Education
Graduated from 2 Leningrad Artillery School with distinction.
Remained at Dzerzhinsky Academy of Artillery to teach general and artillery tactics.
While launching the R-16 rocket
Generals and officers on the proving ground.
Graduated from 2 Leningrad Artillery School with distinction.
Remained at Dzerzhinsky Academy of Artillery to teach general and artillery tactics.
Since 1938:
* he served in the Red Army,
* participated in the Great Patriotic War,
* fought in battles near Babruysk,Briansk, Voronezh, Kursk,Lvov, Prague.
* By the end of the war he headed the headquarters of an artillery brigade.
In 1957, he was appointed to work at the Baikonur space centre, where being the head of its staff, he took an active part in preparing and launching the world’s first artificial satellite of the Earth.On July 2, 1958 K.Gerchik was appointed the head of the Baikonur space centre. In that position he supervised putting into operation new launchers,the creation of experimental devices and measuring points, took an active partin organizing and conducting the flight tests of the first intercontinental stations (Luna-1, Luna-2, Luna-3)and space rockets (R-7). In May 1960 K.Gerchik was given the rank of major general. On October 24, 1960, launching a R-16 rocket resulted in an accident.K.Gerchik got numerous burns and had to spend long months at a hospital.
In 1961 K.Gerchik was appointed the commander of the central command point of the missile strategictroops . In 1963 he got another appointment - the chief of staff of a missile army, and between 1972 and 1979 he was the commander of the Smolensk missile army.
In 1968 Gerchik was given a rank of lieutenant general, and in 1976 of colonel general.
In 1979 K.Gerchik resigned, became engaged in the activities of veterans’ commissions and started to write memoirs. In 1991, he was elected the Chairman of the Interregional Council of the Baikonur Space Cenre Veterans and in 2000 he became the honorary citizen of Baikonur.
As the head of the Baikonur space centre he supervised putting into operation new launchers, the creation of experimental devices and measuring points, took an active part in organizing and conducting the flight tests of the first intercontinental stations (Luna-1, Luna-2, Luna-3) and space rockets (R-7).