No.7 Price: 50 den.

March, 2010
ISSN: 1857-6710

M a g a z i n e ooff tthe
Maga he M
Mii n iistr
s t r y ooff DDefe
e f e n ssee ooff tthe
h e R e p u bblic
l i c ooff M a c e d o n iiaa
Mace

The commander of the national guard in

Vermont IN THE USA VISITED ARM

FRUIT OF
LONG PARTNERSHIP
BASIC SKILLS QUALIFICATION COURSE FOR PERFORMING
RANGER OPERATIONS

ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD

Sports - Seventh Army Biathlon Cup
BIATHLETES AT WORK
ARM-NATO REPORTING WEAPONS MILITARY HISTORY GAMES AND SIMULATIONS
member of the second mechanized
infantry brigade „leopards“
Content:

OUT OF MANY, ONE! E pluribus unum

The Republic of Macedonia remains de­
dicated to following the road to Euro-At­
lantic integrations. As a result of these di­
rections and efforts the country proves its
continual readiness to meet the needs and
requests set by our partners for active par­
ticipation and contribution to international
peacekeeping operations, led by NATO, EU
and the UN.
Through an active participation in the ISAF
mission in Afghanistan, together with its
Interview with the coalition partners led by NATO, our country
Major General will actively contribute in finding solutions
Page Michael Dubie, for stabilization of this “neuralgic” Central-
the commandant of Asian region.
8 the Vermont National
Guard, USA
The USA is a strategic partner to the Re­
public of Macedonia. As a result of that the
USA shows constant support to our coun­
try for Euro-Atlantic integrations.
The USA and the Republic of Macedonia
have a fruitful and successful cooperation
Page IN SEARCH OF NEW AFGHANISTAN in the military field as well. The cooperation

4 RE-ESTABLISHING THE POLITICAL SYSTEM INSTEAD

OF DESTROYING IT
between the Army of the Republic of Mace­
donia and the Vermont National Guard,
USA started 15 years ago. Untill now this
cooperation has been realized though mu­
tual training, seminars, visitis, exercises and
it will have been rounded off by the end of
Page RIFLE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY March with participation of 79 Macedonian

18
Army soldiers as part of the Vermont Na­
AUTOMATIC RIFLE MODEL M21 tional Guard, in the ISAF mission to Afghan­
istan. This came as a result of the mutual
efforts and determination for stabilization
and development of Afghanistan.
It demonstrates that the Macedonian
Page INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE Army is firmly dedicated to contribute to
Page the ISAF operation, which has also been
26 WITH THE MACEDONIAN PEACEKEEPERS
IN THE ISAF MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN 11
proven by our continual participation with
available resources, over the years. This
participation in the overall efforts the dem­
ocratic world makes to build better future
for Afghanistan is extremely important for
a small country like Macedonia.
Page THE MACEDONIAN BLUE BARET The new ARM contingent consists of staff
33 From a peacekeeper’s journal
officers, one MP squad and one Rangers
squad. They will participate in a slightly
different mission than the previous ones,
which is providing assistance and help in
the training of the Afghan Security Forces,
CLIMATE CHANGE VS. as well as other types of assignments.
Page DEFENCE AND SECURITY The Macedonian contingent that consists

38 Page of experienced soldiers has conducted

26
POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES raining in several phases in the country
and in the USA. Part of the members of
OF GLOBAL WARMING the ARM and the Vermont National Guard
have already had previous experience by
participating in this mission to Afghanistan.
Page A BOOK ABOUT THE MACEDONIAN PAST That is a valuable experience for successful

44
completion of assignments in the future.
A STORY WHICH “THE LEOPARD” Well planned and conducted training prepa­
rations, as well as dedication of the ARM
PROTECTS FROM OBLIVION members guarantees that the ARM per­
sonnel is capable to meet the challenges
in the forthcoming mission, and to justify
Page A MATCH FOR THE BIG FIRE Page
the given trust. The ARM members have
proven their readiness, with successful par­
48 THE “SPIRIT” OF THE FIRST FLIGHT
OVER THE ATLANTIC
54 ticipation in this as well as other similar mis­
sions all over the world, in the past years.
The Commander of the Vermont National
Guard, Major-General Michael Dubie has
SHIELD - Year II, issue 7, March 2010, published monthly visited the country to inspect the readiness
PUBLISHER - MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA of the Macedonian contingent for the forth­
coming, missions.
PUBLISHING BOARD “These are critical moments for Afghani­
Emil Dimitriev (Chairman, chief) stan. The organization and mission of ISAF
Major general Naser Sejdini, Sashko Dimov, Lieutenant Colonel Mirce Gjorgoski, Lieutenant Colonel Zdravko Rizovski, led by General McCrystal has set higher
Lieutenant Colonel Meri Rindzova, Ph.D. Gorgi Malkovski goals to be accomplished in the next 18
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF months. The ARM soldiers together with
Lieutenant Colonel Zdravko Rizovski the soldiers of the Vermont National Guard
have a great challenge ahead, as well as
EDITORIAL BOARD a very important mission” stated General
Biljana Ivanova (Copy Editor, Art and Graphic Editor), Ivan Petrushevski (Associate Journalist) Ksenija Miteva (Lector), Aleksandar Dubie.
Atanasov (Photographs) High level of training and ability to com­
plete the assignments in the forthcoming
CONCEPTUAL CONSULTING, ART OFFICE AND DESIGN mission, as well as previous experience, are
Zarko Stojanovik, Oliver Kurciev, Vesna Vujadinovik, Stefan Smiljanoski confirmation that this new contingent will
finish its mission successfully.
Printed by: ”Evropa 92” Kocani The guarantee for success in the forthcom­
ing mission is the whole that has been
ADDRESSS created by incorporating affirmed profes­
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE - Magazine “SHIELD” sionals from both Armies. It is the same as
“Orce Nikolov” bb 1000 Skopje
Phone: 02 038 24 17; 02 328 20 58 the USA motto: „E pluribus unum“ (Out of
Fax: 02 3113 527; 02 3128 276 many, one). One but valuable.
www.morm.gov.mk; E-mail: stit@morm.gov.mk
Zdravko Rizovski

3
 IN SEARCH
OF NEW
AFGHANISTAN
RE-ESTABLISHING THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
t’s been over nine years
since the coalition forces,
led by the USA, entered
the territory of Afghani-
stan in order to make radical
changes and to improve the
situation of the country. How-
ever, at the moment, things
are not as many people wished
at all. Whether they were an-
ticipated or not, challenges still
exist in Afghanistan concerning
diplomacy, information, armed
forces and economy. Perhaps,
a silent concession about the
situation is made by the Brit-
ish Prime Minister, Gordon
Brown, who voiced an idea to
search for a new strategy con-
4
cerning Afghanistan. This was
announced together with the
UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-
moon, on 29 November last
year. The new conference, held
on 28 January 2010 in London,
and all events that happened
during the sessions on the
conference, confirmed the ob-
vious demand in changing the
approach of dealing with Af-
ghanistan.
The interest in the accepted
resolutions, to direct future
development of the political
decisions which need to be the
foundation of the operational
tasks for the armed forces in
the theatre comes from the
1. Prime Min- mere fact of Macedonia’s in-
ister Gor- volvement in Afghanistan.
don Brown The determination of the po-
litical leaders of our country
announcing to continue striving towards
the confer- the Euro-Atlantic integrations
ence in Lon- has meant adjusting to some
don demands set by our partners.
Therefore, the idea of increas-
ing the number of the armed
forces as peacekeepers in Af-
ghanistan is a logical follow
up to those efforts. This is an
extremely serous job forced
upon the military and political
leaders; therefore, the interest
in the future developing strate-
gy of Afghanistan is absolutely
more than necessary. The aim

INSTEAD OF DESTROYING IT
of this article is to show that there is
a need of deeper and more analytical
approach to the London conference.
If a serous analysis from a different
point of view was made, it would only
confirm how much the “western coun-
tries” are upset about the situation in
Afghanistan. Two reasons generally
cause these worries, and that’s why
they are going to be the topic of de-
tailed analysis in the next part of this
article.
Firstly, despite all initiatives of the tra-
ditional western partners to “smooth
up” their differences concerning Af-
ghanistan, still, their national inter-
ests have been smothering the initial
energy for improving and advancing
forward.
Secondly, the standard practice,
which has been applied as a sys-
tem for building nations, used for
fast selling of the idea about the
“western story of democracy”, has
melted in questioning the possibility
of successfully accepting this idea in
Afghanistan in a way that has been
done so far.
LONDON CONFERENCE:
ONE STEP AHEAD?
There have been two clearly distin-
guished approaches since the begin-
ning of the campaign in Afghanistan.
They still exist; therefore, they cause
problems in creating a successful
story about Afghanistan. Although
the attitude towards the modern
threat of terrorism, which is used by
Al-Qaeda, is to condemn them and
other groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda, it
has been evident that there are two
distinct types of differences in the in-
ternational legal approach on the ter-
ritory of Afghanistan. Consequently,
these differences are the foundation
for building the diverse approach in
Afghanistan. It does not mean that
the international legal differences are
the only reason for disagreements
about Afghanistan, but only that they
are the foundation of the disagree-
ments. This was the easiest way
to get an acceptable compromise
among the allies at that moment.
Namely, after 11 September, 2001,
the justification of using deadly force,
from the domain of inherent right of
war (jus bellum), thus, the USA and
one part of the allies who support the
USA, based its right of self-defense
on the UN Charter, Chapter 51. This
has been recognized and confirmed
by the UN Security Council twice,
(resolutions number 1368 and 1373)
and by NATO, EU, other regional or-
ganizations and by wider world opin-
ion. Nevertheless, a larger number of
European allies led by Germany and
France withheld themselves from the
USA aggressive attitude towards
dealing with the 9/11 attack. However,
they have expressed support, justify-
ing it through the second internation-
al legal right of use of deadly force in
Afghanistan, i.e. Article number 42
from the UN Charter. On one hand,
it was obvious that EU verbally sup-
ported the USA. On the other hand,
EU behaved differently on the field.
Instead of actual support to the mis-
sion “Iraqi Freedom”, the ISAF mis-
sion was started under the UN man-
date. In this way, a gap has occurred
in the diplomatic cooperation, which
has been causing confusion among
the operational forces in the theatre.
ISAF has been stationed in the ring
around Kabul, and hasn’t moved,
however, the “Iraqi Freedom” mission
made a framework where the coali-
tion forces and their partners, fought
against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces,
in the rest of Afghanistan.
Since 2005, the USA enforced the
idea to join these two missions, and
that confirmed the existence of prob-
lems not only in the diplomatic field
(in this particular case in the interna-
tional legal aspect) but also in the
field of information, military opera-
5

tions and economic approach. As a
result, the following few NATO sum-
mits were characterized by sharp
criticism. The USA criticized their co-
alition partners for not responding to
the USA demands, “... proactive and
more determined approach instead
of the soft approach that the Euro-
pean forces use”
This kind of dispute resulted in an
unexpected effect in the operational
aspect (military plan). The brutal, di-
rect and conventional approach used
by the USA in the operation “Ana-
conda” in 2002, created the new “Al-
Qaeda”. Although the physical force
of Al-Qaeda was seriously damaged,
the operation “Anaconda” and the
reserved attitude of ISAF helped the
creation of the new “Al-Qaeda”, i.e.
the idea of “Al-Qaeda”. It caused a
general reflection and a turning point
of the warfare. From a purely physi-
cal and kinetic war in the field, it has
turned into a war where by manipu-
lating information, it remained to
fight for ideas and for winning over
the people. They failed to recognize
this change, though they tried to
unite their efforts, and to overcome
the differences after uniting their
two missions into one. Instead, be-
cause of the legal right that the US
wanted to keep (acting in the line of
war, where the fight against terror-
ism is considered to be an act of war)
another compromise was made and
both missions were taken under the
US command.
6
Nevertheless, this has not brought
to the solution of the problems. Due
to the changes that have been made
in the course of warfare, it has been
proven that in this kind of situations,
purely military solution is merely 20
percent of the problem (see more in
David Galulla Counter-Insurgence War-
fare: Theory and Practice, 1964). It has
become clear that in order to achieve
the success which was planned at the
beginning, there must be legitimacy of
the actions. It means that in this kind
of situation, that problem is more po-
litical rather than military (this attitude
was recognized by John F. Kennedy,
1961). In order to have successful solu-
tion, there is a need to win over the
hearts and the opinions of the people.
According to the father of this idea,
this includes the emotional part (the
heart) and the cognitive part (con-
science - opinions) of people (see more
in: John Cloake, Templer, tiger of Ma-
laya: the life of field marshal Sir Gerald
Templer”, London, Harrap, 1985). In
addition, in order to reach that goal,
the culture of the people should be
understood. In other words, there is
a need to understand the perception
of people, traditions, the way of living
and the real existing needs of people
(advised by the Commander of the
forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley
McChrystal). Understanding these as-
pects of life, is going to clarify some-
thing that Lawrence tried to point out
in the early twenties of the last cen-
tury, about the Arabs (see more in T.E
Lawrence, “Twenty-seven Articles”,
The Arab Bulletin, 20th August, 1917).
Thus, it is better for the Afghans to do
something satisfactory on their own,
rather than to have something done
perfectly by some outside factor. It co-
incides with the set goals of this mis-
sion, according to which, Afghanistan
needs to get on its own feet and deal
with problems and challenges on its
own.
It is crystal clear that there is a need
of completely new way of dealing
with the problem. This is necessary
because you need to keep in mind
the above mentioned problems con-
nected to the approach as means to
accomplish legitimacy (understanding
the importance of respecting the law,
cultural perception and political as-
pects of the operations). Some ideas
were put forward at the last London
conference. These ideas are in terms
of demilitarization of the approach,
which is needed to meet the criteria
of the common people, and give solu-
tions to noted problems. Resolutions
have been brought pointing out the
idea of using an indirect approach in-
stead of a direct one, an unconven-
tional way of dealing with problems
instead of solid and conventional
ways. This new approach would not
destroy the Taliban system of resis-
tance; on the contrary, it would set
conditions for returning to normal life
and mutual cooperation.
The first thing that was done on the
conference was making a scenario,
according to which the military oc-
cupation would get “stretched” to 5
more years. According to some state-
ments given by the Afghan President,
Hamid Karazi for the BBC before the
start of the conference, the military
occupation could be “stretched” up to
15 years. This means that Obama’s
plan to start withdrawing troops
from Afghanistan in 2011 should be
altered. Obama presented his view
about this as a very skillful politician
and adjusted the interpretation of his
plan as a very long story, although
many did not understand it quite well.
He showed how his plan coincides
with the idea of the USA, “gradually
withdraw troops in one region at a
time”, and all that …”depending on
the conditions which should be es-
timated by the leaders in the the-
atre”… starting from 2011.
Obviously, political efforts have
been done in order to achieve this
goal. The initiative to cooperate with
some of the warlords who are re-
lated to the Taliban, and moreover
to integrate them into the new gov-
ernment of Karazi is a serious step
ahead in the new indirect (instead
of the straight military) approach
which is taken in Afghanistan. Ac-
cording to Karazi, in order to have
political success the king of Saudi
Arabia, Abdul Aziz could play an im-
portant role (King Abdulah bin Abdul-
Aziz of Saudi Arabia). Karazi said
...”he should have a dominant role
in the process of peace making ...
praying together with other friends
in Afghanistan, above all with the
friends from Pakistan”.
Establishing of the so-called rec-
onciliation council (peace jigra),
supplemented by the council of
the elders, will have an only aim
to reconcile and integrate every-
body who are willing to make
peace. Certain measures have
been taken at the same time at
the international level, so as to
demonstrate a determination
in the success of the plan (for
instance, some diplomatic influ-
ence was used to remove the
names of five Taliban leaders
from the UN list of individuals
subject to sanctions measures).
Despite the political measures,
taking into consideration the
economic measures is also
a considerable step ahead.
Around 650 million dollars have
been planned for donation by
the USA, Japan, Great Britain
and Germany on the confer-
ence, to “bribe” over 12.000
soldiers who fight against the
coalition partners. According
to the British Prime Minister,
Gordon Brown, the indirect
approach can be implemented
when the international trust
fund is used for offering alter-
natives as well as prevention
of joining and supporting the
rebels.
The military part has given its
share in the completely new
role which has been tried to
be imposed by the new com-
mander of the armed forces in
Afghanistan, general Stanley
McChrystal. Although he was
generally and harshly criticized
in the USA because of his soft-
ening of the rules of engage-
ment, so that he could win the
people’s trust, McChrystal is-
sued orders which support the
indirect approach. Giving the
new orders to the military lead-
ers in the theatre, McChrystal
emphasized the need to un-
derstand the people and deal
with problems “through the
eyes of the people”. The key
point of this is preparing the
military part of the peacekeep-
ers to follow this approach.
According to McChrystal, the
problems will be dealt with so
as to cause the fulfilling of cer-
tain conditions which should
be achieved (a statement given
for Financial Times). One Brit-
ish diplomat, who wanted to
remain anonymous, called this
approach “a carrot and stick
approach”. By explaining this
method, the anonymous diplo-
mat actually showed the idea
of the conference, to integrate
all instruments of power (di-
plomacy, information, military
forces and economy). He said,
“there will be 40 000 soldiers
more in the theatre, whose
goal is to prevent Taliban’s ma-
neuver. Money and the political
powerful posts which are of-
fered to the warlords are the
“carrot”. The military forces
who should dissuade the reb-
els from joining are the “stick”.
In this way, this conference is a
considerable step ahead in alter-
ing the approach when dealing
with the problem in Afghani-
stan, which was mentioned at
the beginning of this analysis.
What is left to be seen is how,
at the London conference, the
participants approached the sec-
ond problem which the coalition
forces faced in Afghanistan.
DEMOCRATIZATION
OF AFGHANISTAN
All analysis and reports pre-
sented at the London confer-
ence showed that there is a
need to pay more attention
and spend more time on the
democratic aspect of the prob-
lem in Afghanistan. One of the
reasons might be accepting
the fact that democratization
of Afghanistan would not func-
tion in the way that the “west-
ern” countries wanted, there-
fore, this is a very painful blow
to the “western idea”. In any
case, no matter what, almost
all the problems might be si-
lently included in some parts of
the initiatives and statements
given by the political represen-
tatives before and after the
conference. Without getting
into too many details by ana-
2. Secretary
lyzing them, we could conclude
that, those who support the
General Ban
Ki-moon sup- idea to leave the Afghan peo-
ple to decide about the way of
ports the
idea for a building their country and their
new strategy independence, are louder and
for Afghani- louder.
stan Therefore, instead of a deduc-
tive approach, strong central
3. every-day power, there is a need of an
Afghanistan inductive approach. It means
that the people believe in the
4. angela
merkel and local leaders. Thus, to win
people’s trust you need to win
hamid karzai
the trust of the local leaders
whom the people trust. That is
6. Last con-
ference in the only way to win back the
London trust of the people and make
all efforts put by the coalition
5. Minister forces understood by the lo-
of Defense,
Zoran Kon-
janovski, an-
nounced the
determina-
tion of Repub-
lic of Mace-
donia to take
part in the
peacekeeping
mission in
Afghanistan
with larger
number of
armed forces
7. President
of the USA,
Barack Obama
and the king
of Saudi Ara-
bia, Abdul Aziz
cal people, and that is how the
new conference will be fruitful.
In any case, time will show how
and in what way all the priori-
ties set on this conference will
reflect on the situation in the
theatre. This is very important
for the Republic of Macedonia
because we are a part of these
efforts, and we need to take
into consideration Macedonia’s
intensive presence in Afghani-
stan. Moreover, the announce-
ment of increasing the number
of peacekeepers in this country
makes it even more important.
PhD Metodi Hadji-Janev
7
 IMPRESSIVE
THE PROGRESS OF THE ARM IS
Interview
with the Major General Michael Dubie,
the commandant of the Vermont National Guard, USA
General Sir, what is the purpose of your
visit to the Republic of Macedonia?
– This is my annual visit as a Command-
er of the Vermont National Guard, USA,
but it is also an opportunity to express
my gratitude to the soldiers of the Army
of the Republic of Macedonia for their
deployment in the upcoming mission in
Afghanistan.
The Army of the Republic of Mace-
donia has been cooperating with the
Vermont National Guard for 15 years
now. How do you assess this coopera-
tion and what are the benefits of this
mutual cooperation?
8
“The respect we have – 15 years ago we started with very
simple exchanges between our two
for the members of countries. The most important benefit
is the personal friendships and relations
the ARM is getting that developed between the members
bigger and bigger. of the Army of Republic of Macedonia
and the members of the Vermont Na-
The reputation of tional Guard. These relations helped us
get the best preparations for the mu-
the Macedonian tual deployment in the army base. Only
soldiers is widely through long term contacts that formed
personal and professional relations we
known and well can gain that level of respect and mu-
tual trust that we now have.
documented for
their service in Iraq The result of this successful coopera-
tion is the upcoming joint mission of
and Afghanistan”
the members of the Vermont National
Guard and the members of the special
units of ARM in Afghanistan. Are you
satisfied with the readiness of the
contingent for conducting this mis-
sion, which is in many ways, different
from the others?

