166th issue of Odbrana brings to you
In his interview for ODBRANA. Brigadier General Predrag Bandic, head of "BATAJNICA 2012" Air Show highlights that an increasing number of military air forces coming from abroad are confirming their arrival, civilian aircraft from Serbia are still registering and, of course, our air force will be presented with about thirty aircraft in parade and acrobatic programme. Our goal is that the centenary of the Serbian military aviation encompass not less than 100 aircraft on the apron of the Batajnica airport. It is the right number for the century of the Serbian military aviation.
I can promise that there will be more money in that part which relates to investments in equipment and weapons for our military. I expect that the social status of officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers will not be worse, and we will do our best to improve it – Defence Minister Aleksandar Vucic pointed out during his first visit to the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff.
On the 3rd August, Serbian Army NCOs, Sergeant First Class Nebojsa Milic (37) from the 98th Aviation Brigade and Senior Sergeant Slavisa Markovic (36) from the 204th Aviation Brigade, who were killed in an accident while clearing terrain of mines in Kopaonik were buried with military honours.
In the St. Mark's Church, a memorial service was held to the victims of the "Oluja" Croatian campaign in which, seventeen years ago, about 2,000 people were killed and missed, while over 200,000 Serbs were expelled from the Knin region.
At the regatta of the River Flotilla on the Danube, the first competitive category consisted of four eight-member crews with skipper in boats of "sljupka" type, the second – five six-member crews with skipper in metal boats of "aluminium" type. The unique rowing festival drew a large number of Novi Sad citizens to the quay where they enjoyed watching the race of boats and cheered their favourites from the shore.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Serbian Armed Forces Milojko Milosavljevic, says that the importance and responsibility of the first and chief sergeants is reflected in the selection of soldiers, among which the best ones are sent to non-commissioned officer's courses. Further progress of NCOs depends on the training level, quality of work on the formation duty and desire to learn. Commanders of units, before making a decision about a soldier or a non-commissioned officer, must consult the Chief Master Sergeant and listen to his opinions, which was not the practice few years ago.
Members of the declared platoon of the Second Army Brigade distinguished themselves by the quality of their work and the level of training in the international exercise "Rapid Trident 12" in Yavoriv, near Lviv, and demonstrated that they can effectively respond to tasks in any peacekeeping mission in the world.
It is said that adrenaline shock gives a man superhuman strength, and often after that we ask ourselves – how did I manage to do it? That feeling is most common when someone save lives. Then one becomes a hero for that person, and quite often for the people surround them. "It's nothing ... Anyone would have done that if they had been in my place ... " were the words of Staff Sergeant Slobodan Rakonjac from the 72nd Reconnaissance-Commando Battalion after he had saved a drowning boy from certain death in the Tamis river. And these are exactly the right words of real and great heroes.
Lieutenant Colonel Mikan Vasiljevic, Acting Commander of the Training Command Operations Centre and the woodcutter, says that each of us has a hidden talent; something in which they are better than others. But rare are those who make the effort to improve their talent. It is not for profit, because the money is not the meaning of life, but certainly for happiness which fills the soul when you watch the work of your own hands.
When the internal combustion engine with higher power was invented in the early 20th century, the take-off of a device heavier than air – aircraft was made possible. That success of all the humanity is related to the event that was realised by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, a little more than a century ago, which marked the beginning of motor aviation era reaching today unimaginable proportions in both civil and military terms. The first planes were unarmed, and were used only for reconnaissance, but they soon began to turn into "armed flying platforms".
In the Central Military Club in Belgrade, an exhibition "Our wings" was opened marking the centenary of Serbian military aviation. The exhibition is composed of 95 photographs, chronologically classified into 29 units according to the types of aircraft produced in the Yugoslav factories after the World War II. Particularly interesting segment are the pictures of the aircraft that were once tested in the Air Test Centre, but were never serially manufactured.
Nearly one hundred and twenty years since its foundation, unconscious of echo of military boots followed by ladies' heels, UDBA hard soles and those somewhat lighter, that swam in its hall of the "new wave", visitors of the today's Student Cultural Centre - popular SKC, in Belgrade 48 Kralja Milana street, following a new, their own rhythm, keep the unstoppable pulse of life of the former Officers' Club.
The Serbian Armed Forces and painting have so much in common that it can be argued without any exaggeration that the visual arts, during development, also have its war, military phase. Suffice it to recall the First World War and the war painters in the units of the Serbian Army, which recorded on their canvases many episodes of war, refugees, the details of military life or the rest time of warriors. Lieutenant Colonel Bosko Ćućuz, Captain Igor Denic and Zeljko Markovic, members of the Army, are to continue this tradition.
Soldier Dejan Jevdjic from the Central Logistics Base won the "Golden Trumpet" at the 52nd Trumpet Festival in Guca. Since ancient times, the trumpet accompanied the army, both on the battlefield and at every celebration. So it is no surprise that the trumpet of the 32-year old Corporal from Rasna near Pozega picked up most of the sympathy of participants in the festival as early as with the first beats of the song "I am sneaking to you in the evening" and "Dunja's dance".
This year we are celebrating two centuries since the birth of Ilija Garasanin, a creator of "Nacertanije". A large number of historians believe that the Serbian people had three great statesmen in the recent history – Ilija Garasanin, Jovan Ristic and Nikola Pasic. And while Ristic and Pasic were very well educated, Garasanin was known as a "self-taught statesman".
In this issue two special supplements
- SIX DECADES OF "MILITARY TECHNICAL HERALD"
- ARSENAL 68 on the technical aspects of the domestic military aviation development.
ODBRANA can be purchased at newsstands of STAMPA and FUTURA PLUS and in VOJNA KNJIGA in Vasina 22 in Belgrade at a price of DIN 100.
