1916 - Volunteered for the Russian military, assigned to the 12th Army aviation division.
1917 - Graduated from the Gatchina aviation school (mechanic)
Graduated from the Kiev flight school
Graduated from the Gatchina Advanced flight school (aviator)
After the Russian Revolution, he continued to serve in the Red Latvian aviation unit.
May 31, 1919 - deserts from the Russian forces as they are about to retreat.
June 10, 1919 - joins to the Latvian forces and volunteers for the Aviation Park.
Initially, he served as an observer, needing a refresher course to reactivate his pilot skills.
Took part in many aerial actions over Riga.
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
October 17, 1919 - he and Jakubovs complete a lenghty recon mission along the route Krustabaznice aerodrome -
Kekava - Baldone - Tomsdorf - Dole - Tornakalns and home. Over Baldone they distributed propaganda leaflets, but
the primary purpose of the mission was to track troop movements on the enemy's right flank, ensuring the latvians
could safely concentrate their forces elsewhere (near Babites ezers).
November 10, 1919 - during a critical battle, he flew as observer/bomber with pilot Jakubovs,
making useful observations, dropping bombs and strafing the enemy. Their attack upon an
enemy machine gun nest led to infantry advances on the ground. The aircraft engine
failed and they were forced to come down in no-man's land, from where they crawled to their
own lines and made a detailed report to the local headquarters. This information led to a
significant breakthrough in that sector.
November 19, 1919 - Sparins, with pilot Mardoks (in Sopwith 7146), encounter an enemy reconnaissance
aircraft over Tornakalns. They attack and expended all of their ammunition, but could not bring
down the enemy plane, which escaped in the direction of Jelgava.
November 19, 1919 - V.Jakubovs (pilot) and A.Sparins (observer) complete the last sortie of the
Bermont-Avalov campaign, doing a reconnaissance and dropping bombs on the Jelgava railway station.
