The former JNA paraded 9 members on May 1985, 6.690, while the Serbian Army had 2014 participants at the parade in October 4.500. With the current numerical situation, there would be even fewer of them at the parade this May 15
How one party announcement can cause the inarticulate anger of the Minister of Defense and the "coach's vocabulary", inappropriate even for first-class ensigns before retirement, whom no one can do anything about, was shown by the Public Relations Administration with a statement insulting the president of the Serbia Center (SRCE) movement, Zdravko Ponoš, former chief of the General Staff, because that party doubted the announcement by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, that on September 15 in Belgrade, "the biggest military parade in the history of the Western Balkans" (and the most expensive, of course, he admitted it himself) and characterized it as the latest in a series of Vučić's deceptions.
Tanks from 40 years ago
SRCE indicated that the Serbian Army does not have the capacity to hold a parade like the former JNA, which had more than 1985 members in 300.000, and 9 of them took part in the last parade on May 6.690 of that year. At that parade, there were combat assets that will be shown even now, 40 years later, such as M-84 tanks, "Gazelle" helicopters, "Orao" and "Super Galeb G-4" airplanes, armored personnel carriers and trucks, and Vučić will brag about them.
According to official documents, there were a record 1975 participants in the 11.500 parade, 760 artillery pieces, 113 combat and 506 non-combat vehicles, and the column, which consisted of 11 echelons, was 10,2 kilometers long.
The HEART asked how it would manage to surpass that historical fact, with the current numerical state of the Serbian Army. And then who will take care of the security of the country, since preparations for the parade last at least 20 days, where will the participants be accommodated, where will they be fed, how will the "record" number of tanks be delivered, where will they find crews for them?
At the "Victory Step" parade in October 2014, with great efforts, it was barely possible to "scratch" the officially announced number of 4.500 participants, together with members of the MUP, and the Army then had more members than today.
What is Gašić saying, and what are the facts
Bratislav Gašić, in his reaction, which obviously hurt the military leadership and their "commander-in-chief", stated that the announcement of Ponoš's party "speaks of malice and despair due to the fact that the Serbian Armed Forces successfully and definitively buried the achievements of his time" and that "the citizens of Serbia, but also the whole world, will be able to see the parade of a strong, organized, modernized and deadly military force" and that on that day "every patriot, every conscientious and well-intentioned citizen will be proud and happy at the sight of his army".
.And what do the facts say, for example about the parade from 1985, published in the report "Parade-85" of the General Staff of the JNA, which is kept in the Military Archive? It is precisely said that 7.870 people participated, of which 6.690 were in the parade, 590 were in reserve and 670 were serving.
The participants of that parade testified for "Vreme" that the old Obrenovac road suffered the most, because it was destroyed by tanks for 20 days during preparations for the parade, and the soles and legs of the participants also suffered, because the machines practiced their steps all day.
In the 1970 parade, there were 8.363 participants, members of the JNA, Territorial Defense and Militia, with 557 combat vehicles, 60 airplanes and 18 helicopters. Vučić and Gašić can dream about 60 planes and 557 combat vehicles, for the simple reason that the Serbian Army does not have 60 planes, and there are simply no crews for the combat vehicles that exist, and they are aware of that.
Tanker shortage
In a guest appearance on TV Informer the other night, Vučić himself admitted for the umpteenth time that the army lacks tankmen. The Serbian Army has 250 M-84 and T-72 tanks, but there is no one to sit in them. The number of crews in four tank battalions (each in one brigade of the Ground Army, of 53 units) is beyond ridiculous, and the military leadership and the Ministry are unsuccessfully trying to cover it up. The reservists who could have been filled with them have long been "written off", and since military service has been abolished, there are no young forces.
Or the example from 1954, there were 8.000 soldiers at the May Day parade, and 82 fighter planes flew over it. A decade later, in 1964, there were 6.500 soldiers, 24 fighter planes and 12 helicopters at the parade.
For example, in 1991, the JNA was at its lowest since its inception, it had only 25.101 officers, 19.165 non-commissioned officers and 189.555 conscripts, plus supporting services, civilians and the like. And they had that "critical mass" for the parade, they could choose. If it is taken into account that the number of operational members of the Serbian Armed Forces (those who are soldiers, not supporting administrative services, civilians and employees of the Ministry of Defense) today is smaller than the number of non-commissioned officers in the past, the logical question is how it will be the "biggest parade in history".
How much does the parade cost?
The source of "Vremen", which was in the organization of the parade in 2014, says that the then (and now) Minister Gašić stated that the parade in honor of Vladimir Putin cost 50 million dinars, and that the real figure is 10 times higher - more than 500 million.
What was a benefit was that the tanks and trucks were painted, so that they are no longer corroded by corrosion, and that source mentions a funny and at the same time sad fact - that the ships of the River War Flotilla (which were also shown in the 1985 parade) were painted only on one side, the one with which they will go towards the stage with the important guests.
It was one of a series of Vučić's "Potemkin villages", and there will be more until September 15.
Another "Vremena" source recalls that a year ago Vučić planned to hold a parade at the Batajnica airport, but then there were reasonable people from the Army who warned him that the columns of tanks, which he was delighted with, would "plow" the runway worse than the NATO bombs destroyed it, so he gave up on that and decided on a "show".
Tito as an idol
In the movie "Sutjeska", which was shown on one of the televisions on Sunday morning, there is a scene when Richard Burton, who plays Tito, orders the head of the military hospital how to prepare the wounded, to bathe them, change and wash the bandages and put them on half the size. She objects, saying that it is against medical rules, because the wounded can suffer, their wounds will open, and Tito gives orders, I guess he knows best. Vučić must have been inspired by Tito in his youth, so, assuming the role of "commander in chief", he thought he knew everything best. It is enough to remember how he explained what respirators are and what they are for to anesthesiologists in Novi Pazar during the corona virus.
That's probably how he will explain to the officers what the parade is and give them instructions on how to organize it!
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