12.07.2021.
Minister Stefanović: Serbian Armed Forces will continue to bulwark the freedom of our country
In an article he wrote for "Informer" magazine, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, said that, despite all the blows, quasi-analyses and malicious comments, the Serbian Armed Forces would continue to strengthen and bulwark the freedom of all citizens of Serbia equally, regardless of their opinion about the armed forces.
We cite the defence minister’s article entitled “The hatred towards a strong Serbia and the inability to reason” in its entirety:“The superficial and malicious analysis published by N1 portal, in which the "new" Rulebook on the manner of determining military occupational specialty codes by which all positions in the armed forces are determined, speaks best of how hatred towards everything that has to do with a strong Serbia can affect common sense.
The truth is that these amendments to the Rulebook were made, among other things, in order to establish a correlation between the old and the new military occupational specialty codes. The author is probably not aware of the fact that even a former submariner is still listed as a member of the reserve forces.
The purpose of the Rulebook on military occupational specialty codes is to keep a record of all the abilities of members of the Serbian Armed Forces, both active duty personnel and those who are no longer active, but who are still able to perform certain military duties.
The reason why the correlation between the former and current military occupational specialty codes has been established is so that no one would "disappear" from the records, i.e. so that their skills could be determined roughly in accordance with the new designation.
In order to comment on this matter, one needs to be familiar with wartime manning of the army and the way it functions. Also, one of the most important elements is the process of training the reserve staff.
In a situation when certain skills are required, related specialties are searched for in the recruiting contingent, which reduces the process of training and qualification for certain duties. For example, although T-55 tanks are no longer in use, this does not mean that people who were trained to operate them should be deleted from the records, but, if necessary, they should be retrained for new tanks (T-72 and M -84).
If you take a closer look at the review to which the author refers, you will notice that the "new" military occupational specialty codes do not include submariners and other aforementioned specialties, but only those that are needed today.
These authors could have determined that themselves, but then their intention to derisively remind the Serbian Armed Forces that our country has not had the sea for at least 15 years and "excel" in their so-called analysis would fail.
That wouldn’t be a proper continuation of “wise statements” by various "experts" who attack the Serbian Armed Forces every day, saying that it is a disgrace that the military is being equipped with the most modern equipment, that it is being armed and trained, that it conducts exercises with armed forces from both the West and East, that the Serbian soldiers’ salaries are being increased and homes for them and their families provided.
However, despite all the blows, quasi-analyses and malicious comments, the Serbian Armed Forces will continue to strengthen and bulwark the freedom of all citizens of Serbia equally, regardless of their opinion about the armed forces.“
