25.08.2023.

Promotion ceremony for March 2023 Class of reserve officers

A ceremony was held today at the Military Academy for the Class of March 2023 who have completed the Reserve Officer Course and were promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.

The ceremony was attended by State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence Nemanja Starović, Rector of the Defence University, Brigadier General Prof. Boban Đorović, PhD, Head of the Training and Doctrine Department, Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, Brigadier General Muharem Fazlić, and Commandant of the Military Academy, Colonel Assoc. Prof. Srđan Blagojević, PhD.

At the beginning of the ceremony, a decree passed by the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, was read, promoting Reserve Officer Course trainees to the rank of reserve second lieutenant, and State Secratary Starović presented the best candidates with awards - wristwatches.

Addressing the audience, State Secretary Starović said that today's promotion is a confirmation of successful work done by the Defence University, the Military Academy and the Medical Faculty of the Military Medical Academy, but also of personal success, determination and virtues.

- For more than a century and a half, providing reserve officer training to young, educated people has held an important place in our military. Special units and military schools, which rightly rank among our best military units and institutions, have always been entrusted with this task. In Serbia, the need for reserve officers, who would ensure a successful command of an army that had grown to a battlefield formation by calling up the reserve troops, was recognized as early as the 19th century. To address that need, the 1883 Law on the Army, which established the standing army, prescribed that educated young men, high school graduates, students and university graduates, can be trained as officers in the reserve in addition to receiving military training - State Secretary Starović said, adding that those reserve officers fought side by side with active duty officers in both Balkan Wars and the First World War, carrying the banner of freedom throughout the Balkans.

According to him, this class of Reserve Officer Course trainees has scored a high GPA after several months of hard work and dynamic training.

- This class has successfully carried out numerous tasks, representing themselves, their commander, and the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces in the best possible way - emphasized State Secretary Starović, expressing his gratitude to the families of reserve second lieutenants for the support and upbringing they have provided their loved ones with.

At the end of his address, State Secretary Starović congratulated the candidates on their promotion to reserve officers and expressed hope that they will carry their rank with dignity, with their heads held high and with honour, as befits those who continue and keep alive Serbian military traditions.

- There can be no professional, modern military without people like you. A former professor at the Military Academy, Colonel Rade Rajić, author of the book "In the Name of Military Honour", was right when he said that "an officer is a national and civil servant with the patriotic ideal as sanctity". Keep this message in mind and, whether you opt for active duty in the Serbian Armed Forces or for being in its reserve, raise our homeland, Serbia, high, as a temple that illuminates our lives, which is worth devoting your life and work to and for whose benefit we all fight together, guided by our conscience. Long live the Serbian Armed Forces! Long live Serbia! - State Secretary Starović said.

At today's ceremony, candidates were promoted to infantry, telecommunications and medical reserve officers. The best infantry candidate in this training cycle is Đorđe Nikolić (142nd class, GPA 9.22), the best candidate in the Telecommunications Service is Jovana Janković (107th class, GPA 9.00) and the best candidate in the Medical Service is Dimitrije Milovanov (20th class, GPA 9.50).

Speaking on behalf of his class, Second Lieutenant Đorđe Nikolić said that six months had passed since they first stood in formation with an honourable intention of earning the rank of second lieutenant and that they had no idea how quickly they would reach that moment, leaving behind numerous challenges and obstacles that they successfully overcame together.

- We are ready to take on the responsibility of serving our homeland and people honourably and honestly, giving our all, in the most difficult times. We have made a pledge to preserve and defend what our ancestors bequeathed to us highlighting freedom as the most sacred of things. The secret of freedom, according to the famous Pericles, rests in courage, and there is someone to teach us what courage means - said Second Lieutenant Nikolić.

Today's ceremony was attended by members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, families, relatives and friends of the promoted reserve second lieutenants.