Today, in the barracks “Ilinden” in Skopje, 13th November, the Day of the Engineer Battalion (EB) was marked with a military ceremony. The ceremony was attended by the Commander of the Operations Command (OC), Brigadier General Besnik Emini, commanders of the Army units and former commanders of the EB.
Addressing the audience, the Commander of the OC, Brigadier General Besnik Emini, emphasized the commitment and professionalism of the EB members, who perform their activities far from their home unit and their homes. He said that the newly acquired engineering machines and motor vehicles – self-unloaders are of great importance, and they enable even better performance of engineer’s tasks. He also stressed that EB has the full support of the OC and there is no doubt that in the future engineers will continue to perform their work responsibilities and tasks with dedication, professionalism and efficiency.
In his speech, the commander of the EB, Lieutenant Colonel Ilcho Zakovski, emphasized that in the past year the EB, as the bearer of infrastructure projects for the needs of the Army, had the training at the ATA “Krivolak” according to NATO standards as a primary task. For that purpose, a joint training and exercise was conducted with the 15th Engineer Battalion of the US Military Forces stationed in Europe. He mentioned that in the past period the EB provided engineering support and mobility to Army units, support to civilian structures, firefighting and support to the Ministry of Health in dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic by providing vaccination points at locations in the city of Skopje.
As part of the activities on the occasion of the Day of the Unit, the EB carried out voluntary blood donation in cooperation with the Red Cross and the Transfusion Department in the general hospital “8 Septemvri” in Skopje with 25 blood units.
The ceremony ended with congratulations on the occasion and presenting incentive measures, followed by a tactical technical (TT) demonstration of the machines and motor vehicles available to the unit.
By decision of the President and Supreme Commander of the country to continue the traditions of historical significance, this day is designated as the day of the unit in honour of the Engineer Brigade of the National Liberation Army and the Partisan Units of Macedonia.