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An airplane appeared in the blue sky, high above the Batajnica military airport. The barely visible silhouette revealed that it was an “Antonov 26” transporter. A moment later, “dots” appeared on his helmet and soon the sky was filled with open parachutes. Swinging slowly through the air currents, the paratroopers descended precisely onto the grass next to the airport parking lot with a type of steerable “wing”, right in front of the observers who followed the demonstration of the capabilities of the Serbian army that took place. recently carried out at the airport “Colonel Piloto Milenko Pavlovic”.
It was a routine and simple task for members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade of the Serbian Army, which has recently re-emerged as a unit of that rank. That is, with the post-October 5 reform, this legendary unit, whose members fought honorably in the wars of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, was reduced to the level of a battalion within the Special Brigade. In June, at a ceremony in Takovo, they were presented with the flag of the 63rd Parachute Brigade.
This unit has inherited the tradition from the time of World War II, when the First Parachute Battalion was formed in Italy. It changed its rank, names, organization and lodging location, but since the late 1960s it has been inextricably linked to Nis. In the following years of peace, during the JNA, a myth was created about this unit, whose members on the battlefields of the former Yugoslavia were called “Nis special forces” by the enemies in astonishment.
Today, the 63rd Parachute Brigade is at the beginning of a new stage in its development journey. Not only is this unit back in the range of a brigade, but it is equipped with the most modern equipment, including weapons and of course parachutes. After encouraging professionalization in the army, in recent years, soldiers who have become volunteers have joined this unit: they carry out their military service of their own free will and enlist as paratroopers. Part of the myth of this unit is its faithful composition of reserve, at the time of the mobilization the participation was higher than 100 percent, and those who did not receive a call went to the unit themselves.
As things stand, the unit will be fairly closed to the public, except when it comes to public appearances like the one mentioned in Batajnica. Accordingly, the Defense Ministry did not accept a couple of requests from “Politika” to write a report on this unit and photograph its members in training. However, in the military information system, data have been published from which a picture of the activities of the 63rd Parachute Brigade can be obtained.
Colonel Nenad Zonic, commander of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, says that modern weapons, optoelectronic equipment, communications equipment, protective equipment and parachutes have been acquired in recent years.
– The principle of filling the unit is mainly voluntary, then the candidate must meet certain health and psychophysical criteria, to complete the selective training – said Colonel Zonić for “Defense”.
The unit is constantly practicing, of course, when it comes to various parachute jump techniques. Particularly attractive are wing-type parachutes, which allow them to penetrate the depths of the enemy without being noticed, in silence. Recently, as the Ministry of Defense announced at the time, a night jump training was conducted, which was completed at the Nis airport.
– We perform the jump with the high jump and high opening technique. We jumped from a height of 4,500 meters, above Prokuplje, about thirty kilometers from the landing room. We flew with open parachutes and landed in the airport landing room, explained Captain Mladen Stamenković, commander of the training company.
This year there was also a summer training, this time with diving, for the first time in many years. In addition, the members of the unit were trained to believe, rescue in the mountains, overcome water obstacles with the help of hand tools, and also learned to eat in nature.
A few days ago they carried out another exercise, this time the attack by the parachute sabotage team was played. Modern means for night surveillance were used, as well as new helicopters of the type X-145M.
– This exercise is one of the most complex types of training, especially at night, and members of the 63rd Parachute Brigade are constantly trained to perform complex tasks in all weather conditions – says Captain 1st Class Ivan Janković.
The exercise was carried out in two phases: first, the approach to the object of action was carried out by helicopter, followed by the action of paratroopers and then the evacuation of the place of the raid, and then said action was carried out with the approach to vehicles.
All in the dark, of course. And secretly, away from prying eyes.
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