Military Academy Day marked

A ceremony to mark Military Academy Day and its 175th anniversary was held at “General Jovan Mišković” barracks in Belgrade today, with State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Mile Jelić in attendance.



Messages congratulating the Military Academy on its anniversary have been sent by Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Gen. Milan Mojsilović.

Addressing the audience, Rector of the Defence University Brig. Gen. Prof. Boban Đorović, Ph.D., highlighted the importance of the Military Academy’s jubilee.  

- The officer profession in Serbia was established in this institution, founded in the mid-19th century, which our people called the Military Academy, even though officially it bore a different name. By the nature of its work, the Military Academy immediately became an institution of national importance in our country, because the professional and intellectual power of its officers simultaneously took a central place in the consciousness of those officers – said General Đorović and added that “the long history obliges all cadets to use their abilities, work, knowledge and morale to help the Military Academy to perform its tasks in the best possible way."



According to Rector Đorović, it is common for individuals who join this institution to feel the honour of belonging to it.
 
-  There are also individuals who bring honour to an institution, no matter how old and famous it is. The most talented, persistent and hardworking ones whom the institution shapes to its highest standards and even more so the ones who set new, better standards, do us great honour. Therefore, I take this opportunity to congratulate the best cadets in all classes. I wish you great success in your future careers and I hope you will be the pride of your families, your classes, the Military Academy, our armed forces and the state - said Rector Đorović. Many great Serbs graduated from the Military Academy, he recalled, emphasizing that “education and science have always gone hand in hand at this higher education institution”.



The Commandant of the Military Academy, Colonel Prof. Srđan Blagojević, Ph.D., said that the long history of the Military Academy “indicates that it rests on solid foundations into which knowledge, skills, heroic deeds, thoughts and ideas were built, but also the lives of our predecessors, managers, chiefs, commanders, professors and officers who received their education there."

- Striving towards academic heights, firmly walled, it properly practises the military profession and science. In it, the professorial job is done honourably and continuously, and its essence is selfless giving and development of everything an officer needs - knowledge, skills, physical and mental strength and experience, fighting spirit, patriotism and a sense of collective responsibility - said Colonel Blagojević, emphasizing that hardworking and honourable people are the Military Academy’s greatest value. He told the cadets not to forget their origins, their families and the Academy.



The ceremony was attended by the Head of the Human Resources Department (J-1), General Staff, Brigadier General Slađan Hristov, Ph.D., the Head of the Training and Doctrine Department (J-7), General Staff, Brigadier General Muharem Fazlić, Higher Education and Research Coordinator, Brigadier General Radivoje Anđelković, Ph.D., Head of the Civil-Military Cooperation Section (J-9), General Staff, Colonel Branko Popović, and Sergeant Major of the Serbian Armed Forces, Goran Đukić.

At the ceremony, awards and incentives were presented to deserving individuals for their outstanding performance.



The ceremony marking Military Academy Day and its 175th anniversary ended with the laying of a wreath at the monument to General Jovan Mišković.
 
The Military Academy marks this significant anniversary with a series of activities - the Military Academy Sports Championship, the opening ceremony for the renovated and newly equipped classrooms and a presentation of the work done by its sections, a demonstration of the cadets' skills and exercise routines, the opening ceremony for a new part of the Military Academy Memorial Room, the screening of a documentary about the 175th anniversary of the Military Academy, the promotion of Akademac magazine and a monograph entitled “Military Education”. Members of the Military Academy’s music band and the Art Ensemble of the Ministry of Defence "Stanislav Binički" will hold a joint concert. Also, to mark Military Academy Day and 175 years since the establishment of military education in Serbia, PE Pošta Srbije has issued a commemorative set of postage stamps.



Military Academy Day commemorates March 18, 1850, when, at the proposal of Ilija Garašanin, and with the approval of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević, the Artillery School was founded, which trained officers of all branches of the then Serbian army.