– I am extremely satisfied with the

preparations and the training. This is
a very serious mission in very serious
times in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, I
am convinced that the formations are
well trained, well equipped and with
good leaders.

What do you think about the actual

safety situation in Afghanistan?

9

– Regarding the present situation, I would
say that it represents a challenge for us. Of
course, progress has been made, that can
be seen also through the media reports,
but we still have a long journey ahead of
us. New tactics and procedures must be
implemented and that is what the new
ISAF command has been doing in the past
year. I would like to point out that this is
a modified mission in Afghanistan. Gen-
eral McChrystal has made a number of
changes in the deployment of the army in
Afghanistan. What we will do now is the
so-called combined action, in partnership
with the Afghan forces, which still requires
some mentoring and training.
General Sir, the Republic of Macedo-
nia, even though not a full member of
NATO, actively participates in the mis-
sions lead by the Alliance. How do you
value the contribution of the ARM in
the international missions, especially
the ISAF mission in Afghanistan?
– I already mentioned the professional-
ism of the ARM. A progress towards the
Alliance, without a doubt will be made,
but that is out of my hands, and that
well-known situation must be resolved.
What is clear to me is that the ARM is
a very professional army and their mem-
bers have been training for years accord-
ing to NATO standards.
Are there any future plans about increas-
ing the bilateral American-Macedonian
cooperation in terms of the military?
10
Since the beginning of the cooperation
between the Vermont National
Guard and the Army of Republic
of Macedonia in 1995, over 200
activities have been completed with
participation of over 4000 members of
the ARM and the Ministry of Defense.
The Vermont National Guard is a
partner of the ARM in the executing
the activities for cooperation with the
US Army are, coordinated through the
Military-contact program, as a part
of the overall bilateral cooperation
between the two armies. Through the
above mentioned Military program,
the Vermont National Guard has
significantly assisted the ARM in
achieving the standards of the
NATO-alliance.
– I am not familiar with any kind of in-
creasing the cooperation at this time.
The entire focus at the moment is at our
present mission. I think that after it be-
gins, we will start allocating resources
for something that is yet to follow re-
lated to our cooperation.
General Sir, you have visited the Re-
public of Macedonia on several occa-
sions. What was your greatest impres-
sion during your first visit and how do
you describe the present situation of
our country?
– My first visit here was in 1996. Today,
from what I have seen around Skopje, I
noticed there is great progress concern-
ing the economy and the free market,
and generally in the country. Regarding
the Army of the Republic of Macedonia,
the progress that has been made is yet
more radical. What is impressive is that
a great number of ARM members have
trained with other armed forces, the
armed forces of the USA, Great Britain,
Germany, Turkey, Greece and the armies
of all Balkan countries. It is exactly that
kind of international experience that cre-
ates a first class army. Also, I would like
to point out that the progress in the
non-commissioned officer corps is sub-
stantial. The NCOs that I meet today are
just as trained and prepared as their col-
leagues, the NCOs of the other armies.
That is of great importance for the devel-
opment of an army.
Zdravko Rizovski/Ivan Petrushevski
2

First Phase of the Project “ARM - My True Home”
n the first phase of the
project “ARM – My True
Home” according to the sur-
vey conducted among the
members of the Army of
the Republic of Macedonia there
is an interest for the construction
of 4,300 apartments with a total
area of 252,670 square meters.
The Minister of Defence Zoran
Konjanovski at the announce-
ment of the results from the first
vey the Army members respond-
ed what size apartment they want
to buy. Asked about the price, the
Minister expressed expectations
that they will be much cheaper
than the commercial ones. “Hav-
ing in mind that they will be built
on the territories of the former
barracks, in certain municipalities
on state-owned land, and with
the participation in the project by
the mayors, they will be relieved
инфо
info
the central city area of Kumanovo
281 apartments are expected to
be built with an area of 16,855
square meters, and in Shtip in the
suburb of Baba 279 apartments
with an area of 16,340 square
metres. In Skopje in the “Ilinden”
barracks there should be 3,284
apartments with 192,990 square
meters and in Veles in the frame-
work of the barracks, 126 apart-
ments with 6,900 square meters.
Konjanovski handed over the
“Strategy for Defence of the
Republic of Macedonia” to the
President and Supreme Com-
mander of the Armed Forces,
Gjorgje Ivanov in his residency
on Vodno.
At this solemn ceremony Min-
ister Konjanovski emphasised
that the Strategy is of a particu-
lar significance for the country.
“We have an exclusively signifi-

phase of the project noted that
the Government enables the ARM
members to have their own home
under exclusively favourable condi-
tions with a low price, opportunity
for payment in the next 10 years
and only 30% down payment
without obligations for interest.
“With the project ‘ARM - My True
Home’ the costs for paying rent
and transport are decreased in
the Ministry of Defence, and the
ARM and MOD members will
benefit from this at the same
time”, said Minister Konjanovski
during the press-conference of the
Government of the Republic of
Macedonia. According to him, the
project will be carried out without
additional fiscal implications on
the budget of the MOD and the
Government, and the construction
companies, banks and local self-
government will benefit. Minister
Konjanovski informed that the
construction of the apartments
will begin in October or November
the latest, and are with different
size from about 35, 55 and 70
square meters, and with the sur-
2
of utility charges for construction, cant document that needs to
we expect the price to be much be updated every five years,
lower than for the commercial and with the coming of a new
apartments”, said Konjanovski. NEW STRATEGY President and Supreme Com-
The initial interest, according to FOR DEFENCE mander, to have its own supple-
him, represents evidence on the On February 23, 2010 the
justification of the project and mo- ment”.
Minister of Defence Zoran
tive for a more engaged approach
towards it. After the adoption of
the Law on Service in the ARM, he
announced that preparations will
begin on a Rulebook for acquiring
an apartment and a programme
on the basis of which the project
documentation will be prepared.
In the first phase, in cooperation
with the local self-governments,
locations have been determined
and a survey has been conducted
with all ARM members. In the
municipality of Tetovo construc-
tion will take place in the former
barracks, and the initial interest is
for the building of 146 apartments
with a total apartment area of
8,905 square meters. In Kichevo
they will be built in a location that
is part of the barracks, and there is
a request for 94 apartments with
an area of 5,500 square meters. In

