18.03.2014.

Marking the Day of the Military Academy

The ceremony on the occasion of marking the Day of the Military Academy has been held in the Conference Hall of the Military Academy today.

The celebration was attended by Zoran Djordjevic, State Secretary, Milos Jankovic, Assistant Minister for Human Resources, Miroslav Jovanovic, Assistant Minister for Defence Policy, Srbislav Cvejic, Assistant Minister for Budget and Finance, members of the Collegium of the Chief of the General Staff, representatives of religious communities and educational institutions as well as people from cultural and public life of Serbia.

Greeting the guests on behalf of the members of the Military Academy, Colonel Miloljub Sretenovic, Chief of the Secretariat of the Military Academy, reminded of the rich history of that military institution of higher education, pointing out that between the two holidays all the regular tasks were completed, and several important reform processes were launched.

- Of course, the most important activity is the re-accreditation. Military Academy, in cooperation with the commands and units of the Serbian Armed Forces, at the end of 2013, prepared new curricula that should provide high-quality officers for the third decade of the 21st century, Colonel Sretenovic said, adding that the key reform processes are reflected in the process of accreditation of new study programmes for CBRN, Air Defence and joint master's programme with the State University of Novi Pazar, which opens a new field of science and education, while the programme of the Military Aviation grows into a five-year academic studies .

According to him, by the end of the year, Military Academy will accredit studies of CBRN, geodetic engineering and defence logistics, and the goal is, as he said, to accredit a master's programme in English, and it is Forensic Engineering.

During today's ceremony, the most successful members of the Military Academy in the past year were traditionally awarded honours, and Lieutenant General Prof. Dr. Miodrag Jevtic, Rector of the University of Defence, presented the awards to the best department – Department of Military Engineering, the best teacher – Colonel Assistant Prof. Dr. Miroslav Talijan, the best teacher in the Military Grammar School – Cedomir Mlinarevic, History teacher.

Rector of the University of Defence also presented the awards to the best scientific worker Lieutenant Colonel Associate Professor Dr. Milenko Andric, BSc in Engineering from the Department of Military Electronic systems, as well as to the best student of 38th class of the Military Grammar School Stefan Kovarbasic.

On this occasion, Colonel Sretenovic awarded diplomas to two members of the Armed Forces who acquired Master's degree in the past year, as well as a small plaque of the Military Academy to Nebojsa Garic, producer of the TV series "Military Academy".

The tradition of military education in Serbia is 164 years long and is closely associated with the process of the creation of the modern Serbian state. On 18th March 1850, Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic signed a Decree on the establishment of the Artillery School in Belgrade whose tradition is still cherished in the Military Academy.