01.04.2022.
New issue of "ODBRANA"
Which Army battalion was the best, and which Training Command instructor was the best in 2021, what do we get from the reorganization of the Psychological Department, how do we remember Košare and Rogovo, and where is true humanity best reflected - are just some of the topics covered by the April issue of "Odbrana."
The changes that were recently introduced as part of the reorganization of the Department for the Development of Psychological Activity (Personnel Department, Human Resources Sector) have confirmed that caring for people is the same as faith in humankind. That is the topic of the special section in the April issue of "Odbrana".
In order for our System section to be creative, authentic and rich, we have visited the Second Army Brigade’s 21st Infantry Battalion in Raška, which was awarded the Best Army Battalion 2021 pennant, and talked to the unit commander, Major Vladimir Božović, his associates, and Sergeant Major Rade Labović, the Training Command’s best instructor.
About 20 regular trainings and exercises were carried out in SAF units in March. Pilots, scouts, divers, pontoniers, artillerymen, tankers, military police officers, members of armoured and infantry units underwent training. On March 7, the basic training began for military volunteers (Class of March 2022) in the Serbian Armed Forces Training Centres in Sombor, Valjevo and Leskovac. We visited them in Valjevo wanting to hear their first impressions, experiences and expectations. Apparently, it was a successful "baptism of fire".On the occasion of the Military Academy Day, we have prepared texts about the demonstration of the cadets' skills, but also about the recently formed Section of Applied Electronics, which has presented four exceptional projects to the public. The April issue of "Odbrana” contains two texts about Serbian peacekeepers, their charity work, and the challenges of serving in Africa, based on the experience of Lieutenant Colonel Milan Đokić, who has just returned from EUTM-Somalia.
The magazine contains the portraits of two exceptional people - Colonel Snežana Vasić, PhD, Head of the Defence Preparations Planning Section, Defence Obligations Department, who belongs to the first generation of women officers, and was the first woman to complete the Advanced Security and Defence Studies, and Senior Sergeant First Class Aleksandar Strelić, a squad leader at 28th Mechanized Battalion support POLO company (Second Army Brigade), who raised funds together with his colleague Senior Sergeant First Class Nikola Bjeletić, and put in a great deal of effort to help Marija Lešević, cancer patient, and her seven-year-old daughter Ivana, by fully renovating their dilapidated house in the Kraljevo village of Samaila.
The texts describe the exploits of these two exceptional people, they teach us perseverance and humanity. They teach us how to achieve goals despite the obstacles, with the help of indomitable will, desire and dedication.
The topic of the Military Technology section is the new "Cessna 408" freighter. We have dedicated three texts to the anniversary of the NATO aggression. At the end of January 1999, there was a conflict with a larger terrorist group near the village of Rogovo, municipality of Prizren. Later, it turned out that this conflict was supposed to initiate the aggression against the FRY, a few months before Račak. Brigadier General Stojan Konjikovac (retd) gives a first-person account of what really happened in the village of Rogovo.
Sergeant Major Saša Radojević, deputy commander of the "Košare" outpost, testifies that the battle of Košare was a battle that united Serbia.
Media Centre "Odbrana" has also made a contribution to keeping alive the memory of the struggle and the strong resistance against the 1999 aggression by publishing almost 20 titles as part of its "Warrior", "Witness" and "Experience of War" editions over the past four years. The promotion of the latest book in the "Witness" edition, "Golubovci" Airport - from Aggression to Secession by Dr. Luka Kastratović, a retired major general, was held in mid-March at the Central Military Club in Belgrade.
The Culture section presents another new book - "Strategy and Geography", whose promotion was held at the Military Academy. The same section presents the programme schedule and efforts of the first private military television called "Front".
The text about military theorist Carl von Clausewitz confirms that analyzing the history is useful for understanding the present time. The text about Nadežda Petrović, the most important early 20th century Serbian painter, volunteer nurse in three wars, founder of the Circle of Serbian Sisters, one the world’s first women war photographers shows how precious and unforgettable every life sacrificed for the homeland is. Her paintings, humanity and her homeland Serbia were her whole life.