11
 This is a second Strategy ad-
opted in the Republic of Mace-
donia, 12 years after the first
one was adopted. Regarding
the size and scope of work
during the preparation of this
Strategy the Minister stated:
“In order to prepare a docu-
ment of this kind, it is neces-
sary to address several strate-
gic issues and challenges. We
have analysed all these issues
and strategic positions of the
Republic of Macedonia, as well
as all the missions we have al-
ready determined, and these
answers were the basis for
building this Strategy.”
In the preparation of the Strat-
egy, besides experts from the
MOD and GS of the ARM, ex-
perts from the NATO Advisory
Team were involved as well.
The Minister announced that
in the forthcoming months
the Long-term Defence Devel-
opment Plan will be handed
over as well, which is another
document of a particular sig-
nificance.
3
BRIEFING ON THE COMBAT
READINESS OF ARM
On February 9, 2010 a briefing
on the combat readiness of
the ARM for 2009 was held in
the MOD. The briefing on the
combat readiness is a regular
obligation of the GS of the
ARM, whereas the President
of the Republic of Macedonia
and Supreme Commander of
the ARM is being briefed on
the combat readiness of the
Army in the past year.
At the briefing, the Chief of
General Staff of the ARM
Lieutenant General Miroslav
Stojanovski, the Commander
of the Joint Operations Com-
mand of the ARM General Ma-
jor Zoran Dimov, part of the key
personnel of the GS of ARM,
as well as the Defence Minister
Zoran Konjanovski, briefed the
President of the Republic of
Macedonia and Supreme Com-
12
mander of the ARM Gjorge Iva-
nov on the combat readiness
of ARM, on the implementa-
tion of the plans and tasks for
2009 in line with the functional
areas of the ARM related to
personnel management, force
protection, operations, training
and exercises, logistic support,
signals and communications
and budgeting, as well as the
compatibility with the NATO
standards for 2009.
After the briefing, President
Ivanov stated that he was in-
formed about the participation
in peace missions and the level
of their contribution for Mace-
donia’s reputation in the inter-
national community. President
Ivanov emphasised for the
press that during the Secu-
rity Conference in Munich the
participants were impressed
about Macedonia’s participa-
tion in the peace mission in
Afghanistan, although Mace-
donia is not a NATO member.
Minister Konjanovski stated
that he informed President
Ivanov that Strategy for Army
Development has already been
prepared, and in the forthcom-
ing months the focus will be
put on creating a long-term
plan for ARM development,
which will be “Constitution of
ARM and MOD”, on the basis
of the accepted partnership
goals from NATO.
4
A MEDICAL TRAINING
CENTAR IN LINE WITH
NATO STANDARDS
On February 18, 2010 in the Mil-
itary-Medical Centre in Skopje
a donation to the refurbished
section of the Medical Training
Centre within the Military-Med-
ical Centre formational struc-
ture was handed over.
The ceremony was attended
by the Minister of Defence
Zoran Konjanovski, the Chief
of General Staff of the ARM
Lieutenant General Miroslav
Stojanovski as well as the am-
bassadors of the donor coun-
tries in the Republic of Mace-
donia – Netherlands, Norway
and Switzerland, Simone Filip-
pini, Kjetil Paulsen and Nicole
Wyrsch, respectively.
The total donation for the
Centre is worth approximately
EUR 85,000, of which Swit-
zerland provides EUR 55,000,
with Norway and the Nether-
lands allocating EUR 30,000.
The financial aid by these three
countries for development of
the Medical Training Centre is
a confirmation for the excel-
lent cooperation and, above
all, their support for the efforts
which MOD and ARM put in
strengthening of capacities of
general medical training and
special training before mis-
sions.
Minister Konjanovski extend-
ed his gratitude for the long-
standing assistance provided
by the three countries. For the
past ten years they have been
unselfishly helping the devel-
opment of this Centre.
“However, employees deserve
biggest praise due to their ef-
forts, which have raised the
Centre at a high level”, he
noted, adding that this will
also represent an incentive
for the prospective declared
more complex missions such
as ROLE 2 missions, in which
medical personnel for a light
manoeuvrable field hospital
should be provided.
“This is how a well equipped
regional training centre in the
military health area should
look like in accordance with
NATO standards. The new fa-
cilities and the ones to be con-
structed in the future would
help promote the institution
into a regional training centre”,
pointed out Konjanovski.
“Norway and Macedonia have
close cooperation in the field
of defence and security and
we support the ambitions of
Macedonia to become a NATO
member”, said Ambassador
Paulsen.
Dutch Ambassador Simone
Filippini stressed that the inter-
national community strongly
supports Macedonia’s NATO
and EU membership.
The Medical Training Centre
was formed in 2000 within the
Military Hospital, as a Medical
Training Centre for the neces-
sities of ARM and armies from
the region. Approximately
1300 persons have been
trained so far, 300 of them be-
ing members of armies from
the region. Thus far this Cen-
tre was extensively assisted
with training materials by the
Swiss Confederation and the
Kingdom of Norway, and by
the financial support in which
Netherlands will take part real
opportunities will be created
for the Medical Training Centre
to become a modern medical
training regional centre for the
necessities of ARM and armies
in the region.
5
THIS YEAR IS DECISIVE FOR
AFGHANISTAN
The Minister of Defence Zoran
Konjanovski on February 5,
2010 visited Istanbul, Turkey,
where he attended the Infor-
mal Meeting of Ministers of
Defence of NATO countries and
countries which are not NATO
members, but contribute in
ISAF.
The Meeting is a regular coor-
dination of the international
community’s activities for
achieving safe, prosperous
and self-sustainable Afghani-
stan. The Meeting of Ministers
was focused on the progress
in achieving appropriate condi-
tions for transferring the re-
sponsibility for the safety of
Afghanistan to the Afghanistan
authorities, as well as to the
achieved progress in the imple-
mentation of the initial estima-
tion of the ISAF Commander,
General Stanley McChrystal.
“This year is decisive for Af-
ghanistan, and Macedonia
through its participation in the
ISAF mission will continue in
the future to contribute for the
stabilization of the situation
in the Central-Asian country”,
stated Macedonian Minister of
Defence Zoran Konjanovski.
In the margins of the meeting
Konjanovski held several brief
informal meetings with his col-
leagues, where he received
their support in the efforts that
Macedonia invests in the road
towards full NATO integration,
but also recognition for the con-
tribution, which it gives in the
ISAF mission.
The Macedonian Minister met
the NATO Secretary General,
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, with
the American Secretary of De-
fence, Robert Gates, as well as
with the Ministers of Defence
of Norway, Slovenia, Spain and
Italy, Grete Faremo, Ljubica
Jelushic, Carme Piqueras and
Ignazio La Russa. Rasmussen
confirmed that he received an
invitation from the Macedonian
leadership to visit Macedonia
and that in due time it will be
realized. He also held a meet-
ing with the British Secretary of
State for Defence, Robert Ain-
sworth, with whom he spoke
about the essential things that
the Macedonian peacekeepers
require in Afghanistan. Kon-
janovski received a confirma-
tion that the Macedonian sol-
diers will receive the required
logistics support from the
Great Britain contingent.
Afghanistan was the central
topic during the informal meet-
ing in Istanbul, which was
opened by the Secretary Gen-
eral of the Alliance Rasmussen.
He stressed that 36 countries
that have their own peacekeep-
ers in ISAF have offered rein-
forcement in the mission. The
Ministers also addressed the
situation in Kosovo during the
forum.
The informal meeting was par-
ticipated by Ministers of De-
fence form 44 countries which
contribute in ISAF.
6
FORUM ON THE
CONTRIBUTION OF
MACEDONIA TOWARDS
GLOBAL SECURITY AND
WORLD PEACE
“The Republic of Macedonia is
strongly committed to meet its
strategic determination to be-
come part of NATO and the Eu-
ropean Union and this is a goal
to which we are not retreating”,
stated Minister of Defence Zoran
Konjanovski during his address
to the cadets of the Military
Academy on the Forum “Contri-
bution of the Republic of Mace-
donia towards Global Security
and World Peace”, held on Febru-
ary 3, 2010, at which, besides the
cadets, were present military at-
tachés accredited in our country.
“The achievements in the seg-
ment of defence, most evident
through the large contribution of
our country towards the peace
operations in the world, confirm
that Macedonia succeeded in
merging into an equal credible
partner of NATO and the EU”,
stated Konjanovski. Macedonia,
as he stated, contributes to-
wards global security and world
peace through the participation
in missions led by NATO, the EU
and the United Nations, with
about three percent of its land
forces.
The ambassador of the King-
dom of Netherlands in Skopje
Simone Filippini believes that if
in the future Macedonia needs
to participate with equipment, it
will need more finances intended
for this. “These are tough times
and all NATO members are think-
ing how to redistribute the de-
fence budget. Macedonia, who
is still implementing the reforms,
is in an even more difficult situ-
ation because in line with those
reforms it needs to also procure
equipment and that represents
an additional burden in relation
to the finances. This is why a
long-term defence development
plan needs to exist where plans
for the procurement of equip-
ment will be included”, stated
Filippini. Currently, according
to her, Macedonia is giving the
most important contribution by
providing personnel for the mis-
sions. “If in the future it is estab-
lished that it should also contrib-
ute with equipment, then things
will become more complicated,
because with all the changes
in the security challenges in the
forthcoming period, such a re-
quirement will be imposed for
all NATO members and for the
Republic of Macedonia”, added
ambassador Filippini.
Minister Konjanovski stated that
due to the world economic crises,
the budget in all NATO member
states has been decreased, not
just in Macedonia. “But maybe
now is the moment to discuss
about this in the Ministry and in
the Army and to see where we
can save and to use those saved
money for procuring equipment
and training for ARM members”,
added Konjanovski. With the
announced increase in the con-
tribution in the ISAF mission in
Afghanistan with additional two
platoons that together with the
National Guard of the American
State of Vermont will join in the
training and mentorship of the
Afghan Security Forces, Mace-
donia will participate with 260
peacekeepers, or four percent
deployed army forces.
7
ARM MEMBERS RECEIVE
SEEBRIG ACHIEVEMENT
MEDALS
On February 22, in the Army
Home in Skopje, a ceremony
was held on the occasion
of awarding “A SEEBRIG
Achievement Medal” to ARM
members who served in the
South--Eastern Europe Bri-
gade – SEEBRIG. The eleven
members of ARM were award-
ed the SEEBRIG Medal by the
SEEBRIG Commander, Briga-
dier General Ziber Dusku.
The ceremony was also at-
tended by the Minister of
Defence Zoran Konjanovski,
the Chief of GS of the ARM,
Lieutenant General Miroslav
Stojanovski, part of the SEE-
BRIG personnel, families of the
awarded ARM members, rep-
resentatives of MOD and GS
of ARM and other guests.
8
WORKING VISIT
A delegation of the United
States European Command
(EUCOM), led by Brigadier Gen-
eral Joe Ramirez - HQ Europe-
an Command Deputy for Plans
and Strategy (J-5), recently
paid a working visit to Macedo-
nia and the Macedonian Army.
The delegation visited units
that are part of the ARM Joint
Operations Command: the Mili-
tary Police Battalion and ARM
AirWING, as well as the Special
Operations Regiment in “Ilin-
den” barracks in Skopje, where
it attended a demonstrative
military exercise within this
unit’s training.
Guests were informed on the
missions, tasks, equipment
and future plans of the units
at the meetings, where experi-
ences on training and planning
were exchanged. In the course
of its stay, the EUCOM delega-
tion had an opportunity to visit
some of the cultural landmarks
in the Republic of Macedonia.
Biljana Stevchevska
9
EXCHANGE OF
EXPERIENCES IN THE PART
OF LOGISTICS
A work meeting was held in
the Host Nation Support Coor-
dination Centre in the barracks
“Strasho Pindjur” in Petrovec,
with General Major Patricia
McQuistion, the 21st Theatre
Sustainment Command com-
manding general.
The guest was welcomed by
General Major Zoran Lekovski,
and the Chief of G-4 in the GS
of ARM, Colonel Kiro Ristovski
and the Commander of the
Logistic Support Command,
Colonel Blagojcho Pejchinov
were present at the part of the
meeting regarding logistics.
Major Viktor Zlatkov and Major
Snezana Olevska presented
the ARM transformation and
achievements in the part of
logistics before the USA del-
egation representatives. After
that, additional discussions
followed which introduced the
opportunity to broaden the
cooperation between both
armies through activities that
will enable exchange of expe-
riences from this exceptionally
important segment.
10
Е.Т.
INSPECTION OF A
SPECIFIED AREA
Inspection teams from the
armed forces of Republic of
Bulgaria, the Russian Federa-
tion, Republic of Serbia and a
representative from the armed
forces of the Kingdom of Den-
mark paid a working visit and
carried out an inspection of a
specified area in accordance
13
 with the Vienna Document
1999 on February 11, 2010, in
the First Mechanized Infantry
Brigade in the barracks “Jane
Sandanski” in Shtip. The in-
spection teams were accom-
panied by a team from the
Arms Control and Verification
Department of MOD, as well
as teams from GS of ARM and
JOC.
The purpose was inspection
of a specified area in the First
Mechanized Infantry Brigade in
the area of arms control and
verification, in accordance with
the obligations arising from
the Vienna Document 1999 re-
garding arms control and veri-
fication.
The inspection of the specified
area was carried out by an in-
spection team consisting of
three members, led by team
leaders from the armed forces
of Republic of Serbia, Lieuten-
ant Colonel Dragan Stojanovic,
from the armed forces of Re-
public of Bulgaria Lieutenant
Colonel Gencho Basharov, and
from the armed forces of the
Russian Federation Lieutenant
Colonel Nikolay Bugrovskiy.
The team from the Verification
and Armament Control Depart-
ment of MOD of Republic of
Macedonia and GS of ARM
was led by Colonel Zlatko On-
chevski and Lieutenant Colonel
Tomislav Rizeski.
At the final briefing, the inspec-
tion team leaders for evalua-
tion expressed their gratitude
for the pleasant stay in the
First Mechanized Infantry Bri-
gade and mentioned that the
stated condition is in accor-
dance with the provisions from
the Vienna Document 1999.
11
Zoran Janakievski
LEADERSHIP AND
MILITARY LEADERSHIP
CHARACTERISTICS
“Leadership in General and
Military Leadership Character-
istics” is the title of the book
whose author is Brigadier Gen-
eral M.A. Dimche Petrovski.
The launching ceremony was
held in the barracks “Jane San-
danski” in Shtip, in the atten-
dance of Deputy Minister of
Defence Emil Dimitriev, Briga-
dier General Kiro Galazovski,
Prof. Dr. Gjorgji Malkovski, part
of the mayors from the area of
responsibility, high military and
civilian guests and the media.
“In order to write this book it is
necessary to have knowledge
14
about the changes in the inter-
national strategic environment
after the ’90-ies, which led to
re-evaluation of all the issues
pertaining to military organiza-
tion, including military leader-
ship, military professionalism
principles, application of the
leadership-model for appoint-
ing officers, for the leaders to
be able to apply the so called
‘mission commanding model’
clearly and precisely on a tac-
tical and operational level”,
emphasised Prof. Dr. Gjorgji
Malkovski with reference to
this book, published in Skopje
in 2010.
The book is divided into four
segments that chronologically
and thematically create a re-
markably synchronized whole,
with and easy and recogniz-
able writing style. Each of the
events elaborated and anal-
ysed step by step by a con-
temporary military-theoretical
writing style is easily under-
standable for the readers, and
will undoubtedly find its place
in the studying of contempo-
rary military doctrines in Mace-
donia and abroad.
Z. Janakievski
12
PREPARATION FOR THE
PROSPECTIVE OPERATIONS
IN AFGHANISTAN
An international seminar on the
topic “International Legal As-
pects in the Fight against Terror-
ism: Preparation for Prospective
Operations in Afghanistan” was
held in hotel “Metropol” in Ohrid,
from 17 to 22 January, 2010,
within the cooperation involving
Ministry of Defence of Republic
of Macedonia, the US Embassy
in our country and the US De-
fence Institute of International
Legal Studies.
60 officers and civilians from:
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ro-
mania, Turkey, Slovakia, Serbia,
Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia
and the USA participated in the
seminar. It is important to em-
phasise that the key personnel
from ARM members preparing
to go on a peace operations in
Afghanistan participated in the
seminar as well.
Professors from the USA and
Macedonia, as well as experts
from MOD were presenters of
the seminar appropriate topics.
At the seminar, among other,
was discussed about the global
warfare change, counter-insur-
gency operations, international
legal aspects of the contempo-
rary counter-insurgency opera-
tions in Afghanistan (European
perspectives and approaches as
opposite to the US approach),
dilemmas regarding rules of
conduct in ISAF missions and
“Enduring Freedom” operations,
experiences regarding manners
of dealing with the local popula-
tion in the military operations,
the significance of SOFA agree-
ments etc. In addition, case
studies were analysed through
which participants shared own
experiences from the past
peace operations.
What is of a special importance
and what gave a special mean-
ing to the seminar, beside the
mass international presence,
was the address of the new di-
rector of the US Institute, who
stressed the importance of the
seminar and expressed warm
gratitude to the Ministry of De-
fence of Republic of Macedonia
for the assistance in this project.
13
PLANNING PROCESS FOR
THE EXERCISE “BALKAN
STAR 2010”
The planning process for the
forthcoming exercise “Balkan
Star 2010” has started with
the realization of conferences
and workshops in the Training
Centre “Pepelishte” in the past
period. This exercise will be
held from October 24 to No-
vember 3, 2010, in the Military
Range “Krivolak”, in the Train-
ing Centre “Pepelishte”, in the
barracks “Ilinden” in Skopje and
“Jane Sandanski” in Shtip and
at the Airport “Petrovec”.
The military exercise “Balkan
Star 2010”, by the number of
personnel and participation
of land and air force compo-
nent is the biggest and the
most complicated exercise so
far carried out with the ARM
units, and 1200 ARM soldiers
will participate in it.
The conference and the work-
shops were opened and led
by the director of the exercise,
Colonel Mitre Stojanov. Lieu-
tenant Colonel Gjoko Maksimov
is responsible for the complete
preparation of the activities
arising from NATO level evalua-
tions and self-evaluation level 2
with the evaluation team.
Z.J.
14
From the activities of ORORM
DIGNIFIED OBSERVANCE
The Executive Board of ORORM
from Kumanovo, in cooperation
with the Presidency of Union
of Fighters from the National
Liberation War of Macedonia,
is an organizer of the traditional
Karposh Night as a symbol of
respect for the legendary Com-
mander of the partisan battalion
from Kumanovo “Orce Nikolov”,
the legendary hero Hristijan
Todorovski - Karposh. This digni-
fied observance, held on Febru-
ary 6, 2010 in the Culture Centre
“Trajko Prokopiev”, represented
66 years from his heroic death
in the village of Biljacha on Feb-
ruary 7, 1944.
In the crowded hall of the Cul-
ture Centre were present many
officers and non-commissioned
officers in the reserve, survived
fighters, activists from the Union
of Fighters, ARM representatives
and citizens from Kumanovo,
including: President of ORORM,
Prof. Dr. Gjorgji Malkovski, del-
egation from the Main Board
of Union of Fighters from the
National Liberation War of Mace-
donia, the first Chief of General
Staff of ARM LTC General Mitre
Arsovski (retired), the President
of the Union of Army Veterans,
General Major Ilija Nikolovski (re-
tired), the President of the Ku-
manovo Municipality Council, Vik-
tor Cvetkovski, the Commander
of the Third Infantry Brigade,
Colonel Vladimir Bojmacaliev,
the representative from Joint
Operations Command, Lieuten-
ant Colonel Toni Stojanovski, the
presidents from the ORORM
organizational units from Kisela
Voda (Nikola Gjurovski), from
Chair (Dushko Bojchovski), from
Gazi Baba (Dushko Naskovski),
the national hero Vladimir Todo-
rovski’s nephew, as well as the
Karposh’s comrade from the
“Orce Nikolov” battalion, Kraljo
Miloshevski.
At the opening of this cer-
emony, the President of OOE
of ORORM in Kumanovo and
member of the Executive Board
of the ORORM Assembly, Ra-
domir Karevski, addressed the
attendants. After that, the his-
torian Bogdan Tanevski spoke
about Hristijan Todorovski – Kar-
posh’s biography.
Zhivko Trajanovski
WONDERS
GERMANY
OF NAZI
SUPERWEAPONS THAT “FROZE THE BLOOD” OF THE ALLIES
ermany versus the world. In the for-
ties of the last century, one of the
darkest periods of human history,
this thought was the undisputed
truth. The second big war, initiated by the
dictatorial regime of Nazi Germany, clear-
ly noted that the technological superi-
ority of an army is one of the essential
factors for rapid and effective removal of
clearly established state boundaries at
the time. On one occasion the notorious
Adolf Hitler, addressing his army said,
“We have unbeatable aircrafts and sub-
marines, colossal tanks and cannons,
unimaginably powerful rockets and
bomb whose destructive power will sur-
prise the entire world ... We only have to
wait these weapons to be completed.”
Here, we will introduce the German won-
ders of World War II, highly sophisticated
weapons which, if put into mass use,
would have fully changed the outcome of
the war.
NEW POWERFUL WEAPONS:
REALITY OR FICTION?
Immediately after the end of WWII, the
terrible German weapons that were spo-
ken for some time were the focal point
of interest for many scientists, but also
the world’s highest-circulation magazines
and tabloids that were the final destina-
tion of many rumors and assumptions.
But the question which occupied every-
one whether they were really incred-
ible weapons in process of production,
remained open. However, we must not
forget titanic Goebbels machinery which
had dazzling power. It is logical to con-
clude that the increased propaganda in
Germany, especially after 1943 when the
Nazi began to undergo severe damages
and losses on battlefields, tried to beau-
tify the facts related to the development
of these weapons. Despite this, the
facts show that Nazi Germany since the
start of the war was in a major techno-
logical advantage over the allied forces.
Hitler, however, very successfully used
the evident technological superiority for
presenting Germany in an even more
frightening light and for provoking even
greater fear among the allied forces than
the power of the Nazi weapons. One
example is the occupation of the castle
Eben Emael (Belgium), where on a great
surprise to the Allies, the Crooked Cross
15
 was raised after only 24 hours of
the invasion of this Western Euro-
pean country. Hitler linked it with
the use of the new German super
weapon called Angriffsmittel, for
which no information was publi-
cized at that time. It was later re-
vealed that the weapon was not
even a little more sophisticated
than a typically explosive charge.
But Hitler’s words had completed
their task. Allies were really afraid
of the new Nazi super weapons.
A-BOMB OF THE THIRD REICH
Astonishing, but true. The pow-
erful Nazi machinery, according
to all data, had a dead heat with
the United States in the field of
development of the atom bomb. which is only 0.7% of the natural equivalent to uranium 235”, and
However, the interest of en- Photo on
uranium-238 is million times more hereinafter a description is given
ergy released by the separation explosive than conventional ex- page 15 (cover about the creation of the par-
of ions of uranium began even plosives. Even more interesting page photo) ticularly important chain reaction.
before the war - in 1938. Two is that it says that the nuclear vertical lift- “When the element 94 is placed
scientists, Otto Hahn and Fritz reactor can be used for creation off – Ba 349 in one location, such as a bomb,
Shtrassmann, were the first wit- of plutonium, which can also be „Natter“ most of the neutrons produced
nesses of the process of nuclear used as nuclear fuel. According by nuclear fission will be those
fission, and then Lise and Otto to the report, the critical mass to 1. one of the that will enable a continuous fis-
Meitner Frich explained the theo- create this type of weapon was most fasci- sion process.” It is “de facto” the
retical mechanism of the process estimated to 10-100 kg, which cor- nating Nazi way a plutonium bomb works.
and pointed out the high energy responded to the assumption by projects the
that is released at that point. the American scientists (2-100 kg). WITCH HUNT OR ...?
Some information says it was flying disc
Another document that confirms (UFO) Besides all found drawings and
the achievements of German sci- the thesis that the German scien- reports of the German Army and
entists that were blasting cap to tists knew about the composition scientists, the basic question
start the joint program to create 2. the first
and the manner, in which pluto- remains - did the Nazi have in
an atomic bomb, first by the Brit- nium was used, was found in the jet in the their hands the most destructive
ish TUBE ALLOYS project, and archives of the Soviet Union. It is world – weapon, or did they have a func-
then through the famous project an initial version of the patent by He-176 tional atomic bomb?
known as MANHATTAN. the scientist Von Veinsacker from The answer to this probably is
1941 which clearly indicates that 3. He-162 “yes”. Adolf Hitler had in his ar-
KNOWLEDGE = POWER he knew exactly how to use the senal an atom bomb, but it was
The basic question is: How much plutonium (in this case it is called 4. the re- primitive and difficult to adjust
did German scientists know about element 94). “Manufacturing maining of for air discharge. The information
the process of creating the bomb? the element 94 in large enough the Natter’s said that nuclear tests were car-
Several authors carrying out the quantities is best to be done by ried out at the end of WWII on an
tests in the years after World War first un-
a uranium machine, i.e. a nuclear successful island in the Baltic Sea called Ru-
II concluded that the scientist reactor. Hence the element 94 gen and on mainland, about 100
Heisenberg and his colleagues flight “
can in a very easy chemical way km south of Berlin in dense for-
failed to understand the process be isolated from the uranium”, is est. According to some sources,
of the atomic bomb function. written in the patent. Von Vein- although those Hitler bombs did
This is claimed in the survey con- sacker clarifies that this plutonium not have the destructive power of
ducted by the U.S. Army called can be used for creating a power- “the little boy” and “the fat man”
“ALSO S - studies of the creation ful bomb as well. “If we take into even close, several hundred peo-
of the German Bomb”. The same account what the ratio of energy ple from concentrate camps died
statement is outlined in the book per unit mass is , this explosive as a result of performing these
“Heisenberg and Nazi Atomic is ten million times more power- tests in their near surroundings.
Bomb Project, 1939-1945”, sup- ful than any other explosives, or However, the world was a wit-
plemented by the opinion that
the main problem was keeping
the chain reaction in which fast
neutrons emitted by uranium or
plutonium nucleus cause a fission
reaction. It said that the Germans
failed to find out that the pluto-
nium which is produced in the pro-
cess of obtaining uranium can be
used as nuclear fuel. However, the
overall information is absolutely
contradictory. Namely, in Febru-
ary 1942, officials from the Ger-
man Army responsible for weap-
ons development described the
progress of the uranium project
in a report called “Getting energy
from uranium”, which was discov-
ered in the penultimate decade of
the XX century. The report clearly
states that pure uranium-238

