Reception for SAF Members Who Won Awards at the International Army Games
Monday, 26.8.2019 | News
Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin and Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović, organized a ceremonial reception for members of the Serbian Armed Forces who won awards at the 2019 Army Games International in the Russian Federation and Belarus in the disciplines “Military Rally” and “Sniper Frontier”.
Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin and Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović, organized a ceremonial reception for members of the Serbian Armed Forces who won awards at the International Army Games 2019 in the Russian Federation and Belarus in the disciplines “Military Rally” and “Sniper Frontier”.
On behalf of the participants in the International Army Games, the head of the delegation of the “Military Rally” team, Colonel Željko Ranković, PhD, addressed the assembly. Commenting on this year’s competition, Colonel Ranković pointed to the challenges our drivers faced and the importance of that experience for the members of our Armed Forces.
- Based on the results, we shared third place with Belarus, with the time of 3 hours 53 minutes and 58 seconds – achieving identical result to a second. The average speed on the terrain was 59 kilometers per hour, but we saw that we could leave behind Uzbekistan, which came third last year and Belarus, the teams that own the equipment and the vehicles they competed in. We are pleased because, although we were participating for the first time, we managed to climb to the podium as the third placed – Colonel Ranković emphasized.
On behalf of the team, he thanked Minister Vulin, the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces for providing the military drivers an opportunity to participate in this prestigious competition, as it was an opportunity to weigh forces against numerous armies but also to return full of confidence having learned that the Serbian soldiers do not lag behind anyone when it comes to skills and knowledge.
The colors of the Serbian flag at this year’s International Army Games, that took place between 3 and 17 August, were defended by members of the Serbian Armed Forces in three disciplines – the “Tank Biathlon”, the “Military Rally” in the Russian Federation, and the “Sniper Frontier” in the Republic of Belarus.
Winning of the first place and gold medal in the competition of mixed sniper pairs with a colleague from the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan, the best result was achieved by Corporal Ivan Obrenović, a member of the Special Brigade of the Serbian Armed Forces. The news of his success quickly reached Serbia, with Minister Vulin personally awarding the medal to Corporal Obrenović on the podium in Belarus. Talking about impressions from the competition, he pointed out that success means a lot to him.
- The competition was very strong, since we are talking about large world powers, more populous than our country, so they have greater opportunities to choose snipers. We competed for the first place and my teammate was at the top level and an excellent shooter – says Corporal Obrenović, adding that the experience of this competition will benefit him a lot as this raises the levels of competence, but it also helps to get to know other countries and exchange experiences.
A significant result was achieved by the Serbian Armed Forces team at the Military Rally, one of 32 disciplines at this year’s International Army Games, sharing the third place with the Belarusian team, behind China and the victorious Russian Federation. Among the drivers responsible for this result is Corporal Dragan Rašković, from the Transport Service Training Battalion from Kraljevo.
- When it comes to the challenges, these were, first of all, vehicles, because we had not encountered such vehicles before, and the driving conditions were completely new and significantly different from the way we drive here. The terrain is much different from our terrain here. It was only after the first race that we grasped all the conditions, and as we drove the race afterwards, everything became easier for us – emphasized Corporal Rašković, adding that although it was not easy, participating in the Army Games International was a wonderful experience.
Minister Vulin and Chief of General Staff General Mojsilović congratulated the participants of this year’s Army Games International on their success.
- I wish to thank you for making us proud. I thank you, first of all, as people, for representing us so well and upholding our flag – said Minister Vulin, adding that the most important thing is that everyone came back alive and well, and that our team did not make a single mistake during the competition.
The Minister also added that during the competition he could only hear words of praise from his counterparts, the Ministers of Defense of the Russian Federation and Belarus, saying that as experts, professionals and also as people, they were extraordinary and outstanding.
- The Serbian soldier always goes for the victory – said the Minister of Defense, emphasizing that the Serbian Armed Forces will continue to participate in the Army Games International in these disciplines next year as well.
The “Army Games International 2019”, fifth in a row, were held across 21 training grounds and 10 countries; the number of participant exceeded 5.000, assigned to 223 teams from 39 countries from Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and Latin Americas.
Today’s reception at the Great War Hall of the Old General Staff was also attended by State Secretary at the Ministry of Defense, Aleksandar Živković, and Chief of the Cabinet of the Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Siniša Kresović.
