27.05.2025.

Soldiers, NCO candidates in engineer training

Military service volunteers (March 2025 intake) and civilians attending the NCO Candidate Course are currently in stationary camp at a temporary military training area on the Sava River near Šabac.

The field training is a compulsory part of specialist training that engineer soldiers and future NCOs undergo at the Army Training Centre in Požarevac. The purpose of the training is to prepare recruits, in accordance with their specialties, for their future roles in the Serbian Armed Forces engineer units.

Capt. 1st Class Slobodan Milošević, commander of a company responsible for training engineers, says that soldiers are being trained to use pontoon bridge sets and assemble pontoon ferries that can hold up to 40 tons of cargo, and future NCOs are being taught to handle all equipment relating to the pontoon specialty, from amphibious personnel carriers to the outboard motor.

— At the end of the training, military service volunteers’ skills as pontoon bridge operators will be tested, and non-commissioned officers will pursue further training at the Army Training Centre in Požarevac, where they will receive professional training in handling other engineer equipment – explains Capt. Milošević

NCO candidate Željko Milić says that they were sent to the Army Training Centre in Požarevac after completing their training in Pančevo.

— I decided to apply for engineer corps because it is a very complex branch, and I like challenges. Considering that I do sports, no challenge has been too difficult for me in the military. What I like the most is the pioneering part of engineering where we train for our future profession – says Željko Milić, a future SAF NCO.

Private Dragomir Jović, a soldier whose military service started in March, explains that they have been training on the Sava River for two weeks, learning to operate the PM-71 pontoon bridge set, with a focus on assembling a pontoon ferry with a load capacity of up to 40 tons.

— In addition, we have also received training in rowing and making improvised watercraft, which was the most interesting part of the training. It is very important that all of us, soldiers and leaders, are part of a good team because we cannot function without each other. The advice of our leaders means a lot to us — says Private Jović and adds that making improvised watercraft and rowing were the most interesting tasks for him.

Once they complete their specialist training, NCO candidates will do an internship in the Serbian Armed Forces engineer units, and soldiers will spend three months doing collective training and being actively involved in the life and work of the Serbian Armed Forces units until the end of their military service.

While they were in stationary camp, the trainees were visited by Major General Zoran Nasković, Commander of the Training Command, who confirmed that the training had been well planned and conducted and that the soldiers and future NCOs were extremely motivated to master all the activities included in the training programme.