16
ness to a great nuclear explosion by Nazi
Germany. This is likely due to not only
the large initial successes by the German
Army on all battlefields but also the short
time for development of such a terrifying
weapon when they found that the war
changed the course in favor of the Allies.
“FROZEN” BOMB
Certain information show that Hitler and
his associates were interested in creating
a bomb whose effect is quite opposite of
that of conventional weapons. The inter-
est was focused on a bomb whose ther-
mal indicators were endothermic, that
is with a detonation would be released
extremely low rather than high tempera-
ture. The main objective of such a bomb
- instantly freezing a large area of land of
about 1.5 km, which quickly and effectively
would destroy all living creatures on that
territory which, in turn can quickly return
to its original condition. Despite the great
advantages of this bomb, no actions
were taken nor the initial tests that would
show the possibility of its construction.
But certain information discovered a de-
cade after the war say that the Soviets
owned all reports pertaining to such a
bomb that failed to some extent to be
developed and tested.
Nazi Flying Objects
According to the facts in the period after
World War II the most unidentified flying
objects were observed so far. Although
many really believe that extraterrestrial
beings frequently visit our planet, there
is another logical, and yet little known
explanation. One of the most bizarre
weapons that should have brought the
last and decisive blow to the Allied Army
was the flying disk. The main task of
the Nazi creation was re-conquest of the
European sky. The information on this
aircraft is really scarce, but it is known
that the disk should have had the char-
acteristics that would easily reach an
indicated aim. It is said on February 14,
1945 near Prague, the German designers
Schrivers and Habermehl went in the air
in a strange aircraft whose base was a
large ring that could spread and retract,
and it also revolved around the cockpit
which was in the shape of a dome. The
characteristics of this aircraft were as-
tonishing as well as frightening. In just
three minutes the spacecraft reached
a height of 12.400 m, while in horizontal
flight it reached a speed of 2000km/h,
which was a great success at that time.
According to the English historian Henry
Stevens, there were 15 prototypes which
had propellers on the bottom part and
jet openings on all sides of the rotating
disk. However, so far there have been no
data that flying objects were used on the
battlefield, and the main reasons behind
that are the lack of necessary materials
for construction, engineering problems
and major successes of the allied military
forces on the battlefields.
FIRST JET PLANE
Achievements of Nazi technology can
clearly be recognized in the construction
of conventional aircraft as well. Namely,
Professor Ernest Heinkel even since the
mid 30’s of last century began with the
elaboration of jet and rocket engines and
their application in new types of aircraft.
His He-176 was the first jet plane in the
world that made the first flight under
the command of the pilot Erich Varsic on
June 20, 1939. With his He-76 he achieved
a speed of 850 km/h, which was almost
twice faster than any aircraft in that time.
The excellent achievements continued
with the aircraft of the type He-178 which
in tests on August 28 that year reached a
speed of 700 km/h. The concepts of spe-
cific aircraft with delta-wings were usually
attributed to Alexander Lippisch, who in
1939 constructed the Me-163 A, fighter-
bomber which on May 10, 1941 flew for the
first time and managed to reach a speed
of nearly 1000 km/h. The name of Lippisch
was associated with the creation of the
so-called “flying triangles” as DM-1, which
due to the neo-orthodox appearance was
believed to be able to develop tremen-
dous speed. It is interesting to mention
that one of the DM-1 prototypes was lost
on the territory of the United States.
Since Hitler’s main objective in 1944 was
to halt enemy’s attacks on the German
territory, he focused on the development
of aircraft fighters. They developed the
Messerschmitt Me-163 B, which was the
successor of the Me-163 A, a fighter that
really promised a lot in 1941. Maximum
speed of the hunter was 965 km/h, and
the ascending speed was excellent three
kilometers per minute. 364 hunters were
built from the B version of this unusual
aircraft; however, it was too little to stop
the allied forces’ attacks. But that does
not mean that the fighter was not suf-
ficiently powerful. On the contrary, it
showed excellent results. In 1944 Cap-
tain Oleinic near Leipzig managed to hit
four Allied bombers just with one Me-
163 B in less than five minutes. Some of
the remaining projects that caused fear
among opponents which are worthy to
be mentioned are He-162 (construction
started on September 24, 1944, and the
first test flights in December the same
year reached a speed of 840 km / h), Ba-
8-349 and certainly, Ba-349 A (also called
NATER or BELOUSHKA).
“BELOUSKA” ATTACKS
Hunters of the type Ba-349 A (NATER)
were really interesting, especially for the
materials used in the construction. Name-
ly, they were constructed of wood and
steel plates with low quality. The overall
process of preparation of a fighter took
only 60 hours, which is a very short time.
Its fuselage, which resembled the rockets
of the type V-1 (and “fired” similarly), had
four rockets that “burned” for 10 seconds
and with a rocket engine developed a
speed of 800km/h. The firing power of
the “beloushka” was respectable as well.
The fighter with the help of radar was led
to its target which was attacked by the
pilot manually. A battery with 24 rockets
with a small range for firing at air targets
was placed on top of the front part of the
hunter. Considering the results, Ba-349 A
fulfilled three of the four conditions set
by the Fuehrer (speed, power, low price),
but failed the basic requirement - safety.
Aircraft operation was seen as follows:
after the attack, in a secure area, the pilot
was supposed to loosen the front part
of the bearings carrying the four rockets
and leave the plane. The pilot, the bear-
ings and fuselage were planned to land
safely. But the first flight (February 1945),
although the pilot Lothar Cyber success-
fully started the engine and quickly took
off at an altitude of 150 m, the roof of the
cockpit opened after which his neck broke
under the power of air pressure. The plane
was completely destroyed. In terms of
production, in April the same year, there
were ten NATERS stationed in Kirgheim
that were destroyed by their own pilots,
and the remaining four stationed else-
where, three ended up in the hands of the
Americans and one with the Soviets.
To be continued Ivan Petrushevski
17
 RIFLE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
AUTOMATIC RIFLE MODEL M21
small but professional and trained
army, as the ARM should become
with the transformation, requires not
only a certain number of soldiers. The
most important element is certainly
the training course, but if it has already
been done (despite the fact that no train-
ing happens only once and lasts forever,
but it is a continuous process that must be
repeated periodically); however, it requires
equipment which the soldiers of the ARM
will use to perform their tasks. The trans-
formation of the ARM into a professional
army brought a number of novelties, espe-
cially in the field of engineering and arma-
ment, adequate for serving such an army.
What we are dealing with here is arma-
ment. Thus, we will mention the automatic
M-21 5.56 mm caliber rifle. The rifle with
its “first and second name” (automatic rifle
M-21 5.56 mm) introduces “the rifle for the
21st century,” but basically it is the good
old Kalashnikov, adapted in Zastava fac-
tory, through the experiences from the
models produced by Zastava with a 7.62
mm and 5.56 mm caliber. It was produced
in Yugoslavia based on the rifle from the
same factory with 5.56 mm caliber. Its de-
velopment begins several years after the
breakup of SFR Yugoslavia so that it was
developed in somewhat more difficult con-
ditions and with a reduced budget.
The rifle kept its old principle of borrowing
gunpowder gases, the way of decelerating
the bullets in the barrel and everything else
that makes Kalashnikov or the automatic
rifles of Zastava long-lasting (provided
they are maintained), durable and func-
tional in all conditions. The barrel is made
of chromium and the wood is no longer
18
an integral part of the automatic rifle - the
front “wooden” coating is replaced with a
plastic (polymer) one, but only the lower
coating, i.e. the front stock. As in older
models, there is no upper coating, so the
lower coating is extended in order to pro-
tect the shooter from contact with the
heated parts of the rifle (barrel and gas cyl-
inder). It is open on the top, which allows
better cooling. What makes it interesting
(a “quantum leap” for the traditional rifles
by Zastava), and what makes it a platform
for upgrading, is the “Picatinny” rail.
This model has an optical sight OS-21 as a
basic sight which is mounted in a traditional
way - the rail on the left side of the rifle, while
on the carrier of the optical sight there is a
“Picatinny” rail where a number of accesso-
ries from western origin that ARM owns as
laser markers can be mounted like day-night
sights and tactical lights, etc. They are lighter
and more efficient than similar older models
that are designed for these rifles. Another
change is the fitting of a stock to overlap on
the side, already checked with the “sister”
rifle that is an example of M-21, and that is
the Israeli “Galil”. When the stock is open, it
offers greater stability and acts as fixed, un-
like with some older models (for example,
M-70 AB2).It
is made from quality plastic in matte black
and equipped with a rubber pad to place on
the shoulder of the shooter (which can be
removed when necessary) to amortize the
recoil of the grenade launcher.
This rifle is equipped with a below-barrel
grenade launcher GP-40. For a long time
in the region of former Yugoslavia the
“supplement for rifle grenades” ruled, al-
though the original Soviet rifle that was
an example of the automatic rifle M-70,
was equipped with a below-barrel gre-
nade launcher. The advantage of this gre-
nade launcher is that it is easily mounted,
doesn’t need a grenade launcher bullet
and thereby shortens the time to pre-
pare for action, it does not require a gre-
nade launcher supplement which must
be turned to the mouth of the barrel to
mount a rifle grenade. The assembling it-
self is very easy and quick - it is put on an
existing carrier for the bayonet under the
barrel. Grenade launcher is a separate and
complete system and there is no need to
add a sight (as with M-95) or to open a gre-
nade launcher sight (as with M-70), but it is
equipped with its own sight device that al-
lows aiming directly and indirectly. Also,
regardless of the mechanism to trigger
the gun, the grenade launcher is equipped
with its own mechanism for triggering and
a trigger.
This is a huge advantage over the grenade
launcher mindset: with the rifle grenade, a
grenade launcher sight must be erected
or set, to insert the grenade launcher bul-
let, to turn the grenade launcher supple-
ment (the carrier where the mine is put)
- this is only possible with action by the
grenade launcher mine or the magazine
ammunition depending on how ready the
rifle is, but this preparation or transition
requires a certain time which the soldier
does not have on the battlefield or may
even cost lives.
On the other hand, the under-barrel gre-
nade launcher allows parallel smooth ac-
tion of the ammunition from the grenade
magazine or no need for preparation for
the bullet-to-grenade transition. Conse-
quently, this is called “a quantum leap”
primarily in military leaders’ opinion who
expect their soldiers to gain advantage
on the battlefield. Another novelty is the
mechanical sight. The front is retained, but
the rear tangent sliding sight was unnec-
essarily removed and a rather odd sight
was introduced composed of two plates,
for 300 and 500 meters, which offers no
security. It is equipped with tritium sights
in lower visibility (“lower visibility” is delib-
erately mentioned because aiming at night
is impossible unless a target silhouette is
seen through enlighten tritium front and
rear mechanical sight). However, the rear
sight is sufficient for action up to 300 m, a
distance which may not be a problem for
any automatic rifle today. On the other
hand, the 21 optical sight offers accurate
aiming.
MODERN PLATFORM
M-21 5.56 is an automatic rifle that allows
successful action against the enemy force
with caliber 5.56 mm NATO (5.56 X 45 SS-
109), with an effective range up to 600 m
with an optical sight, and 300 m by me-
chanical sight. It uses a front and rear me-
chanical integral sight, as well as an optical
sight which can be mounted or removed
depending on the need. Concerning ma-
terial technical equipment without armor,
vehicles and infantry in the open or in shel-
ters and behind barriers, it uses an under-
barrel grenade launcher GP-40, which fires
40 mm grenades and a successful action
up to 400 meters. This GP-40 launches de-
structive, flammable, cumulative, smoke
and practice grenades.
The rifle is fed with a 30-round two-row
magazine. The fire regulator enables single
fire and burst in locked position.
Due to the specific “galil” design, the rifle
is attractive to the eye, especially for pri-
vate security agencies which use it in Iraq
or Afghanistan. It takes a special place
in the ARM arsenal since it made a huge
step towards the modern way of thinking
concerning the needs of the soldier on the
battlefield because it satisfies the basic
needs, and has options for adaptation and
upgrading according to the needs. This is
the first time a rifle is acquired that will
serve not only “the right shoulder” and “
weapon knife” and keep up with modern
technology.
EXPERIENCES OF M 21 er weak point is the position of the “Pica-
M-21 rifle has been used in missions in Iraq
where it satisfied the needs of the mem-
bers of the Macedonian Army as a first
serious piece of weapon that corresponds
to the western competitors because of
the upgrading possibility. However, the
first steps by Zastava in this direction,
(adapting to western type) are not and
may not be final because when the M-21
is equipped with a grenade launcher and
optical sight it pays of “the weigh debt”.
When fully equipped, it is not an easy rifle
and it is not suitable for everyone. Possi-
bly, there should be a little more “plastic”
where unnecessary metal is placed, for ex-
ample, the fire regulator is classical on one
side and a lever is added on the side which
should be grasped and moved in a desired
position, but it is slightly harder to handle
-- it still needs more force to be moved,
and it is not that accurate; thus, there is a
possibility to mispossition from “locked” to
CALIBER AND BULLET
BARREL
RIFLE WEIGHT
LENGTH WITH EXTENDED STOCK
LENGHT WITH COLLAPSED STOCK
INITIAL SPEED
MAXIMUM EFFECTIVE RANGE
FIRING VELOSITY
“burst fire” instead of “single fire” because
the commands are placed in the same di-
rection. The American M-4, for example,
has commands which are much easier and
more accurate for handling because the
regulator rotates and is precisely placed in
the desired position, unlike the “noisy” fire
regulator with the automatic rifle Kalash-
nikov, M-21 in this case. Another unfortu-
nate solution has already been mentioned
about the rear mechanical sight. Although
the optical sight can “save the day” with
its simplicity and efficiency (it provides ac-
curate aiming up to 600 meters); however,
the main sight for infantry armament is
still the mechanical sight and as such it
must provide accurate aiming. The 300
and 500-meter levers provide an almost
unusable aiming device that is not adjust-
able, for example, M-4 Commando “(we
will introduce it in one of the following is-
sues). The automatic rifle has 5 locations
of “Picatinny” rail where anything can be
mounted, but it also carries a rear diopter
sight with additional equipment for aiming
distances from 200 to 600 meters. Anoth-
tinny” rail. The optical sight carrier carries
the rail as well. It slides in the rail, the same
way as with the old Zastava models which
have the same option on the left side. This
is one point of merging. Another point is
when an electronic device is mounted on
the upper part of the carrier, that is, on the
“Picatinny” rail.
Hence, in order to mount, for example, a
laser target marker, its accuracy should
depend on the quality and firm positioning
of the laser marker on the “Picatinny” rail
which, in turn, through the carrier must be
well positioned on the rifle. These are two
potential “links” that with extended usage
may be loosened thus affecting the preci-
sion, unlike the rail which is directly mount-
ed on the rifle.
Another challenge is the high position and
the position of the carrier where you can
mount only one device at a time, and that
interferes the aiming line, unless it is a day
.5.56mm/5.56Х45 NАТО
375 mm length, 4 grooves and 4 fields with a
screw to the right with step 1 / 7 (177,8 mm)
3.8 kg
915 mm
666 mm
890 m/s
500 m
up to 680 rounds per minute
or night-vision optical sight. Consequently,
when we mount a tactical light planned
for the “Picatinny” rail, or a laser or infra-
red marker, the aiming is obstructed. By
adding these devices, the shooter loses
the balance of the rifle by moving the ac-
tual gravity thus making the suitable rifle
holding difficult, so we should be careful in
choosing optoelectronic devices and their
position or where they would be mounted
on the rifle.
And finally, M-21 is designed for the sol-
dier-fighter. Experience has shown and
proven that the ideas for solution to cer-
tain problems in armament should always
be sought from end users because it is
intended for them. The ARM owns these
rifles in its arsenal of weapons in the most
elite part of the Army. M-21 with upgrad-
ing options in the hands of professional
members is a sufficient argument for car-
rying out complex tasks in the country or
in the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Traditional endurance of this type of arms
renders hope that M-21 will show good re-
sults in the hands of the people who are in
charge of the security of Macedonia and
its interests.
Zoran Krstevski
19

AIR FORCE OF SINGAPORE
ingapore is one of the small-
est city-countries in the world,
right after Monaco and the
Vatican which gained its in-
dependence on 9 August
1965. Pressed between Indone-
sia and Malaysia with its 710 km²
(for illustration only Macedonia is
25,713 km²) and population about
5 million, Singapore in terms of
the economic is one of the most
powerful countries in the region of
South Eastern Asia. In these sur-
roundings, in order to keep its sov-
ereignty and economic stability,
Singapore was forced to establish
a highly powerful defense system
and at the same time one of the
most presentable air forces in
the world. Singapore has a highly
trained and equipped military air
force founded only three years af-
ter gaining its independence on 1
September 1968. The spine of this
little island’s air force is composed
of modern F-16C/D (Fighting Fal-
con Block) 52/52+. Due to its small
geographical area, the Military Air
Force (RSAF-Republic of Singapore
Air Force) is looking for overseas lo-
cations in order to operate with its
complete stock of aircrafts. With
F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-15SG Strike
Eagle, AX-64D Apache and some
CX-47SD Chinook displaced in the
USA, Marchetti C-211, Pilatus PC-21
and Puma helicopters in Australia
and A-4 Super Skyhawk in France,
a significant part of its Air Force is
outside Singapore.
20
SMALL, BUT
POWERFUL
Photo: Luhai Wong
CONTINUOUS 1. the en- The presentation of the next gen-
MODERNIZATION trance of eration fighter plane is taken into
One of the basic characteristics the school consideration. Singapore joined
of a well-established Air Force is in Australia the design and development proj-
its permanent modernization. In ect for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in
1994, RSAF started with a mod- 2. flying in
February 2003. Its delivery is not
ernization program for its fleet of expected before 2015, but it was
about forty operational F-5E and pair – PC-21 necessary to replace Skyhawk by
F-5F aircrafts. The superstructure from RSAF 2007. Twenty F-16D-52+ were de-
was realized by ST Aero Singa- and an Aus- livered to the 145th squadron in
pore Technologies Aerospace, tralian PC-9 the beginning of July 2004.
and the respectively super struc- The competitive Eurofighter Ty-
tured aircrafts were marked as phoon, AMD-BA Rafale, Saab/
F-5C and F-5T and operated from BAE Gripen, F/A-18E Super Hor-
the Air Force Base Paya Lebar. net, Boeing F-15T, Sukhoi Су35 и
Tanking in the air for the planes F-16C/D-block60 have tried to sat-
F-16 and F-5 is carried out by four isfy the need for additional eigh-
KC-135P. The AEW&C- Airborne teen to twenty-four aircrafts. F-15T
Earls Warning and Control was (before Rafale) was chosen in Sep-
presented even in 1987 when four
E-2C Hawkeyes were delivered to
the 111th squadron while the coast
surveillance is secured by five Fok-
ker-50 in the Maritime Patrol con-
figuration.
The land forces support program
started when Singapore ordered
eight fighter helicopters Apache
AH-64D Longbow and after a
long period of negotiations about
getting the satisfactory radar
AN/APG 68 Longbow, the first
helicopter was delivered in May
2002. Additional twelve helicop-
ters were ordered in 2001 even
before the delivery of the previ-
ously ordered helicopters, thus
RSAF right now has its twenty
fighter helicopters which were
based in the USA until 2008.
tember 2005 and the delivery started in
2008.
Analyzing the activities of its neighbors,
Singapore is planning and directing its
activities as well. Thus, soon after find-
ing out that Malaysia had modernized its
MiG-29 and supplied Bsmpel P-77 mis-
siles, Singapore ordered 100 pieces of
AIM-120. We can mention the rumors that
Israel had already delivered to Singapore
its “air-to-air” missiles from the fourth
generation Python-4, and the project was
supplemented with the installation of the
HDMS system and sensors DASH-3 set
up in F-16 cockpit.
AIR FORCE BASES
Despite its small territory, Singapore
Air Force is mainly stationed in four Air
Force Bases. The vicinity of the maximum
twelve-kilometer distance from one to an-
other take-off-landing track doesn’t make
any problems in the coordination of the
great number of aircrafts in the relatively
small air space.
The Air Force Base “Tengah Air Base“,
founded by Great Britain in 1932 as Air
Force support to the base “Sembawang“,
became a Royal Military Air Force Base
in 1939 and it has constantly been super
structured ever since in order to satisfy
the needs of more and more sophisticat-
ed aircrafts. Aircrafts E2C, F-16 and A4SU,
operate from this base, displaced in the
111th, 140th and 143rd squadron.
The Military Base “Paya Lebar“ started
functioning in 1955 as a civil airport and
twelve years later it was transformed into
a military base and it is used for serving
military flights for passenger transporta-
tion and cargo transportation, charter
flights of the Ministry of Defense and
foreign military aircrafts. It has been a
completely military airport since 1981 and
aircrafts C-130 Hercules and F-5 Tiger II
have operated from this airport, displaced
in the 122nd, 141st, 144th and 149th squad-
ron.
“Changi Air Base“ has been the biggest
transport base in the region since WWII
which became a civil airport after its
reconstruction in 1975. One more take-
off-landing runway was opened in 2004
which divided the airport into two parts;
western and eastern complex. The follow-
ing aircrafts operate from this base now;
the 112th squadron provided with four
tankers KC-35P, 121st squadron whose
mission is surveillance and protection of
the coast and the maritime Singapore
lines, and the 145th squadron provided
with the modern F-16D BLK52+.
Sembawang Air Base was founded as a
base to support the British Navy for serv-
ing the aircrafts from their carriers. Anti-
Aircraft Defense Command of Singapore
took over this base in 1971 and it has been
an Air Base for helicopters since 1983. The
following squadrons are placed on this
base, 120th squadron provided with the
fighter helicopters AH-64D Apache, 123rd
squadron provided with light helicopter
for training purposes and surveillance,
AS-550 Fennec, 125th squadron whose
task is search and rescue provided with
Super Puma helicopters; 126th squadron
represents the majority of the helicopter
fleet AC-532 Cougar whose task is search
and rescue as well as performing tactical
tasks for the needs of the armed forces,
and the 127th squadron authorized with
the transport of people and equipment
for the army operating the Chinook heli-
copters.
FORCES OUTSIDE THE BORDERS
Due to the limited air space and with an
aim to maintain a high degree of training
and combat preparedness of the person-
nel, Singapore is forced to “spread its
wings” in the overseas countries as well.
In that way, in addition to the well-estab-
lished foundations of mutual understand-
ing and cooperation, the long-time his-
tory and experience in the Air Force of the
host countries are also enriching the host
countries; Australia, France and the USA
are hosts of the Singaporean program for
long-lasting detachments.
The cooperation with the USA started
in 1988 with the Peace Carvin (PC) pro-
gram which ended in 1990, and program
PC II started in 1993 and it is still go-
ing on. This program enables the 425th
combat squadron from Luke Air Force
Base, Arizona, and performs its mis-
sions operating the planes F-16. For
that purpose there are 130 members
of RSAF together with their families. In
2009, the 428th combat squadron in
Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho,
was reactivated and it is equipped with
the last enforcement of RSAF, planes
F-15SG Strike Eagle. The Training De-
tachment with KS-135 is placed in the
McConnell AFB in Kansas. One hundred
and fifty members of RSAF with their
families are in Texas, Grand Prairie Base
where together with the National Guard
of the US they perform missions oper-
ating the Chinook helicopters.
The advanced training for jet planes is sta-
tioned in France. A detachment with 18
planes A4-SU Super Skyhawk and about
200 personnel have been stationed in Ca-
zaux Base since June 1998.
Aircrafts of Singapore are displaced in
three bases in Australia. The nursery for
pilots for this powerful air force is also
there. Selection of pilots is realized in Tam-
worth where ten flying instructors have
lived together with their families on the
base since 1999. After that, the training
continues in Pearce Base in Perth where
the 130th squadron is located equipped
with the planes S-211 and Pilatus PC-21
and completes its mission using the ex-
cellent flying conditions and the favorable
climate. This is the Flight School of Sin-
gapore where candidates are trained by
the time they receive their pilot insignia.
About 50 RSAF families are on the base
at this moment. The 126th squadron with
its Cougars is in Queensland Base at the
Army Aviation Center-“Oakes”.
RSAF participates in many international
missions and tasks and carries out short-
term missions with its detachments. Such
as the missions in Bangladesh, Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
PRIDE OF RSAF
1973, although it was only their fifth an-
niversary, is a special year and basis for
the history of RSAF because of the debut
of the first acrobatic group of Singapore-
“Black Knights”. Since then, the “Black
Knights” have been a symbol of Singa-
porean Air Force and are a synonym for
a spectacular performance, close forma-
tion and great speed. The progress of the
“Black Knights” went in tandem with the
technological development and started
from the formation of four Hawker Hunt-
er in the 70-ties to the formation of six
planes, flying the pride of the domestic
military industry, the super structured A-
4SU Super Skyhawk. In 2000, this team
became the first acrobatic group that
flew two different types of planes in a
joint formation flying A-4SU and F-16. In
2008, on the occasion of their fortieth
anniversary, the “Black Knights” showed
themselves in a new light at the Singa-
pore Airshow 2008, one of the top three
Airshows in the world. The new “Black
Knights” were flying in a formation of six
F-16C Fighting Falcon, in their national red
and white color.
Borce Manev
21
 ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD

