Colonel General Pande Petrovski
He was born on December 26, 1943 in the village Zhivojno, Bitola, the Republic of Macedonia. He was married to wife Pandora (1944), father of two children, daughter Biljana (1974) and son Zoran (1966).
He finished primary school in 1958 and then the Industrial School in 1961. He graduated from the Military Academy of the Land Forces of the YNA in 1965, and Command Staff Academy in 1976. In 1985, he graduated from the National Defense School.
He was produced into the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1965 and in 1968 he was promoted in the rank of Lieutenant. He received the rank of Captain in 1971 and the rank of Captain first class in 1973 (early promotion), the rank of Major in 1977, the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1982, the rank of Colonel in 1986 (early promotion). He was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1993, to the rank of Lieutenant General in 1997 and to the rank of Colonel General in 2001.
He served in many different garrisons of the YNA, namely: Jastrebarsko (1965-1976), Prilep (1976-1981), Veles (1981-1986), Prishtina (1986-1989) and in the newly created Macedonian Army after Macedonia gained its independence in garrisons Skopje (1989-1992 and 1996-2002) and Bitola (1992-1996), performing several duties:
- Platoon Commander (1965-1969);
- Company Commander (1969-1970);
- Deputy Commander of Battalion (1970-1971);
- Officer for Physical Education in Brigade (1971-1972);
- Commander of Armored Battalion (1972-1977);
- Assistant Chief of Staff for operational and teaching matters (1977-1980);
- Chief of Staff and also Deputy Commander of Brigade (1980-1986);
- Brigade Commander (1986-1989);
- Head of section for personal affairs in the 3 rd Military District (1989-1992);
- Army Corps Commander (1992-1996);
- Assistant Chief of General Staff for combat readiness (1996-2001);
- Deputy Chief of General Staff of the ARM (2001);
- Chief of General Staff of the ARM (2001);
- Advisor to the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Macedonia for the development and use (2001-2002).
For his achievements in the development and promotion of the army, he received numerous awards, certificates of recognition and decorations. He was decorated, inter alia, with:
- Order of Military Merit with Silver Swords in 1968;
- Order of the people’s army with Silver Star in 1974;
- Order of Labor with silver wreath in 1982;
- Order of Military Merit with Golden Swords in 1990.
He is the author of a book about the events in 2001 published in 2006 and titled “Testimonials 2001”.
He retired in 2002 and died on December 31, 2006. His resting place is in Bitola.