from the stories of writers, publicists and filmmakers, staying in a penal unit, Soviet soldiers and officers for the most part don't brag about it. That's just to shut up or hide it turned out not always. Especially for officers. In a number of cases, former penalty boxers were given one award.
Soldiers of the Red Army were sent to penal companies and battalions for committing criminal offenses. You could get there literally for anything, from drunkenness and alarmism to the murder of a colleague. Contrary to popular misconception, release from the penal battalion with the restoration of rank and position was by no means the only reward for feats. The command did not skimp on hanging on the chest of the penalized medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit", as well as the Order of Glory III degree.
And it was the latter that was especially disliked by the Soviet officers who had been in the penal battalion. And all because the Order of Glory III degree on the chest of a representative of the command staff of the Red Army is a direct indication that the person most likely fought in a penal unit. Why is that? In fact, everything is quite simple. The fact is that the aforementioned order is a soldier’s order and under normal conditions an officer simply could not receive it. When the commanders of the Red Army fell into the penal battalions, they were temporarily deprived of their rank and position, were listed as a "variable composition" of the unit and became privates. Only in this state did the officer have a chance to receive the mentioned award for bravery.
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Purely theoretically, an officer could earn it not in a penal battalion, but, for example, get it as a soldier. However, for this, the Soviet soldier had to make a simply brilliant career in the shortest possible time in a war. The fact is that the Order of Glory III degree was established only in November 1943. Thus, a simple soldier needed to have time to accomplish a feat, to attract the attention of the command staff, to complete accelerated officer courses and receive the rank of junior lieutenant. This is by no means unrealistic, but it is still extremely rare. Another way for an officer to receive a soldier's award is to receive it when he was a foreman. During the war years in the Red Army, an increase by one rank was attached to the Order of Glory. So some foreman had every chance of becoming a junior lieutenant even without courses.
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Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/140622/63281/