BASIC SKILLS QUALIFICATION COURSE FOR PERFORMING

RANGER OPERATIONS
he basic skills qualification course
for performing ranger operations is
designed for qualifying all the new
enlisted members of the Special
Operations Regiment of ARM. The
duration of the course is six months and
during that time there is training in all
the necessary skills for performing com-
bat operations, starting with small unit
tactics, urban combat tactics, alpinism,
parachuting, as well as infantry weapons
training and shooting, topography train-
ing, signals, medical training and training
in mines and explosives.
We have recently visited the Macedonian
“Rangers” on the army area “Krivolak”,
where they were trained in mastering
the ranger skills. As always, with utmost
discipline and responsibility, fully profes-
sional, they all worked as one. Every
member of the unit was devoted to ex-
ecuting the assignments of their forma-
tion duty in the unit. The task of every
“ranger” is clear and simple - gaining the
necessary knowledge and skills of the
mission of the unit.
“The more you give, the more you try
and devote yourself, the less the risk
of unwanted consequences when you
face some real situation during some
combat actions, regardless of whether it
is a training activity or a peace support
operation”, stated, among the rest, in his
analysis, the Commander of the Special
Operations Regiment, Colonel Zoran
Dodevski, who during our visit, was in-
specting the execution of the ranger

22
course, but were also a few mem-
bers of the “Wolves” in the units.
INSTRUCTORS –
EXPERIENCED RANGERS
The course begins by individual
training where every individual is
assessed to see the specialty they
have affinities, tendencies or previ-
ous knowledge. In accordance with
it, the formation is created and ev-
ery individual is being appointed
formation duty in the course. After
the basic training, the formation is
made into classic ranger platoons
and the training continues with
small units tactical training and ur-
ban combat training.
The course is being conducted
by instructors of the unit - experi-
enced rangers that have previously
finished this kind of courses in the
country or abroad, usually in the
US Army, which is a benchmark
in the execution of this course in
the ARM. One of them is Captain
Nikola Vasilev, Course Commander
and our host during the visit.
The course itself is composed of
five stages. First stage is individ-
ual training where the individuals
are trained in signals, using first
aid kit, mines and explosives, us-
ing means in topography and
navigation and training in using
the personal weapons and the
collective weapons which is in
the unit’s structure. The second
stage includes the small unit tac-
tics, third stage refers to urban
combat, fourth stage - alpinism,
a stage that can be completed
earlier, depending on the weath-
er conditions, and fifth and final
stage is the training in parachut-
ing which is the crown of the
training of this course. Upon fin-
ishing the course the personnel is
completely trained in carrying out
all combat actions of the unit of
the Special Operations Regiment
of the ARM. Then the personnel
is appointed in combat teams
and in the other companies, in the
Rangers Battalion or in the Spe-
cial Purposes Battalion, and they
continue to carry out the other
combat assignments, like carry-
ing out national and multinational
exercises and assessment of the
declared units, followed by the
participation in different exercises
abroad and in missions and oper-
ations carried out by the Army of
the Republic of Macedonia.
RAID IN A BUILDING
On the day of our visit, according
to the plan and program of the
course, “the rangers” conducted
theme 20 of the small unit tac-
tics - raid. It was conducted by
one platoon of the ranger course.
The location was the winter camp
2 on “Krivolak”. The instructors
passed on the mastered lessons
to the new rangers.
The raid is a tactical combat pro-
cedure composed of three ele-
1, 2, and 3.
ments: element for security, ele-
raid is a bat-
tle tactics ment for support and element
for attack. The function of the ele-
made up of
3 distinct ment for security is to prevent the
approaching and entery of the en-
elements:
to secure,
emy forces into the building and
to direct the people inside the raid
support
building, to prevent the escape
and attack of the people inside to which the
raid is carried out. The element of
support fires upon the target and
destructs it, while the element of
attack carries out detailed search
of the building and captures all
the people found on the place
who are not neutralized, than cap-
turing enemy documents, materi-
als and technical means that can
be of help in the further combat
actions in gaining more informa-
tion concerning the enemy.
In a real combat situation, strictly
following the standard operat-
ing procedure, the members of
the Special Operations Regiment
demonstrated this complex and
responsible combat procedure.
The tactical procedure for raiding
was conducted according to ex-
actly established procedure. The
personnel spread out around the
building, than the security was
set, and after that the support
and in the end the attack itself.
The action was initiated by the
support with an efficient open
fire, in order to direct the atten-
tion of the enemy on them, while
the attack element moved for-
ward on a round route, unnotice-
ably towards the building and on
a signal to cease the fire support,
the attack happened on a short
range and they finished annihilat-
ing the enemy. Subsequently they
captured all the significant mate-
rials and prepared to destroy ev-
erything that the soldiers cannot
take with them. About the techni-
cal means which were large-sized,
an explosive was set and on a
previously agreed signal the ele-
ment for attack withdrew. Only
the specials in mines and explo-
sives remained on the scene that
was in charge of detonation. The
element for support also with-
drew on the second agreed sig-
nal, and on the third agreed signal
the security also withdrew and
the explosive was ignited. That
was the finish of this combat pro-
cedure. The unit continues accord-
ing to plan, regardless of whether
that includes carrying out a sub-
sequent mission or exfiltration in
their own lines.
That was the end of our time
together with the Macedonian
“Rangers”. They stayed on the
army area “Krivolak” and contin-
ued to move forward in mastering
the remaining tasks of the course.
Z. Rizovski
23
 FRUIT
OF LONG
PARTNERSHIP
THE COMMANDER OF THE NATIONAL GUARD IN VERMONT,
IN THE USA VISITED ARM
ecently, a high delegation from ARM, Lieutenant General Miroslav 1. General
the National Guard of Vermont, Stojanovski. In accordance with Dubie: We
in the USA came to a three day General Duby’s program he met have great
official visit to ARM and Repub- the President of Republic of Mace- respect
lic of Macedonia. The delegation donia, Gjorgje Ivanov, the Minister toward the
was headed by the Commander of of Defense, Zoran Konjanovski, and members of
the National Guard, Major General the director of the Center of Crisis the Army of
Michael Duby. Management, Pande Lazarovski. the Republic
The aim of this visit to ARM was of Macedonia
analyzing the possibilities of fur- A NEW,
ther improving the cooperation DIFFERENT KIND OF MISSION 2. stressing
between the National Guard of Ver- At the meeting with the Chief of the impor-
mont and ARM, and analyzing the Stuff of ARM, Lieutenant General tance of
readiness of the contingent of ARM Miroslav Stojanovski, includiing the upcom-
for its involvement in the upcoming other representatives of the Gen- ing joined
joint mission ISAF in Afghanistan. eral Stuff and ARM, the guests mission in
Official host of the delegation from of Vermont were informed about Afghanistan
Vermont was the Chief of Stuff of the process of preparation of the

24
contingent of ARM for the upcoming joint tance of joint work in the upcoming new
mission together with the members of the type of mission in Afghanistan. General
National Guard of Vermont in the mission Duby said that it is important to mention
ISAF in Afghanistan. the fact that in the upcoming joint Amer-
“The new contingent of the ARM, which ican-Macedonian mission, Macedonian
consists of stuff officers, one platoon of peacekeepers are going to be a comprising
Military Police and from the Rangers bat- part of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat
talion, are going to be sent in Afghanistan, Team (Mountain), which is the only unit of
at the end of March, on a little bit different that kind in the USA army. Consequently,
mission than before, i.e. assisting and help- this fact gives the soldiers of ARM great
ing in training Afghan Security Forces”. honor as well as great responsibility.
This was emphasized by the Chief of Stuff As a symbol of remembrances, the Com-
of ARM, Lieutenant General Miroslav Sto- mander of the Special Operations Regi-
janovski, after meeting the Commander ment of ARM, Colonel Zoran Dodevski,
of the National Guard of Vermont, in the presented Major General Michael
USA, Major General Michael Duby. Duby with a unit’s testimonial of ap-
The Chief of Stuff of ARM stressed that he preciation. In the name of the long
was convinced that this contingent is ca- and fruitful years of cooperation
pable enough to face the challenges of the between the USA and Macedonia,
mission and justify the faith put in them. General Duby presented both com-
He also said that 15 years of cooperation manders of the units whose soldiers
between the National Guard in Vermont are going to take part in the upcom-
and the ARM will be strengthened with ing mission, with tokens of grati-
their joint involvement, because 79 sol- tude.
diers from ARM, at the end of March, will After the ceremony everybody,
be a part of the National Guard of Vermont including generals Duby and Sto-
in the mission ISAF in Afghanistan. janovski, the peacekeepers from
General Duby was amazed by the devel- both of the battalions, US Am-
opment of the ARM and whole country bassador in the Republic of
which has been achieved since his last visit Macedonia, Philip Riker, and
in 1996. the commander of the Joint
“The soldiers from ARM are respected Operations Command, Major
more and more. Macedonian soldiers’ General Zoran Dimov had
reputation is widely known and well re- lunch together at the mass
corded by their serving in the missions in hall in the military barracks
Iraq and Afghanistan”, said General Duby. “Ilinden”.
He expressed his great pleasure about the Editorial “SHTIT”
cooperation so far. He is convinced that
Macedonian and American soldiers can
work together at these critical times for
Afghanistan in the following 18 months.
READY TO FACE THE CHALLENGES
On the second day of their visit of ARM,
the commander of the National Guard
of Vermont, Major General Michael Duby
visited the soldiers of ARM who are mem-
bers of the contingent which is planned to
be deployed together with the National
Guard of Vermont in the Mission ISAF in
Afghanistan. The Commander of the Joint
Operations Command of ARM, Major Gen-
eral Zoran Dimov, was the host at the visit
of the delegation from Vermont, when
they came to the military barracks “Ilinden”
in Skopje. The members of the Rangers
battalion and Military Police battalion did
a demonstration exercise in front of the
guests from Vermont. The demonstration
exercise contained some of the activities
from the training exercises they have been
doing while they have been having their
pre-deployment preparations for a mis-
sion.
General Duby could not but be satisfied
with the degree of readiness and training
of the soldiers of ARM demonstrated at
the exercise. As a token of long lasting
partnership, General Duby presented the
commanders of both units with a testi-
monial of appreciation from The National
Guard of Vermont.
After the demonstration exercise, there
was an official ceremony attended by
the commander of the National Guard of
Vermont, Major General Michael Duby, the
Chief of Stuff of ARM, Lieutenant General
Miroslav Stojanovski, the US Ambassador
in Republic of Macedonia, Philip Riker, and
the members of the Macedonian contin-
gent. In the speeches held at that occa-
sion, the speakers emphasized the impor-

25
 INVALUABLE
EXPERIENCE

WITH THE MACEDONIAN PEACEKEEPERS IN THE ISAF MIS-

SION IN AFGHANISTAN
formal ceremony was held in the bar- confidence is the fact that our soldiers have you welcome and to congratulate you on
racks Mihailo Apostolski in Ohrid on the returned with a lot more than just simple your successful mission in Afghanistan. In
occasion of the return of the last con- praise for a successfully completed mis- this mission you have proudly shown your
tingent of the Army of the Republic of sion. I believe that it will be like this in the professionalism and readiness, as well as
Macedonia from the peacekeeping mis- next period and we will continue achieving your humanity and solidarity.
sion ISAF in Afghanistan. similar and greater successes”, emphasized From the distant Afghanistan, as major keep-
Expressing his satisfaction that all the Colonel Velichkovski. ers of the world peace, you have respectfully
ARM members had returned home safe addressed the Macedonian peace message.
and sound, the Chief of the General Staff RESPECTFULLY ADDRESSED In this mission each one of you has shown
pointed out that the soldiers acquired new MACEDONIAN PEACE MESSAGE in practice the centuries-old Macedonian con-
experiences which were invaluable for the On the occasion of the successfully com- tinuity in devotion and patriotism, in dignity
preparation of the next contingents. “Once pleted mission, the Minister of Defense ad- and humanity, in ideas and sacrifice.
more in a real environment, in international dressed a letter to the ARM members of I was assured in all of this during my last
surroundings and on a high risk mission, the peacekeeping mission ISAF in Afghani- visit in Afghanistan in October, when we all
the members of the ARM have shown stan who returned to the Republic of Mace- together celebrated the Day of the Macedo-
that they are competitive in the context donia where he stated, “Dear peacekeep- nian Revolutionary Struggle. As a Minister of
of skill, knowledge and professionalism. ers, with great respect and pleasure, from Defense I was happy that I was with you,
They have once again in the best possible the same place from where we sent you but at the same time I was also especially
way affirmed not only ARM and everything off seven months ago, I would like to wish proud of the words of praise which I heard
which means a step forward in the reform
processes, but also as ambassadors of
our fatherland have affirmed the Republic
of Macedonia on an international level”,
stated General Stojanovski. He expressed
his expectation that the ARM peacekeep-
ers serving at this moment in Afghanistan
and the other places where the Republic of
Macedonia is contributing for improving the
general security will achieve the same, even
better results.
The Commander of the Second Mecha-
nized Infantry Brigade, Colonel Metodija Ve-
lichkovski, speaking with military language,
reminded that every military assignment
is successfully done if the people and the
material-technical means return from where
they departed for within the anticipated
time. “What makes us especially proud to-
day after carrying out the analysis of the
performed task and what raises our self-

