28.05.2017.
Training of reserve element at Peskovi range
Training of members of the reserve element of Belgrade Brigade is ongoing at Peskovi Independent Automated Shooting Range in the vicinity of Pozarevac.
The segment of the training today – preliminary firing from infantry armament and exercising of a mortar platoon in firing at this range was toured by Head of Training Section in the Training and Doctrine Department of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Colonel Bosko Zoric.
Talking about the importance of training of the reserve element members, Colonel Zoric pointed out that it is the component of training of the Serbian Armed Forces, which consist of standing and reserve army.
“According to the Law on the military, work and material obligation, during a calendar year a military conscript can be called for 15-day training or 90-day military exercise when it comes to the passive reserve. Every member called for training or a military exercise firstly has the right to travel expenses from the place of residence to the location of their unit. Depending on whether military conscripts are employed or not, they have the right to various allowances. The ones who are unemployed have the right to the allowance regulated by the Serbian Government. Employed persons receive a salary from their employer, which the Ministry of Defence refunds to the employer”, Colonel Zoric explains by adding that members of the reserve element who are NCOs and officers have the right to allowance for official and troop travel during their stay in the Serbian Armed Forces units.
According to him, people who have been several times called for training and who have recently done military service under arms need less time to reach those standards.
“Here we have an opportunity to find out by talking to members of the reserve element that they did military service ten or fifteen years ago. Therefore, it is obvious that they need several-day training in order to reach the mentioned standards. In General Staff we develop medium-term plans for calling and training the reserve element and at the moment the plan which encompasses the period 2016-2018 is in use. Next year we will develop a new plan, which will include medium-term planning period 2019-2021. In this plan we will define the number of the reserve members, who will be called in the following years. On the basis of our plan, units develop their medium-term and annual plans and training of the reserve element”, Colonel Zoric stressed, concluding that all these plans come into force in September or October of the current year for the following calendar year. Thus, all speculations that “blue envelopes” with calls came out of the blue are not true.
According to Colonel Miroslav Stefanovic, Commander of the Command for speedy deployment of Belgrade Brigade, within regular activities in 2017 working plan of the Command a number of activities are conducted with the aim to improve readiness of Belgrade Brigade.
“The activities range from individual calling in order to communicate war distribution to training of personnel for successful performance of mobilization and training of a company and platoon level units of field force. One of such activities is conducted these days at Peskovi range. It is training of an infantry company according to all criteria, adapting activities to the structure of members of the company. As Commander I can say with contentment that all persons from the reserve element, among who some did military service more than a decade ago, with our assistance, for a very short time established an outstandingly reliable collective with adjustment of activities to their abilities”, Colonel Stefanovic points out.
One of the “reservists” who attended today the regular training at Peskovi range is infantry Second Lieutenant in reserve Dejan Lovic, a mechanical engineer who works in the public utility company “Beogradske elektrane”.
“We are here ten days and with the assistance of active officers we revise our knowledge, which we gained during regular military service, and by socializing we slowly practice what we did not know”, Second Lieutenant Lovic emphasizes, adding that last year he got the call, when he was informed about war distribution.
He stresses that attendance of training is not difficult for him, and he thinks this is a regular duty of each adult citizen.
“The atmosphere is the same as when we were in the army, the only difference is that we are now a little older, we have more gray hairs and a few kilograms more. However, everything is adapted to us, so there are no problems”, Second Lieutenant Lovic in reserve highlights.
