24.12.2015.

Marking the Day of the Air Force and Air Defence

The Day of the Air Force and Air Defence – 24th December, has been marked today with a ceremonial review at the Batajnica military airport, by presenting awards and commendations to the best members of the Air Force and Air Defence, followed by presenting decorations to the members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces in the Air Force and Air Defence Command and a ceremony in the House of Air Force and Air Defence in Zemun.

Based on the Decree of the President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic, his representative Milorad Simic, in the presence of Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Dikovic and Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence Major General Ranko Zivak, presented 48 awards for outstanding merits and achievements in the field of defence and security of Serbia and devoted service to members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.

Later in the programme, in the Conference Hall of the Zemun House of Aviation, a ceremony was held on the occasion of the Day of Air Force and Air Defence. The gathering was attended by Chief of General Staff General Dikovic with members of the collegium, as well as the state secretaries in the Ministry of Defence Zoran Djordjevic and Nenad Neric.

On that occasion, the Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence General Zivak stressed that the primary and everyday task is control of the protection of the sovereignty of air space of the Republic of Serbia and the protection of the security of citizens and material property from the air threats.

- Through our airspace and in the immediate surroundings more than half a million flights is conducted and monitored per year, the daily average of one thousand to fifteen hundred, and in the summer period even more. Out of that number, hundreds of flights, or almost one every day, are conducted with dangerous goods. All this is closely monitored, together with the Air Traffic Control, by duty forces on standby who are ready to respond to any case of deviations from the prescribed and announced flight parameters, as well as the emergence of an unknown aircraft – General Zivak said illustrating with data the complexity and gravity of the work necessary for that kind of "heavenly guards".

By the Decision of the Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence, the "Nikola Tesla" Airport was awarded for the long and successful cooperation by the Plaque of the Air Force, which was presented to the General Manager Sasa Vlaisavljevic by General Zivak.

General Zivak handed a letter of gratitude also to the descendants of General Viktor Bubanj, who donated a part of the rich legacy to the Serbian Armed Forces thus enabling the display of uniforms, medals, photographs and other objects that testify about the life and work of Viktor Bubanj at the Museum "Icarus", and which could be seen by the guests of the tonight's ceremony.

The Day of the Air Force and Air Defence is celebrated to commemorate the 24th December 1912, when, based on the decision by the Serbian Military Ministry and the General Staff, Field Marshall Radomir Putnik issued a decision on the formation of the Air Force Command based in Nis.