26
from Commander McCrystal about
you, as well as from our friends from
the NATO Alliance. And that is why, I
told you in Afghanistan: You are the
heroes of your profession! You are
worthy followers of all Macedonian
ARM peacekeeping generations. You
are an example for all future Macedo-
nian peacekeepers. With all of this,
you obligate us to further devot-
edly work in the interest of the ARM
members and to continue to enable
you to show your readiness in prac-
tice. At the end, I would like to once
again congratulate you on your suc-
cessful mission, to you and of course
to your families, with assurance that
you can always depend on our sup-
port. Allow me once again to thank
you for making me feel proud”.
The Army of the Republic of Mace-
donia participated in the seventh
rotation in the peacekeeping mission
ISAF in the period from July 2009
to January this year with its mecha-
nized infantry brigade. In that period
149 “leopards”, together with the old-
est national representative and three
staff officers were disposed at the
ISAF HQ in Kabul. The members of
ARM carried out their assignments
within the contingent of the UK
Army for the past six months where
their main task was providing force
protection to the ISAF HQ in Kabul.
In addition to this, the ARM peace-
keepers in Kabul executed many
other complex assignments such as
patrolling and securing the military
base and facilities of vital importance
for the population of Afghanistan,
providing combat force protection
of communications and regions and
other assignments depending on the
mission requirements.
For their immaculate and profession-
al execution of the assignments, as
well as the shown compatibility and
interoperability with the NATO forc-
es in the ISAF mission, the members
of ARM received the highest grades
from the ISAF Command and the
highest commanding structures
MACEDONIAN FLAG
FLYING IN KABUL
These days the Macedonian flag was
flying for the seventeenth time in the
hands of the new commander of the
2. ARM’s Macedonian contingent- FP Coy of
chief of ISAF HQ in Kabul, Afghanistan.
general The flag of the Commander of the
staff: the Macedonian contingent, Major Blaze
members
of the ARM Nikoloski, was handed over by the
Deputy Commander of the Second
once again
showed Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Colonel
Blagoj Iliev, who said, “I do hope and
their skills
knowledge believe that you will accomplish the
mission successfully and the people
and profes-
sionalism you have taken with you will come
back safe and sound to the Republic
of Macedonia.”
“The flag of the Republic of Macedo-
nia will be carried and kept with pride
and we will successfully accomplish
the ISAF mission,” underlined the
Commander of the Macedonian
contingent, Major Blaze Nikolovski.
Moreover, Colonel Blagoj Iliev ad-
dressed the members of the previ-
ous and the new contingent and
greeted the present guests from
the superior command, the com-
mander of the battalion group for
base support, the chiefs of sections
and the representatives of the units
with whom the FP Coy cooperates
on regular basis.
Accepting the noble and responsible
assignment, the new commander
of the contingent, Major Blaze Niko-
lovski, said ” To the personnel from
the previous contingent I recom-
mend to be proud of what they have
done and in the next period to relax
and enjoy with the ones who took
the biggest burden on themselves
because of their absence, and here I
1. 3. and 4.
follow-
ing the
footsteps
of theirs
colleagues
– the Mace-
donian
flag stands
proud in Ka-
bul for the
17th time
am referring to their families. To the
new contingent I would like to tell
them that I believe in their capabili-
ties, I don’t doubt their support and
I’m convinced that we will accomplish
another successful mission.”
TRADITIONAL
FRIENDSHIP CONFIRMED
Among the first contacts that the
new Macedonian contingent had in
the mission ISAF and the first who
welcomed them with warm friendly
salute were the members of the
national support element for the
Turkish Army. Pleasantly surprised
by the fact that the Commander of
the Macedonian contingent speaks
Turkish fluently as he attended the
Command-Staff Academy in the Re-
public of Turkey, our Turkish friends
opened their doors for cooperation
of both armies, but the most impor-
tant is the cooperation between the
rapid response units that act in close
areas of responsibility. The Macedo-
nian delegation had a reception with
the Turkish General, the Commander
of the Regional Center and the Com-
mand of the City of Kabul, who
stressed that this kind of a meeting
once again shows the close coopera-
tion between the two countries and
the two armies. Moreover, he said
that the Macedonian contingent will
have all information and all capacities
of the Turkish combat group at their
disposal with an aim to successfully
complete their mission.
Zlatko Ordevski
27
 NON-COMMISSIONED
ADVANCED EDUCATIO FOR
Advanced Course for Non-Commissioned Officers
within the Croatian Army
he Advanced Non-commis-
sioned Officer (NCO) Course
for was established in Octo-
ber, 2002, as the most ad-
vanced step of education for
NCOs in the frame of the NCOs
professional development within
the Croatian army. After imple-
menting the reforms within the
armed forces of the Republic of
Croatia, according to NATO stan-
dards, since September, 2008,
the Advanced NCO Course has
become a part of the only Non-
commissioned Officers’ School at
the Department of Advanced NCO
Education. The lectures take place
at the Military Academy, in Zagreb,
as well as in Split and Zadar. The
students study about naval tactics
28
OFICERS
in Split, and about air force and air
defense in Zadar.
The students who attend this ad-
vanced course are mainly people
who serve in the Croatian armed
forces; nevertheless, there are
a few NCO students who come
from other countries, especially
armies from countries that used to
be a part of the former Yugoslavia.
Last year, Staff Sergeant First class
Dragan Stojanovski was the fourth
student from the Army of Republic
of Macedonia who attended this
Advanced NCO Course. According
to the head of the department, he
has presented himself as an ex-
cellent student, just as the other
three Macedonians, who had at-
tended this advanced NCO course
1. and 4. the did. He has been posted in the
atmosphere Army of Republic of Macedonia
in the as first NCO in a company. There
school for are certain conditions which need
non-com- to be fulfilled when choosing the
missioned candidate from the NCOs so that
officers he can be sent to the advanced
Croatian course. The NCO who
2. battle is sent to the Croatian advanced
transport- course needs to uphold certain
er of the standards and to be chosen under
Croatian some criteria, such as: he needs
army to at least have the rank of Staff
Sergeant first class; to have the
3. a war mu- required education, i.e. to have
seum – the completed the NCO course for
basement of first NCOs; to be recommended
the hospital by his commander or comman-
in Vukovar dant; or to be planned to do or to
have been doing the job of Chief
Non-commissioned Officer in his unit. The
candidate is preferred to have some other
additional qualifications, for instance, to
have completed some specialized cours-
es connected to his type of work, to know
foreign languages, to have taken part in
international peacekeeping missions …
TRAINING NCOs FOR TOP DUTIES
The aim of this advanced course is training
NCOs to do the duties with the highest
responsibilities, starting from the Chief
NCO of the battalion, then Chief NCO of
the brigade and the NCO work post with
the highest responsibility, Chief Non-com-
missioned Officer in the ARM. It is im-
portant to mention that NCOs who have
completed this advanced course are not
only highly capable of doing the duties of
Allied Commander of the Allied Command with a certificate and a silver ring for the
Transformation) and before the retired Advanced NCO Education. The received
Chief of the General Staff of the armed knowledge represents the highest level
forces of Finland. of education according to NATO (OP-9).
It is also at the same level of USASMA
AMONG THE HIGHEST RANK OF (United States Arms Sergeant Major
ADVANCED EDUCATION IN NATO Academy), where Macedonian NCOs are
During the course, for each subject stu- sent, as well as to other advanced NCO
dents have to do a seminar paper and to courses and schools of other armies in
prepare presentations. The exams have the world.
an oral and a written part, and at the end As a part of the course curriculum there
of the course the students prepare final are field trips which are used to visit dif-
graduation papers. Students who attend ferent units of the Croatian army. Presen-
the Advanced NCO Course, together with tations about the work of the units are
the students who attend Command and held especially showing the NCO’s con-
General Staff School take part in the joint tribution. Moreover, these field trips are
simulation exercise “CAX”. At the end of good for familiarization with political, eco-
the course there is a closing ceremony nomic and cultural aspects of Croatia. As
in Vukovar, when the graduates of the a part of the subject History of war, the
Advanced NCO Course are presented students have recently visited Vukovar. In-
Chief NCO, but also have firm knowledge
of staff duties of NCOs in a brigade and
in larger units. The latter is very important
as Macedonian NCOs have been taking The advanced course lasts one
part in NATO missions where one needs academic year (10 months). It has
to show understanding and operational, been developed and upgraded so as
tactical knowledge, as well as familiarity to have today’s form consisting of
in intelligence and logistics. four areas with appropriate content
The lectures of the Advanced NCO Course as follows:
are mainly high ranking officers from the
Croatian armed forces, NCOs (advanced
instructors) and civilian experts in the ap- 1. General Issues in the Military:
propriate fields. Students from the Ad- – Geography in the Military;
vanced NCO course also attend lectures – History of War;
given by foreign guests, together with – Physical Education;
students from the Command and General – Computers.
Staff School (future generals), Command
and Staff School (future commanders and 2. Leadership and Management:
high ranking staff officers). The last lectur-
er was Luciano Zapata (Deputy Supreme – Communications in the Military;
– Leadership in a military organization;
– Management of Training; cluded in the subject Tactics, students vis-
– Human Resource Management; ited the peninsula Istra where at the cape
– Military ethics and religious Kamenjak there was an air defense dem-
awareness. onstration. Distinguished guests from the
Croatian armed forces, including the Chief
3. Tactics and work in the Commander of the Croatian armed forces
Headquarters: were present at this demonstration.
The students of the eighth generation
– Tactics; have become good friends. Despite the
– Basics of military intelligence support; professional fulfillment of their obligations,
– Operations; they socialize in the afternoons, talk about
– Logistics Support; many things, exchange opinions about
– Decision making in the military; military and other topics. The students
– Modern Military operations. are satisfied by their education because
they have gained knowledge, experience
4. Extras: and friends. After successfully completing
the course, the students will convey their
– Final (graduation) papers; knowledge to their fellow NCOs in the
– Spare time; ARM in the best way they can.
– Field trips. D. S.

29

UNITITED STATES ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION
he United States of America
as one of the world`s su-
perpowers have the most
powerful and the most so-
phisticated army. The US armed
forces can be deployed at any
time or to any place in the world
with one single goal- to secure
and protect American vital geo-
political, economical and safety
interests. There are 5 compo-
nents that comprise the US
armed forces: the Army, the
Air Force, the Navy, the Marine
Corps (known as the Marines)
and the Coast Guard. The total
number of personnel on active
duty is 1.5 million. There are also
900 000 troops that act as re-
serve components of the US
armed forces – the Army Na-
tional Guard, the Navy Reserve
and the Air Force Reserve. Since
military installations-bases, are
not only places for training and
performing military duties, but
also provide housing for the
members of the armed forces
and their families, the high crime
rate in the armed forces is quite
understandable. For that rea-
son, special commands have
been formed in order to deal
with criminal activities at all
levels within the armed forces.
The United States Army Crimi-
30
nal Investigation Command –
USACIDC is that kind of federal
law enforcement agency (in the
text we will use the shortened
acronym CID commonly used to
refer to the criminal investiga-
tion and operations).
The Commanding General,
USACIDC, is dual-hatted as the
Provost Marshal General and is
supervised by the Chief of Staff
of the Army.
The current CID Commanding
General is Brigadier General Col-
leen L McGuire. Worldwide, the
organization has slightly fewer
than 3,000 soldiers and civilians,
CID
Courtesy of U.S. Army
1. CID agents’ of whom approximately 1000
badge are Special Agents.
2. CID’s special HISTORY
agent on duty During World War I, General
in Iraq, 2005 John J. Pershing ordered the cre-
ation of a separate organization
3. 4. and 5. CID’s within the Military Police Corps
special agents to prevent and detect crime
conduct among the American Expedition-
criminal ary Force in France The newly
investigations created Criminal Investigation
in and out Division (CID) was headed by a
of the army division chief who served as the
bases, along advisor to the Provost Marshal
with their General on all matters relating
colleagues to criminal investigations. At
from the the end of the war, the United
other state States Army was reduced in size
and federal during the transition to peace-
agencies time and the size of CID shrank
dramatically.
6. a forensic With the onset of World War II in
working in his December 1941, the armed forc-
lab es rapidly swelled in size and the
Army once again became a force
of millions, and the need for a
self-policing law enforcement
system rematerialized. Howev-
er, by early 1942, investigations
of crimes committed by military
personnel were still considered
to be a “command function” to
be conducted by local military
police personnel. The Office of
The Provost Marshal General
felt that the agents in the Inves-
tigations Department were not prop-
erly trained for criminal investigations,
so in 1944 CID was reestablished under
the Provost Marshal General’s Office.
The organization exercised supervision
over criminal investigation activities,
coordinated investigations between
commands, dictated plans and policies,
and set standards for criminal investi-
gators.
After the war, the CID was once again
decentralized, with control of criminal
investigations transferred to area com-
mands in the 1950s and further down
to the installation level. In the middle of
the 1960s the need for reestablishing
a command responsible for the army
criminal investigations was evident.
Thus in 1965, criminal investigative
elements were reorganized into CID
groups corresponding to geographical
areas in the United States, and in 1969,
the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation
Agency was established to supervise
all CID operations worldwide. As the
agency did not have command author-
ity, in 1971, the Secretary of Defense
directed the Secretary of the Army to
form a CID command (USACIDC) with
command and control authority over all
Army-wide CID assets.
CID MISSION
As the Army’s primary criminal inves-
tigative organization, the “CID” is re-
sponsible for the conduct of criminal
investigations in which the Army is, or
may be, a party of interest. Headquar-
tered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and op-
erating throughout the world, the CID
conducts criminal investigations that
range from death to fraud, on and off
military reservations, and, when appro-
priate, with local, state and other fed-
eral investigative agencies. The Com-
mand supports the Army through the
deployment, in peace and conflict, of
highly trained soldier and government
service special agents and support
personnel, the operation of a certified
forensic laboratory, a protective ser-
vices unit, computer crimes specialists,
polygraph services, criminal intelligence
collection and analysis, and a variety
of other services normally associated
with law enforcement. CID’s mission is
the same in both the installation and
battlefield environment; however, addi-
tional requirements are taken on during
battlefield support
There are four primary missions of
the CID: logistic security, criminal in-
telligence, criminal investigation and
protective service operations. Logistic
security function protects the Army’s
supply pipeline against criminal activi-
ties from the manufacturer, through
logistics channels, all the way to the
frontline soldier. It involves preventing,
detecting, and investigating criminal
and terrorist activities such as supply
diversion, destruction, and sabotage
or product substitution. Criminal intel-
ligence collection efforts focus on the
identification and prevention of terror-
ist and non- terrorist crimes against US
and allied military personnel, facilities,
and other interests. Upon collecting
this information, agents recommend
countermeasures to combat subver-
sive activities through coordination with
military intelligence, the Military police,
rear-area operations officers, and host
nation military and civil intelligence
agencies. Additionally, when directed,
the USACIDC becomes the lead US mili-
tary investigative agency at theater lev-
el. When this happens, it is tasked with
leading the prevention-of-terrorism ef-
fort from all services, not just the Army
component. During war, the criminal in-
vestigation effort includes: war crimes
and, when directed, crimes against co-
alition forces and host nation person-
nel, major felony crimes committed
by US personnel and, when directed,
crimes committed by foreign nation-
als in which there is an Army interest,
criminal acts by indigenous personnel,
factions, and ad hoc groups, special/
sensitive investigations, hostage ne-
gotiations, polygraph operations, and
force-protection operations. CID de-
tachments provide enhanced cover-
age and protection for designated
key and essential leaders during war.
The protection requirement for senior
Joint Task Forces and Army command-
ers may be significantly greater during
war than during peacetime or war as
the propensity of asymmetrical threats
(such as criminal and terrorist groups)
operating in the Area of operations
also increases.
CID is branched into several units de-
pending on the specific tasks. Some of
them are described in the text below.
Field Investigative Unit
Sensitive investigations are normally
conducted by the field investigative
unit (FIU). The FIU is a one-of-a-kind
organization within the Department of
Defence that enables the Secretary of
the Army to conduct sensitive investi-
gations requiring access to special in-
formation or programs that are highly
classified. The FIU works closely with
the Army IG, the Judge Advocate Gen-
eral of the Army, and the Army General
Counsel to support commanders in
the special-operations and intelligence
communities and in the area of classi-
fied acquisition programs. The FIU may
also be assigned investigations involv-
ing senior Army personnel or those of
special interest to the Army leadership.
The Computer Crime
Investigation Unit
The computer-crime investigative unit
(CCIU) deals with intrusions involving
classified networks or multijurisdic-
tional offenses. The CCIU works closely
with MI and federal law-enforcement
agencies to coordinate military actions,
nonmilitary-affiliated offenders, and
foreign-intelligence services. In addi-
tion, it provides technical assistance
to CID elements that are conducting
computer-related investigations.
31
 The Protective Service Unit
The protective-service unit (PSU) pro-
vides worldwide protective services to
designated personnel to protect them
from assassination, kidnapping, injury,
or embarrassment. The PSU plans, co-
ordinates, and executes executive pro-
tection for: the Secretary of Defense,
the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, the Secretary of the Army,
the Army Chief of Staff, the Army vice
Chief of Staff and others (as directed).
During war, the USACIDC routinely pro-
vides protective-service support to se-
nior Army ground commanders and, in
some cases, to Joint task forces com-
manders. The USACIDC agents also
provide training to the Military Police
details providing protective services to
senior field commanders.
Criminal Investigation Laboratory
Forensic-laboratory support is provided
by the US Army Criminal-Investigations
Laboratory (USACIL) that is currently
located at Fort Gillem, Georgia. The
USACIL is a nationally accredited fo-
rensic laboratory that provides all three
services with dedicated, highly respon-
sive, deployable, state-of-the-art scien-
tific and forensic investigative support.
The six forensic divisions of the USACIL
include the following: Chemistry (serol-
ogy, drugs, trace, and deoxyribonucleic-
acid [DNA] testing), questioned docu-
ments (alterations and comparisons
of handwriting, typing, and printing),
firearms and tool marks (weapons and
obliterated numbers), photography
(evidence, charts and photos for court),
latent prints, and computer forensics.
The USACIL collects, receives, and ex-
amines evidence and prepares reports
of findings. It also provides expert-wit-
ness testimony at court-martials.
Crime Records Center
US Crime Records Center (CRC) main-
tains the Army’s criminal records.
It maintains more than two million
Military Police reports and USACIDC
reports of investigations. The CRC
conducts more than 10,000 criminal-
history name checks each month to
identify victims and perpetrators of
criminal offenses. The checks are re-
quested not only by USACIDC agents,
but also by other military and civilian
law-enforcement officials. The CRC
also manages the Army’s polygraph
programs and their support to Army
installations around the world.
SELECTION AND TRAINING conducted by field Special Agents are
There are several criteria concerning
the CID selection and training. Special
Agent candidates must be currently
serving in the active Army, National
Guard or Army Reserve. Enlisted sol-
diers must be US citizens, at least 21
years of age and a maximum grade of
E-5 SGT (non-promotable). Candidates
must have served at least two years of
32
military service (not more than 10 years),
at least one year of military police ex-
perience or two years of civilian law
enforcement experience. Other require-
ments include (but are not limited to)
credit checks, physical fitness require-
ments, normal color vision, the ability
to obtain a Top Secret clearance, and
a drivers license. To qualify for Warrant
Officer positions, candidates must be at
least an E-5 SGT, currently serving as a
Special Agent, with 2 years of investiga-
tive experience with CID, have a Top Se-
cret clearance and a Bachelors degree
(may be waived as a requirement). Can-
didates must have also demonstrated
leadership potential, management abili-
ties and good communication skills. CID
does not employ Commissioned Offi-
cers as Special Agents. CID Battalions
and Brigades (Groups) are commanded
by Commissioned Officers from the
Military Police Corps. These officers do
not supervise the conduct of criminal
investigations. Criminal investigations
supervised by senior Warrant Officer
Special Agents.
Special Agent candidates initially re-
ceive training at the US Army Military
Police School (USAMPS) at Fort Leon-
ard Wood, MO where they attend the
Apprentice CID Special Agent course.
Later, agents may return to USAMPS to
attend specialized training in Advanced
Fraud Investigations, Child Abuse Pre-
vention and Investigative Techniques,
Crisis/Hostage Negotiations, Combat-
ing Terrorism on Military Installations,
Protective Service Training as well as
other subjects.
UNIFORM AND FIREARMS
As criminal investigators, CID Special
Agents typically dress in professional
suits, business/casual attire, or com-
fortable clothing when appropriate for
their daily investigative responsibilities.
Due to the nature of their work, un-
dercover assignments dictate further
variations of attire to support specific
undercover mission requirements.
When deployed to certain combat en-
vironments, and during other special
times and circumstances, CID agents
wear Army Combat Uniforms, replac-
ing rank insignia with subdued versions
of officer “U.S.” collar brass and some-
times wearing “CID” brassards on their
upper left arms. Military CID agents
continue to be soldiers of the Military
Police Corps. For official photographs,
and certain duty assignments, they
wear the uniforms, rank and insignia of
any other MP soldier of their respec-
tive ranks. CID agents are issued the
9 mm Sig Sauer and for combat envi-
ronments, agents are issued the M4
carbine.
To conclude, it is obvious that law
enforcement and criminal investiga-
tion are a very important part of the
US armed forces, in this case the US
Army, and are vital for the law and or-
der within the units both at home or
deployed worldwide. When it comes to
the Macedonian armed forces and the
future transformation and organizing
of the law enforcement and criminal
investigation within the Ministry of De-
fence and the Macedonian Army, which
have been conducted so far by the Mili-
tary Police and the military intelligence
and counter intelligence units of the
Army, we should use the experience
of the CID as well as its organization
which has been functioning for over
90 years and of course adjust it to the
needs of the Ministry of Defence and
the Macedonian Army.
Borche Jakimov

