Minister Vulin at the promotion of NCOs of the Serbian Armed Forces

Today, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Major General Petar Cvetković, attended the promotion of students of the 47th class of the Secondary Vocational Military School and the students of the 15th class of the Basic NCO Course into the rank of sergeant and their admission into professional military service as non-commissioned officers. The ceremony was held in the "People's Hero Stevica Jovanovic" barracks in Pančevo.

  At the ceremony, Deputy Commander of the Training Command, Brigadier General Jelesije Radivojević, presented Minister Vulin with the Plaque of the Training Command as a sign of gratitude for the improvement of status and capabilities of the Training Command.
 
Congratulating the promoted NCOs on their first ranks, Minister Vulin said that they did not get their ranks, but “attained them, earned them with their hard work, determination, diligence, effort and stubbornness”.  
 
- You have gained the right to stand in front of people and only the first time you stand in front of a line of troops will you be protected by the authority of the rank you are wearing on your chest. Only then and never again, because people will accept you for who you really are. They will respect your courage, knowledge, perseverance, more than the rank that put you in front of a line of troops who will disregard your youth and expect from you leadership, courage and security. Treat your men the way your commanding officers treated you. Protect them, look after them, teach them and above all - love them. Show them with your own behaviour what it means to be a non-commissioned officer of the Serbian Armed Forces and what it means to tie your fate to the most honourable and most beloved institution of the Serbian people, the Serbian Armed Forces - the Minister of Defence pointed out.
 
- You and what your people see in you will be much more valuable and important than all the equipment that the state can provide for you. In difficult moments, when one must choose the honour of the homeland over their own life, your people will be looking to you for guidance. Their behaviour will be a reflection of your behaviour, and the reputation of Serbia will be a reflection of your behaviour. You have joined armed forces that are neutral, whose state takes care of its own interests and those of its people. While Aleksandar Vučić is the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and the President of the Republic of Serbia, this country will be neutral and will make its own decisions - said Minister Vulin, emphasizing that "they are not joining an army of mercenaries that will be ordered to attack a small nation, to do to them harm as it has been done to us."

 - You have joined the armed forces as the sons of a state that makes its own decisions and chooses its own friends, and the enemies recognize us themselves, and we are not to blame for that. You have joined armed forces that will not harm anyone. It is known that when NCOs, officers and soldiers of these armed forces set their foot somewhere, they bring honour, order and the law to that place - Minister Vulin emphasized.
 
The Minister of Defence thanked the non-commissioned officers for their trust and for their decision to serve their country "with their lives and knowledge".
 
- Thank you for tying your fate to the Serbian Armed Forces and for being ready to preserve the independence, autonomy and sovereignty of our only and beloved Serbia. Our country will be a reflection of you. Thank your families. I'm sorry I can't look them in the eye and thank them. I'm sorry I can't tell them that I'm grateful to them for giving us such sons and daughters, I'm sorry I can't say how much we appreciate every sleepless night when they thought of you and you couldn’t call them. I am sorry I cannot look at them and thank them most sincerely and express my belief that with children like these, the future of some new children will be secure and certain. Thank them on my behalf and on behalf of the armed forces, they should be proud of you, as we are already proud of you - concluded Minister Vulin.
 
After reading the order on promotion and granting incentive measures, Minister Vulin presented a gift - a wristwatch to the best student of the 47th class of the Secondary Vocational Military School, Sergeant Ljubomir Miljković, while the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General Cvetković, presented wristwatches to three most successful students of the 15th class of the Basic NCO Course, Sergeants Dragoljub Šikman, Nenad Alić and Marinko Marinković.

  Speaking on behalf of his class, the best student of the 47th class of the Secondary Vocational Military School, Sergeant Ljubomir Miljković, emphasized that today is a great day for all of them, a turning point, the end of the period in which they did their best to rise to the challenges of education and prepare in every sense for one of the most honourable vocations in life - serving their people and homeland, which is yet to come. He also expressed hope that they would be worthy successors to their glorious predecessors in terms of courage and bravery.
 
As Sergeant Dragoljub Šikman, the best student of the 15th class of the Basic NCO Course, pointed out, the youngest non-commissioned officers of the Serbian Armed Forces stand proudly today, ready to dedicate their lives to their people and state and eager to justify the trust placed in them and prove readiness and motivation to respond to every task.
 
According to the Chief of Staff of the Training Command, Colonel Nikola Dejanović, today 98 students of the 15th class of the Basic NCO Course were promoted to the first non-commissioned officer ranks, and together with them, 42 students of the 47th class of the Secondary Vocational Military School "1300 Corporals" were promoted to the rank of sergeant. This, he added, continues the tradition of the existence of that school, which was interrupted back in 1995.
 
The ceremony was also attended by the Rector of the University of Defence, Lieutenant General Goran Radovanović, PhD, AF and AD Commander, Major General Duško Žarković, Deputy Army Commander, Brigadier General Vladeta Baltić, Chief of the Training and Doctrine Department Brigadier General Željko Petrović, Commander of the 72nd Special Operations Brigade General Miroslav Talijan and representatives of the local self-government.