In 1937, Ivan Mikhailovich was drafted into the Armed forces. He was sent to Saratov to the Red Banner collective tank school. In early June 1941, he graduated from the school and was sent for further service to the city of Vilnius in Lithuania. He arrived at the unit on June 18, and on June 20, their tank unit was already standing on the Western border and waiting for something. There was already talk that there would be a war. On June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, shooting began, German reconnaissance planes circled in the air. At this moment, they knew that they would fight the Germans. The Western troops were surrounded, many soldiers were captured. Ivan Mikhailovich was contused, but he was not taken to the hospital, as there was simply no hospital. Only at the end of August 1941, they managed to fight their way out of the encirclement around Bryansk. There he was received an order to go to Voronezh, and from there, to Stalingrad. His regiment participated in the defense of Stalingrad, for which all the participants were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" and a commemorative badge. The battle of Stalingrad taught many of its participants courage and bravery. After the defeat of the Germans, the regiment was sent to the city of Kurgan to train tank crews for the frontlines. Ivan Mikhailovich fought on the BT-7 tank and trained young specialists to operate it. The war was going on, the equipment was changing, and T-34 tanks were being produced. To teach people, you had to retrain yourself. In 1944, he was sent to Leningrad to the panzer school, from which he graduated in May 1945. There he got the joyful news of the long-awaited victory. Few people survived the war and returned without injuries. Ivan Mikhailovich burned twice in the tank and suffered a concussion. After the war, he served in Germany, Belarus, and Ukraine, and was discharged with the rank of major. He returned home, worked as a Chairman of the Village Council in Baldat, then the district committee sent him to Gubden as the director of forestry. In 1962, he transferred to the Kizner military unit and worked as a security chief. There, he, finally, went on his well-deserved retirement. Ivan Mikhailovich lived a long and heroic life, together with his wife they raised and supported four daughters. He died on January 28, 2002 at the age of 85. He was awarded with medals: "For bravery", "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"," Order of the Red Star"," Order of Lenin"," Order of the Red Banner", "Order of the Patriotic War of the II degree".