From a peacekeeper’s journal
n previous editions we presented
you a few Macedonian peace-
keepers who employed all their
potential in Iraq, Afghanistan and
in the EU-led mission in Bosnia – AL-
THEA. Only one Macedonian officer
presented our small country in the UN
UNIFIL mission in Lebanon. The first one
to break the ice was Lieutenant Colonel
Simeon Mitrev, our representative in
the UNIFIL mission.
A CAREER THAT NEEDS
TO BE RESPECTED
“I graduated at the Military Academy
in Belgrade, and my first post was in
Vinkovci in 1989. Then, riots started in
ex Yugoslavia, so I came back to Mace-
donia”, started LTC Mitrev. He began his
military career in Macedonia in the Stru-
mica garrison. He is originally from the
Strumica village Novo Selo, and now he
works as an operations and planning
officer in “Jane Sandanski” barracks in
Stip. “After returning to Macedonia I
worked as a commander of the recon-
naissance unit which was part of the
special units in the brigade, after that I
was a commander of a battery, then an
officer for fire support in the brigade. I
worked three years in the battalion as
an operations officer and after that as
fire support officer in the brigade. In the
last two years I have been working as
operations and planning officer in the
brigade”, explained LTC Mitrev.
BLUE
BARET
We are approaching the
first decade of the new
century. It is unbelievable
that in this era of developed
human rights the basic ideas
of peace and welfare are
only a desired category.
Unfortunately, facts assure
us that peace is not an
absolved topic in all parts
of our planet. Nevertheless,
only reaching peace is not
enough. It should be kept and
protected. It should be done
in all possible ways
THE MACEDONIAN
THE ROAD TO LEBANON
An interesting fact characterizes the way
the name of at that time Major Mitrev
was on the short list of officers proposed
to be our country’s representatives to
the Lebanon mission. His qualities and
his long-years of service in the ARM were
his “ticket” to take part in UNIFIL.
“I didn’t apply for the mission and I didn’t
ask to go. I remember that I was having
a day off after a night duty, when I got
a phone call from somebody who asked
me what I was doing. I said that was that
I was taking a rest after duty. I was told
that I was chosen for the Lebanon mis-
sion and asked for my opinion. My an-
swer of course, as an officer was that if
I were chosen there was nothing else to
be said, I accepted. Honestly speaking, I
didn’t know if it was a joke or not. After a
week I got an order to go to the Depart-
ment for International Cooperation at the
Ministry of Defence. I found out there
that names of ten other officers were on
the list and my name and a name of an-
other major were underlined.”
Although according to the initial plan two
Macedonian officers were supposed to
take part in the UNIFIL mission, a letter
from the UN claimed that there was only
one free post. “The idea at the beginning
was that both of us should go, but later
we were informed that the UN provides
only one post. My colleague, who was a
commander of the Tetovo battalion, said
33
 that he was extremely busy at
the time, so I became the first
ARM representative in the UNI-
FIL mission. On 15 May 2007 I
went on a mission,” explained
LTC Mitrev.
What is interesting is that our
representative was part of the
UNIFIL-2 since as of 2006 the
terrorist organization the Hez-
bollah was left out from the UN
area of responsibility.

THE ARABIC PARADISE

They say that the first impres-

sion is the most important one,
but when we have the pitch dark-
ness in front of us, then the first
impressions about the exotic
Arabic culture should wait for the
day light.
“I arrived in Beirut via Prague.
I was met there by a civilian
from Egypt, a UN employee.
He was standing in the airport
lounge holding a peace of pa-
per with my name written on it.
It was 3 am, so he took me to
the American hotel “Marriott”. I
wasn’t able to see Beirut at all.
Anyway, the hotel was incred-
ible. It was the same as the one
in America. The first thing that
popped into my mind was if this
country really needed a mission.
The following morning around 10
o’clock, two soldiers from Po-
land arrived in a jeep and I left
with them. My first impression
was of the extreme heat, and
high humidity.” Since he was
sent from Macedonia as a GS of-
ficer he was offered two posts,
liaison officer and watchkeeper.
“I had an appointment with the
GS human resources personnel
situated in An Nakurah (2.5 km
from the Israeli border), where I
was offered two posts. The first
possibility was a liaison officer
and the second one was watch-
keeper in the Command, i.e. the
UNIFIL HQ. I didn’t know any-
thing about the obligations for
neither of the two posts. I was
told that as a liaison officer I was
supposed to work for one week
in Israel, one week in Lebanon
and I would have a week off. I
didn’t like this option very much
so I decided to accept the other
offer. I must admit that later on
I regretted my decision because
it was really hard working in the
HQ,” stressed LTC Mitrev.
THE ARM PEACEKEEPER
We asked LTC Mitrev to tell us
more about the watchkeeper’s
duties and obligations. “I worked
in 12 hours shifts – from 8 am to
8 pm. After that I had a night and
the next day off, and the next
shift was from 8 pm till 8 am.
My working environment was full
of telephones and computers.
There were two main telephones
because the whole base was di-
vided in two sectors – eastern
and western, with two brigades
each. The leader of the eastern
part was Spain and Italy was
the leader of the western part.
There were representatives of
31 countries in the base. All infor-
mation about all events was re-
ceived by the watchkeeper. Not
only informing, but on the basis
of these information decision
should have been made – which
1. The base in unit should intervene, if there is a
Al-Nakura need of a patrol or not and so on.
There were a lot of maps in the
2. and 3. GS where all activities should be
Beirut seen marked. At the same time I had
through our to write a report, prepare a pre-
peacekeeper’s sentation and deliver it in front of
eyes the Force Commander. I should
mention here that there were
4. conrolling two commanders, a force com-
the „blue line“ mander and a base commander.
I remember that the force com-
5. and 6. on mander at that time was the
duty in the Italian General Claudio Graziano.
UN’s operative
Each morning at 8 o’clock a re-
center
port was to be sent to all im-
portant sectors and authorities,
even to Ban Ki Moon.”
There were no representatives
of nations close to ours, so time
for recreation and relaxation was
not easy to pass. “At the begin-
ning it was very difficult since
there were no people from this
region. I made friends with peo-
ple from Indonesia and Malaysia,
but as it is known we are of dif-
ferent cultures. Three moths later
a representative of Slovenia ar-
rived followed by one from Croa-
tia. Things got easier – we used
to go out together, we played
sport together. They had more
free time than I did, I spent most
of my free time resting because
the job I did was very demand-
ing.”

34

DANGER IS LURKING
Water used to turn into wine on today’s
Lebanon territory. It’s not like that any-
more. It’s not like that since the terrorist
organization “Hezbollah” has been infil-
trated in the parliament of the country.
People…..they are friendly and open.
This is what our peacekeeper thinks. He
adds that the encounter with danger
couldn’t be avoided.
“Each month we were supposed to con-
trol the so called blue line checking the
UN positions, so I was directly exposed
to the Lebanese climate. I started hav-
ing kidney problems, and I was hospital-
ized for 15 days, outside the UN zone.
One day I had to do a check up in a ve-
hicle. At the border of the control zone
I had to dismount the UN flag from the
jeep, I stopped at one of the border
check points and I met people who pa-
trolled there. I did the check up and on
my way back from the hospital which
was not later than two hours I noticed
that everything was blocked. At the
place of the police control the vehicles
were completely destroyed and there
were injured people. The vehicles were
destroyed because they stepped on a
mine which was very likely I could have
stepped on.”
The danger didn’t finish there. “All UNI-
IFIL contingents had parties for their
national holidays. For the national day
of Spain we went to the eastern sec-
tor and on our way back a Spanish APC
was completely destroyed by a 70 kg
explosive car-bomb. All this happened in
less than five minutes right behind our
jeep. Six peacekeepers died during this
accident,” says LTC Mitrev.
MACEDONIA, OR?
Although the Lebanese people call our
country Macedonia, our peacekeeper
faced the ever-present name issue
– the correct name of our country. “I
was introduced to a Greek represen-
tative at the very beginning. Asked
where I come from I replied loud and
clear – Macedonia. He said: “You are
not from Macedonia, you are from FY-
ROM.” But as they say even gods fall
faced with facts, even if they are from
Olympus. “After my short lesson in
history he never mentioned the same
issue again,” added LTC Mitrev. As we
all know the official UN name of our
country is FYROM, in all documents
our country was referred to with this
abbreviation. On our peacekeeper’s re-
quest this abbreviation was replaced
by FYR Macedonia.
DOUBLE BENEFIT
The benefits of deploying Macedonian
peacekeepers in various missions of
international organizations (UN, NATO)
are double – Macedonia gains expe-
rienced officers, prepared to face the
challenges of the new era, and at the
same time it proves that there is a pro-
fessional and well trained personnel in
our country that can work shoulder to
shoulder with the representatives of
more developed countries. “The most
important thing for me was getting ex-
perience since I worked there as a staff
officer. After I returned from this mission
I mainly work in the operational centers
of our exercises, precisely because of
this gained experience. Regarding the
benefits for the country I can say that
a big number of people from the dis-
tant countries have never before heard
about Macedonia. I personally think that
taking part in these kinds of missions is
very important for an international affir-
mation of our country.”
There are also certain disadvantages be-
ing absent from Macedonia. Our peace-
keeper is a husband and a father of two
girls. “While I was away on a mission
my daughters went through the most
sensitive period in their lives – teenage
period, a period that requires special pa-
rental attention, which at that time was
mostly on my wife’s shoulders. This is
the reason why we have to pay a spe-
cial respect to all mothers who raise our
children while we take part in peace-
keeping missions.”
The mission of our peacekeeper ended
in May 2008, but his professional contri-
bution to the development of the ARM
and Macedonia continues.
Zdravko Rizovski /
Ivan Petrusevski
35
 GUIDE FOR KEEPING AND
DOGS

soldiers and their best friends – dogs – v

ear is one of the most com- kind of dog will not allow anyone 1. dogs are adult disturbs the dog while it
mon reasons for aggressive to enter the yard and the house, sensitive to is resting. The law reduces our
behavior of the dogs. Fear apart from the members of the movements responsibility when it comes to
generally appears because family. Training obedience is the other people’s negligence, and
of some stressful and un- best way to keep the situation 2. some yet we have to do everything so
usually noisy situation. If the dog under control and to send a mes- sounds can as to avoid to physical or verbal
is frightened we should put a sage to our pet that it has gone disturb the irritation of the dog.
basket muzzle on it, place it in a too far with the aggression. dog. In that We should teach the children
fenced yard or in some quiet and The dog is very perceptive of case, it is rec- never to approach unfamiliar
dark room until it calms down. movements and is sensitive to ommended to dogs and not to do any sudden
If we know that certain occur- it. The experienced trainers know take the dog movements with the hands to-
rence and sounds such as thun- this well and therefore they somewhere wards the dog, and especially
der, sirens, upset the dog and we stand still when the dog shows quite not to approach a dog from be-
are not sure how it will react, it is the least of aggression. If the hind. At the same time, children
advisable to take it to a quieter dog is nervous it is best not to should not be allowed to be par-
place or to restrain it. In those do sudden movements. The ag- ticularly loud so the dog will not
moments we should avoid touch- gressive reaction of irritation feel threatened. When they are
ing or petting the frightened dog happens when some child or an playing with the dog, the chil-
despite the fact that we have a
close relationship. In that situa-
tion the dog can react in an un-
usual manner and instinctively
bite us.
The territorial aggression is an
expression of mutual instinct
and can be often noticed in cir-
cumstances when the dog tries
to guard the yard, the car or the
house. Depending on the natural
born aggression, the territorial
instinct and the training, the dog
will tend to guard its territory
and family. Dog owners generally
think that certain degree of ag-
gression in dogs is needed.
Nevertheless, this territorial in-
stinct can lead to unwanted con-
sequences and dimensions. That

36

BREEDING
dren often provoke the dog to jump and
scratch them.
We should carefully observe the dog
and know everything about it. Shout-
ing, pulling its ears, tail or hair and other
kinds of aggravation, represent danger
to the dog.
We should not chase the dog, boost
its aggression, and we shouldn’t allow
other people to do it too. Instead, we
should offer some other, more accept-
able approach with the dog, like scratch-
ing their sensitive points, their belly and
so, which arouses pleasure in the dog.
GETTING USED TO COLLAR,
LEASH AND BASKET MUZZLE
The dog is getting used to all these
things while it is young and during play-
time and walks. The owner calls the
dog, pets it and at the same time puts
the collar on his neck. If the dog tries
to take it off, the best way is to make
it forget about it through play. During
the walks we need to put the collar on
and take it off several times. After it
gets used to the collar, we put the leash
and we walk the dog with it. It will get
used to these two things easily because
they represent a signal that it is walk-
ing time, and that is something that
the dog likes. After the walk the collar
should be taken off because it damages
and plucks the hair.
We have to be fast with the basket
muzzle. The procedure is the following:
We get down on our knees, we hold the
dog with one hand on the leash close
to the collar, and with the right hand we
put the basket muzzle. The dog usually
wants to take it off, but we will not al-
low it by playing a game and walking. If
we don’t succeed like that, than we give
a strict command “no” and we pull the
leash. The dog gradually gets used to
the basket muzzle, thus we will gradu-
ally get it used to wearing the basket
muzzle.
PUPPY GETTING USED TO ITS NAME
When we bring the dog home, we should
teach it its name. The name of the pup-
py presents a sound simulation that
should be short and easily pronounce-
able. Learning its name can be done in
several ways. When the owner calls out
the dog with a piece of meat, the dog
will come for the meat. While it is coming
towards him, the owner calls the dogs
name several times and then gives the
meat. If the puppy doesn’t react to the
command, than the owner should go to
it and get the meat close to its mouth
while at the same time saying its name.
We do that while the puppy is eating the
meat, and we pet it after. When it hears
that simulation, the puppy understands
that something good is happening, that
is, it is given food or approval, thus it ac-
cepts the name and responds to it. Also
we have to pay attention to our tone,
not to be artificial, because the dog un-
derstands the intonation in our voice,,
as a result the artificial voice may create
doubt in the dog.
PRAISES AND PUNISHMENTS
If we read some old book for dog train-
ing we will see that there are only pinch
collars and beating as discipline mea-
sures. From these books we will learn
that there was an opinion that the dog
should be hit with hands, with a special
leash to certain parts of the body to
punish it.
Before we punish the dog we must first
find the reason for its disobedience. We
may have addressed the dog with a ner-
vous tone, unusual and unknown to it or
the dog’s attention could be attracted
on something other than you. We have
to make sure that the dog understands
us, and then to expect to obey our com-
mands at once.
The answer to the question when can
we hit the dog is - never. We have to find
some other means of force. We have to
give as fewer commands as possible
because this means of establishing au-
thority loses its value. The command
should be short, strict, calm, but never
loud and rough. The tone must differ
to the one we usually address the dog.
The dog should not be punished by hit-
ting with a hand, but only by pulling the
leash that affects its neck and causes
pain that the dog doesn’t connect with
us and our hand.
We must be careful and distinguish be-
tween a ban and a command. The more
the dog obeys our banning-orders,
the more it will obey our commands.
Banning-orders are: banning-order for
urinating and defecating in the house;
nibbling objects; jumping on furniture;
whimpering; howling; standing by the
table. All of this, the dog has to learn
along with its physical and mental train-
ing. It is never too early to forbid things.
But, we have to start giving orders only
when we are certain that the dog has
developed physically and mentally. We
have to ask the dog only the things it
knows. When it obeys us, we should pet
it and it is good to give some reward.
Every time it obeys it should be reward-
ed. The dog can become disobedient
due to fear of the hand of the one who
hits it. Experience shows that the dog
can be hit on two occasions: if it shows
aggression towards the owner and if it
takes something off the ground.
Riste Giovski
37
 S .
CLIMATE CHANGE
V SECURITY
DEFENCE AND
POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL WARMING
n recent years the climate
change and their negative in-
fluence on the living creatures
on planet Earth have been
discussed more often than in the
past. Therefore it is crucial to con-
sider the possible consequences
of global warming and climate
change, with particular stress on
defense and security.
KYOTO AND BEYOND
In December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan
more than 180 countries signed
an agreement, however that was
not enough to solve the problem
of global warming. Nevertheless,
this agreement was a step ahead
in solving this important issue.
Still, many of the countries which
signed the agreement did not act
in compliance with it. It is valid un-
til 2012 after which the new con-
tract from Copenhagen, Denmark,
which unfortunately has not been
closed yet, is coming into effect.
The main goal of the Copenhagen
agreement is control of emission
of exhaust gases, which directly
affects global warming. According
to the analyses made by experts
for climate change significant in-
crease of temperature is expected
in the future.
Before the conference in Copen-
hagen, last year in the period be-
tween 9 to 19 December, many
NGOs and environmental asso-
38
Photo: Paul Haze
ciations participated in protests all
over Europe asking the world lead-
ers to sing a contract for a confer-
ence to prevent climate change.
These NGOs and environmental
organisations demanded that the
developed countries take seri-
ous measures for fighting climate
change and the annual increase
of temperature. In addition, they
insisted on reaching an agreement
in Copenhagen according to which
the signatory countries would take
the responsibility for the decrease
of emission of exhaust gases by
34%, certain organizations
also insisted for the European
politicians to promise to be
decrease the emission of dan-
gerous gases which cause the
green house effect to 40 % (by
2020). Moreover, these organi-
zations addressed other states
such as –the USA, China, Aus-
tralia and Japan to become part
of one ambitious agreement
for high and realistic goals for
1. Poster climate protection.
for the Despite the optimism among the
Copenhagen countries of the UN Framework
climate Convention for climate changes
conference to reach sustainable contract for
reduction of emission of green-
house effect gases, no agreement
2. the
was reached in Copenhagen on
atmosphere the 15th conference of the UN
during the Framework Convention Countries
conference and the 5th meeting of the Kyoto
Protocol Countries. Significant improve-
ment was reached considering financial
aid for the underdeveloped countries. A
special fund for investment of 30 billiard
dollars is to be established and by 2020
the amount will have increased to 100
billion dollars. This financial support is
mainly aimed at helping the most vulner-
able countries from the consequences of
climate change. Since an agreement has
not been reached for most of the other
open questions, the German Chancellorr
Angela Merkel suggested that this is
reconsidered again on a smaller confer-
ence in Bonn, in June and close the issues
for which principal agreement has been
reached.
Upon completion of the Copenhagen
conference, countries from all around
the earth expressed their criticism. It is
particularly stressed that the declaration
does not contain concrete measures for
reduced emission of exhaust gases. Ac-
cording to the NGOs and environmental
organizations this was a huge failure and
a step back from the agreements in Kyo-
to. The text from the declaration of the
summit in Copenhagen calls the devel-
oped and underdeveloped countries to
officially confirm the actions they will take,
to control the emission of green house ef-
fect gases by the end of January 2010.
POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON
THE DEFENCE AND SECURITY
Climate change caused by the emission
of dangerous gases can have serious con-
sequences on the security of developed,
underdeveloped countries, including the
security of the Republic of Macedonia. Ac-
cording to some predictions if we do not
take the negative effects seriously, there
will be serious problems in the global se-
curity, especially with the so-called asym-
metric threats.
The increase of temperature, especially in
the regions where it is already high, will
cause a decrease of production of agricul-
tural products and lack of food especially
in the underdeveloped countries. It will
also cause floods, dry and windy weather
and hurricanes. This will lead to lack of
drinking water, problems with usage of
natural and energy resources in the world
(oil, gas, mine minerals etc.) which might
be one of the major reasons for armed
conflict.
Based on all of the above mentioned
problems, which might be caused by
the global warming, illegal immigration
from poor to rich, developed countries
is expected. Poverty, especially in the un-
derdeveloped countries, which are most
affected by the climate changes, will be
fertile ground for recruiting potential ter-
rorist and suicidal bombers that will pose
a serious threat for the world peace and
security. Manifestations of extreme na-
tionalism are also possible, racial and re-
ligious tensions, illegal drugs, weapons,
and people trade as well as proliferation
of means for massive destruction can be
expected.
SMALL BUT RESPONSIBLE
Macedonia is an active participant in the
entire process of protection from climate
change and takes precaution measures
for decreasing the emission of exhaust
gases, and the protection of the envi-
ronment. Macedonia is directly involved
in the UN struggle for reduction of the
consequences from climate change under
the auspices of the member of UN Sec-
retary General for climate change Ph. D.
Srgjan Kerim. We as a country have to
take additional measures for protection
from security problems caused by climate
change as well. The geographical position
of our country is on the cross section for
illegal migration from the underdeveloped
to the developed world. When Macedonia
becomes a NATO and an EU member,
the responsibilities for protection and
security will be even higher, especially for
protection of borders and airports from
illegal immigrants from the neighbor-
ing countries that are not EU members.
The Macedonian borders will become EU
boarders once the country enters in the
European Union.
M.A. Stojan Dimchov
39

