The completion of the basic course for non-commissioned officers and promotion to the first non-commissioned officer rank of 149 Army members was marked at a solemn ceremony in the Training and Doctrines Command, in the presence of the Minister of Defence, Slavjanka Petrovska and the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurchinovski.
The Minister of Defence, Slavjanka Petrovska, and the Commander of the Training and Doctrines Command, as Command competent for the realization of the course, addressed the newly promoted non-commissioned officers.
In her address to the non-commissioned officers, Minister Petrovska told them that they have the honor of being the shield of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country, keeping the citizens safe and maintaining the peace. At the same time, she emphasized that they should be proud of joining the non-commissioned officers ranks, which should be an incentive for further efforts, and that they should demonstrate the quality of professional work by their personal example.
“We will continue to work and respond to the requests of the General Staff and we will do everything for the Army to be properly staffed, but at the same time modernized according to the standards,” the Minister said.
The Commander of the Training and Doctrines Command, Colonel Vasko Kokolanski, emphasized that today the Army strengthened its capacities with leaders who motivate, inspire and lead. Kokolanski added that non-commissioned officers, through daily tasks, unit training, capacity building and army values, contribute to the Army being respected by the allies in the Alliance.
The ceremony was attended by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major General Azim Nuredin, the Director of the General Staff, Major General Zoran Mileski and the Army generals, as well as the State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Vladimir Anchev.
The awarding of the first non-commissioned officer rank to 149 members of the Army, including 13 female members from different units of the Army, follows the successful completion of the basic course for non-commissioned officers, which was held over the past two months at the “Alexo Damnievski Bauman” barracks in Veles and at the Army Training Area “Krivolak”.
At the promotion, three members of the Army who showed particular commitment and high results at the basic non-commissioned officer course were awarded appropriate recognitions by General Gjurchinovski and Minister Petrovska.
In the next period, the newly promoted non-commissioned officers will be assigned to the Army units according to their specialty as section commanders, where they will transfer their experience, as well as the knowledge gained in the process of conducting the training.
