Special Units Tactical Exercise “Drina 2024”
Thursday, 5.9.2024 | Training
The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Milan Mojsilović attended today the Special Forces’ Tactical Exercise “Drina 2024” finale in the area of Mt. Gučevo.
After the exercise, President Vučić commended the special forces for the successfully conducted exercise and emphasized that “the state is increasing and strengthening the capabilities of special forces by recruiting new personnel and acquiring new equipment and state-of-the-art weapons”.
- I believe that, in the coming period, their units and the Serbian Armed Forces will admit hundreds of young people. We have some major reforms ahead of us. I believe that we will make a decision to introduce compulsory military service that will be very short, it won’t pose a problem for anyone. It will last for 60 plus 15 days, 75 days in total. During the military service, soldiers will not only have free food, drinks, accommodation and everything else they need for a normal life, but will also receive non-negligible wages – said President Vučić. He said that “the experience of adapting to new life circumstances is very important in the life of every young man” and added that women would be able to perform military service as before.
According to him, those who do not want to bear weapons on the grounds of conscientious objection, such as young IT experts, will be offered the opportunity to perform mandatory military service at the Military Technical Institute or the Technical Test Centre. This way, he said, they can contribute to the development of our military and its capabilities in the future.
The president said that the further development of the military would continue.
- I’ve heard people say that just buying Rafale fighters is like twenty annual budgets of one of our neighboring countries. We will continue to invest in our military and it must be a guarantor of safety and security and a deterrent against any potential aggressor - emphasized the President of Serbia.
Tactical Exercise “Drina 2024” was conducted by members of the 72nd Special Operations Brigade, 63rd Parachute Brigade and the Special Purpose Military Police Detachment "Kobre".
The goal of the exercise, which lasted for several days, was to test and further improve Special Forces’ ability to prepare for and carry out combat action in mountainous terrain, utilizing modern weapons and military equipment.
In accordance with the exercise scenario, the members of the Special Forces today demonstrated their superior ability to perform special operations in the counter-terrorist operation. After reconnaissance of the area, with the use of unmanned aircraft, and, subsequently, the wider and narrower blockade of the area where the terrorist base is located, the Special Forces teams, with the effective application of tactical actions and procedures, neutralized the terrorist group, secured the area and safely evacuated.
The spectators watching the exercise could see a commando base where commandos can work and be accommodated for several days. They also saw the way food is collected and prepared in the wild, as well as the weapons and military equipment used by Special Forces.
