A ceremony to mark the handover of duty commander of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) was held in barracks “Boro Menkov” in Kumanovo.
Brigadier General Zoran Mileski received the duty commander of JOC from Major General Vasko Gjurchinoski, who has been appointed, by a decree of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Senior Military Representative of the Republic of Macedonia in NATO headquarters in Brussels.
At the ceremony according to the military protocol the Deputy Chief of Staff, the former and the newly appointed Commanders of JOC addressed the lined up personnel.
In his address, General Racaj wished the outgoing commander to contribute to the process of faster integration of Macedonia in NATO, and honored his personal contribution to the command. The general also congratulated the newly appointed commander, wished him even greater success and to verify the trust given by the Supreme Commander with his proven military and leadership skills.
In his speech, General Gjurchinovski expressed gratitude to the members of the JOC for the apparent results achieved during their deployment to the southern border, participation in peace support operations and participation in international exercises.
The newly appointed commander emphasized that training of commands and units, continuous improvement of combat readiness, implementation of international training and exercises, creation of better working conditions, readiness to deal with all types of challenges will be the key areas to pay attention to.
The official handover of duty Commander of the Joint Operations Command was performed with the handover of the command flag.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Muhamet Racaj, the representatives from the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff, former commanders of subordinate commands and units and other guests.
The JOC is a subordinate command of the General Staff with a mission to prepare ARM ground and air forces for defense and protection of the territorial integrity and independence of the Republic of Macedonia. The declared units’ mission is to participate in peace support operations, conflict prevention, to deal with regional conflicts and crisis in operations led by NATO, UN, OSCE, EU, and other international alliances, as well as to protect the broader interests of the country.
