Traditional New Year's Gathering of Members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade
Thursday, 2.1.2020 | Stories from Units
Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović have attended the traditional New Year’s gathering of members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade held at the ‘Sergeant-pilot Mihajlo Petrović’ military airport, in Niš, today.
The New Year’s gathering of members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade began on 2nd January 1996, at the initiative of then brigade commander Major Ilija Todorov and chief of staff Major Goran Ostojić, who organised a sports day on the occasion of the holiday.
Former commander of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, today deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command, Major General Ilija Todorov, recalls that the volleyball game in 1996 – which started it all, lasted for hours and was played outdoors in the snow.
— After the competition, which took place in the snow, blizzard, under the truck reflector light, with the persistence of two teams — led by chief of staff, late Goran Ostojić, on one side and by the brigade commander, on the other – we showed that we could endure until the last one. In the end, there were no winners. We sat down at a table and with a morsel, as custom dictates, we agreed to make it a tradition. Since then, to this day, both old and young paratroopers and veterans have been gathering. It is a gathering of friends, people who first of all love the 63rd Parachute Brigade and who know that the idea of this is to always be together — General Todorov said.
According to former chief of security of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, retired lieutenant colonel Mile Karanović, both active members of the brigade and veterans are happy to respond and participate in the New Year's event, very motivated to continue the tradition.
— It all started 24 years ago when we played our first volleyball game outside, in the snow and mud, in boots. Now it has expanded to other sports, football, basketball, table tennis, but volleyball is the basis — Karanović explains.
Minister Vulin and General Mojsilović symbolically joined in commemorating the traditional manifestation of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, playing table tennis.