HONORING THE ARMY NORDIC SKIERS
arko Damjanovski and Gjorgi
Icoski, professional soldiers (PS)
from the Second mechanized in-
fantry brigade of ARM who have
accomplished the Olympic norms to
enter the Winter Olympic Games in
Vancuver, Canada, have proudly post-
ed the testimonial and the certificate
of honor that have been awarded
to them by the Minister of Defence,
Zoran Konjanovski, for their accom-
plishment.
“I, from the bottom of my heart as
well as on behalf of the employees
in the MoD congratulate the sucess
of the members of the ARM. This is
40
RESULTS
FOR RESPECT
not only a very significant achieve-
ment for the army and the country,
but also for themselves and the ef-
fort they have invested. Today, we
are honoured to have two members
of the Army that have met the criteria
to represent us in Vancuver “, stated
Konjanovski.
At the meeting, our Olympians ex-
pressed their gratitute to the Minister
of Defence for the constant and un-
conditional support they are receiving
from the General Staff of the Repub-
lic of Macedonia and the MoD “I am
going to compete at the 15km nordic
skiing that is taking place on Febru-
ary 15, 2010 and I expect to achieve
excellent results. I know that we will
represent ourselves in the best light”,
said Darko Damjanovski, PS.
Unfortunately, according to the
propositions, only 33 countries have
entered the biathlon competition
(Macedonia is at position 34). In ad-
dition to the accomplished individual
norms, PS Gjorgi Icoski was not able
to represent our country this year
at the Olympics. “This year, for the
first time in the history of the win-
ter sports in Macedonia, we have
reached individual Olympic norms.
Unfortunatelly, I am most probably
not going to attend the WOG due to
objective reasons that you have al-
ready been familiar with”, added PS
Icoski.
It is an imperative for ARM and the
MoD to invest in the future genera-
tions and to create available, excel-
lent conditions for developing the
potentials. “In 10 days, a public bid
for complete refurbishment of the
Popova Sapka watch-tower will be
announced, which is a huge step
that is going to take place over the
course of the following two years.
This centre will be built and equipped
in the next two years and at the end
of 2011, it will be available for use.
Afterwards, we will promote and de-
velope it as a centre for training in
winter conditions “, explained Minis-
ter Konjanovski.
The magazine “Stit” joined in the cel-
ebration of the success of the young
Olympians, by printing its sixt edition
on the day when the awards were be-
ing presented, covering the event on
the cover page.
On February 5, PS Darko Dam-
janovski and Gjorgi Icoski had met
the Chief of GS of the Army of the
RM, Lieutenant General Miroslav
Stojanovski. At the reception, in
addition to the Olympians from
the Second Mechanized Infantry
Brigade of ARM, the Commandant
of the JOC, Major General Zoran Di-
mov, the Commander of the Second
Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Colo-
nel Metodija Velichkovski as well as
the coach of the Macedonian na-
tional team in Nordic skiing, Gjoko
Dinevski attended the venue.
At the meeting, Lieutenant General
Stojanovski wished Damjanovski
great success and emphasized that
the participation of a representa-
tive of the ARM at the Olympics
was a historical event and would
be a motivation to all represen-
tatives of the Army for further
achievements and great results in
sports. He also emphasized that
not only Damjanovski would repre-
sent Macedonia in Canada, but he
would also share the Olympic spirit
as a representative of the ARM
with the sportsmen from all over
the world.
first representative of the ARM at
the Olympic Games which were initi-
ated in the antient times of the hu-
man civilization, stating the following:
„The challenge to participate in such a
historic event is large for Macedonia
as a small country, especially at times
when Macedonia is faced with solv-
ing the name issue. It is more then
certain that the views of many will
be focused on our Olympians due to
the fact that a small sovereign state
managed to develop two soldiers,
members of the ARM who achieved
the Olympic norms. This is the pick of
the sports and achieving all of it with
our modest means as a Brigade, as
an Army and as a State, with unwav-
ering will and much effort, and all of
you being the witnesses during the
training period, it has proven that
the goal could be reached If you had
strong faith, belief, respect for the bri-
gade and for the flag as well as for
the “leopards”. We need to promise
to ourselves that we would do ev-
erything that is in our interest and
prospect and send our national team
representatives to the 2014 Win-
ter Olympic Games, hopefully other
representatives besides Darko and
Gjoko”.
Further in his speech, Colonel Velich-
kovski, showing his professional at-
titude towards his work, as an ARM
representative, personally and on
behalf of the representatives of the
SMIB, recommended Damjanovski to
be pertinacious and to show why the
leopard as a myth animal symbolizes
the unit to which they belong. In the
name of the brigade, Colonel Velich-
kovski bestowed testimonials to Dar-
ko Damjanovski and Gjorgi Icoski with
the brigade logo written on them.
After being given the opportunity to
kiss the army flag of the SMIB which
is a great honour for every brigade
representative, Darko Damjanovski
addressed the audience. After thank-
ing the ARM, the General Staff and
the Second Motorized Infantry Bri-
gade for the assitance in achieving
the demands, he stated: “It is an hon-
our to wear this uniform and I send
my regards to the members of the
SMIB and the symbol of the leopard
that I will be presenting at the Olym-
pic Games in Vancuver 2010.“
The Selector of the Macedonian del-
egation, Gjoko Dinevski, at his expose
gave a short overview of the prepara-
tion and the achieved results of the
Army Olympians Damjanovski and
Icoski.
After the ceremony in front of the
formation of the Second mechanized
infantry brigade, the delegation com-
posed of the members of the Olym-
pics, the Brigade commanders and
colonel Zikica Jovanovski, was ac-
cepted by the mayor of Municipality
Kichevo, Blagoja Despotoski.
Elizabeta Tashkovska/
Ivan Petrushevski

WITH MODEST MEANS

TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Honoring the Army Olympians, just

before leaving for Vancuver, Canada,
at the Kichevo garrison, a ceremony
had been held for the departure of
Darko Damjanovski, where in front of
the honorable formation of the units
of this garrison and next to the war
flags of the Second Mechanized In-
fantry Brigade, Colonel Metodija Ve-
lichkovski, on behalf of the „leopards“-
members of the unit, wished him
good luck and good scores. He was
not hiding the satisfaction that he
was the commanding officer of the

41
 sports

BIATHLETES AT WORK
Seventh Army Biathlon Cup
he biathlon as a military dis- THE OLIMPIC NORMS – 1. shooting, the 7th Army Biathlon Cup in team
cipline is one of the leading CONFIRMED as part competition included the 7.5 km
sport disciplines. Besides The winner of this year’s ARM of the cross-country skiing, where the
popularizing the sport spirit Biathlon Cup in the discipline indi- biathlon team of the Ski Club “Musica” from
among the young people, vidual run - sprint was professional Krushevo won first place, second
the Army cup has an intention to soldier Gjorgi Icoski from the Sec- 2. our was the team of the Ski Fed-
establish the biathlon as a sport ond Mechanized Infantry Brigade, represen- eration of Macedonia, third place
discipline in cross country skiing, with a result of 26.54. Second tatives went to the team of the Second
and also as a military discipline place went to professional soldier near MIB, and fourth place was the
which is accepted in the ARM with Darko Damjanovski, also from Kiprovo, team from the for Special Opera-
an extremely important role in the Second MIB, with a result of Krushevo tions Regiment of the ARM.
strengthening the combat readi- 28.20, and third place went to De- On the official closing ceremony of
ness in terms of the condition and jan Stojanoski from the Ski Club 3. the the Seventh Army Biathlon Cup,
rifle sharp shooting. This event, “Musica” from Krushevo, with a Olimpic along the competitors, there was
organized by the Army of Republic result of 31.04. norms – also the mayor of Krushevo, Mr.
of Macedonia, has become a tradi- As expected, on this competition, confirmed Vasilcho Damcheski, the Comman-
tion. both best placed on this year’s dant of the Second Mechanized
On January 30 and 31, on the ski ARM Biathlon Cup confirmed the Infantry Brigade, Colonel Metodija
slopes in Krushevo, on the ski qualified Olympic norms. Velichkovski, sport personnel from
slope of Kiprovo, the Seventh The previous day the program of the Ski Federation of Macedonia
ARM Biathlon Cup was held. On
the Army Cup, in addition to the
ARM units, teams of the Ski Fed-
eration of Macedonia and the Ski
Club “Musica” from Krushevo will
participate as well. The teams and
the individuals competed in 7.5
km cross-country skiing in team
competition, and in the individual
event, discipline sprint, also 7.5
km. The president of the organiz-
ing committee for the realization
of the biathlon was Colonel Zhi-
kica Jovanovski. The competitions
were held under the control of
referees of the Ski Federation of
Macedonia and the ARM, where
the main referee was the Selec-
tor of the Macedonian Nordic and
Biathlon representation, Gjoko
Dineski.

42

and other guests.
On the official ceremony, the three best
placed in team and individual competition
were awarded with certificates. At the
same time, for the cooperation and the
help in the organization and realization
of the Army Biathlon Cup, Colonel Zhi-
kica Jovanovski presented certificates of
gratitude to the Ski Federation of Mace-
donia, the Second Mechanized Infantry
Brigade and to part of the members of
the Ski Club “Musica” from Krushevo.
A certificate for gratitude was also pre-
sented to the representatives of “Red
Bull”, the energy drink that they provided
for the competitors. Also, , a certificate of
gratitude was given to the monastery “St.
Preobrazhenie” for the hospitality and the
logistic support, the venue of the ceremo-
nial lunch for the participants, with army
beans as a main course, prepared by the
skillful hands of the cooks of the Second
Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the ARM.
INCENTIVE FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SKI DISCIPLINES
In his estimation about the Seventh Army
Biathlon Cup, Colonel Zikica Jovanovski,
among other stated: “We put our strength
to the test and we have gained additional
experiences with the help of the Ski Fed-
eration of Macedonia. In team competition
the team of the Second Mechanized In-
fantry Brigade won third place. In the indi-
vidual competition the competitors of the
ARM won first and second place. There are
the two competitors that achieved Olym-
pic norms, and one of them will participate
in the Olympic Games in Vancouver, Can-
ada, and with a little luck, we expect the
other representative to go to the Olympic
Games as well. That states that 50 per-
cent of the state capacities are filled by the
ARM. This gives us incentive for the future,
to create a possibility with our capacities
and abilities for participation of more sol-
diers and skiers. To improve the conditions
for Nordic skiing and biathlon in the ski
centers in Krushevo, and create a regional
center in the garrison in Kichevo, where we
will improve the disciplines in biathlon, ski
orienteering and marksmanship. In addi-
tion to the members of the army, we want
to include the army teams of the armies in
the region into the development of these
disciplines as well, in order to turn it into a
tradition. By doing that we will increase the
capacity of the number of soldiers-biath-
letes, in order to create better teams in the
future competitions for the world military
by Zdravko Rizovski
games under the sponsorship of the Inter-
national Military Sports Council (CISM). This
year, from March 20 to 25, we will partici-
pate with two of our biathletes in the First
World Military Games - the first military
Olympic Games, which will be held in Aus-
tria and Italy. This is an opportunity for our
promotion in the world. This will also be an
incentive in the next four years to create
a team of four competitors in biathlon in
individual competition, and in cross-country
skiing. Our goal is to be among the first 28
world forces. According to the past results
of our soldiers and representatives, there
is hope that we will succeed and promote
ourselves in the world.”
The International Biathlon Union is one
of the leaders in the world. The fact that
among the three best athletes in the
world one is biathlete, which indicates
that the biathlon is becoming more appre-
ciated, says a lot about the attention giv-
en to the biathlon in the world. The ARM
and the Republic of Macedonia should
benefit from this, since our country has
a base, capacity and army potential that
can accomplish it. According to the words
of Colonel Jovanovski, our ambition for
the next Olympic Games in 2014 in Sochi
are to participate with an entire team of
army members that will represent the Re-
public of Macedonia in this sport.
The past results of our biathletes and the
professionalism of the people involved
in the preparations, organization and re-
alization of the biathlon on ARM level,
and on national level as well are guaran-
tee enough that our representatives will
represent the Republic of Macedonia re-
spectfully in the world.
43
 A BOOK ABOUT THE
MACEDONIAN PAST
A STORY WHICH “THE LEOPARD”
PROTECTS FROM OBLIVION
he fascinating appearance of the Com-
mand building in the “Chede Filipovski-
Dame” barracks, the home of the
Second Mechanized Infantry Brigade
of the ARM, gives the impression of
a complete urban building. However, this
unity of power and discipline hides in its
arms a small nook which, for the hosts, is of
a particular importance. It is the “Macedo-
nian room”, a nook in which the assiduous
“leopards” immortalized a part of the Mace-
donian past, and they invite everyone who
visits their unit to for a time travel.
Completeness is the first thing to notice
and you get the impression as if every
millimetre of this small but extremely rich
“Macedonian room” is a very important
part of a harmonious whole.
The stone fireplace is a mirror through
44
which time conveys the traditional Macedo-
nian architecture. The solid construction im-
mediately implies the strength and unity of
this brigade. Although invisible to the eye,
it is easy to notice the flame in its interior
prompted by their love for the fatherland.
This flame warms the souls like the fire
warmed the child in the cradle by the fire.
The loom weaves the memories of the
woman who bids farewell to her husband
at dawn, as he leaves abroad to earn their
living, carrying an almost empty bag over
his shoulder.
The collage of colours is magical for the
curious eye, and seduces you immediately,
leaving you astonished by the inspiration
of the Macedonian embroiderers. Maybe
they were inspired by the faith that their
beloved child will return alive from battle.
Each piece of embroidery, word by word,
tells the story of a tortured nation, its up-
risings and victories.
When the visual impressions will eventually
settle, you feel the smell of clay, which the
Macedonian cuisine aficionados will imme-
diately associate with the traditional Mace-
donian pottery. Just one look is enough to
see where all of this comes from. The clay
pots, although some of them have existed
for centuries, look like they have just been
made and are “waiting” to be used.
It seems as if the time has stopped for a
moment. The only thing that “moves” is
the carriage that you imagine by looking
at the wooden wheels by the walls. You
can even hear its sound and you instantly
create a picture: a rich man with his young
bride, a sound of a bagpipe heard from
somewhere, and a young girl offers you
cold spring water from the clay jugs.
The faith in the power of their Brigade has
prompted some members of the unit to
leave a part of their legacy here. Obviously,
the “leopards” faithfully protect this magi-
cal tale from oblivion.
Due to the power of the “Macedonian
room” to quite skilfully present the Mace-
donian culture and tradition, this corner
within the premises of the Command has
the role of a place for welcoming guests
from the country and abroad. The idea
is not for the guests to sit in a room full
of artefacts, but to read the book of the
Macedonian past with their own senses,
so when they leave, they will carry with
them the memory of time-travel through
Macedonia’s past, given as a special pres-
ent by the staff from the “Chede Filipovski-
Dame” Barracks in Kichevo.
Mice Koteski
FOOD FOUND
IN NATURE
COLLECTING AND PREPARING
hen a military unit is in a state
of survival several groups for
gathering products from plant
or animal origin are formed.
They can be divided into the following
categories:
– group for collecting plants and
roots ;
– group for hunting wild animals
– group for processing the collected
products.
In real life situation these groups are
not limited to collecting only one type
of product but they are also collect-
ing products assigned to the other
groups.
Collecting plants and animals is done
strictly by obeying the orders of the
survival instructor. Before sending
the groups out the instructor him-
self explores the terrain and gathers
the products planned to be collected
that day. When he returns to the
camp he calls the groups and pres-
ents the products, describes their
charactersistics, places where they
can be found, similar products which
are not edible (poisonous,useless
etc.), and other important features
for their collecting and usage. In
addition to the above stated, the
instructor points out that the col-
lected products must not be mixed
but divided in separate containers or
plastic bags.
Once the products are introduced to Hedgehog
the groups, the officer in charge, in All hedgehogs found in the area are
agreement with the instructor, sends edible. They are found in the woods,
the groups to the field. He previously bushes, near water. After being found
points out the region where they can the hedgehog is captured with pro-
collect, time of returning in the camp, tective means (which are at hand or
how to stay connected and precau- exist in the formation) in order to pro-
tion measures. tect the hands from its spines which
After the groups return to the camp it uses for protection from the enemy.
all the collected products are taken
to the control point where the in- How to prepare it:
structor selects, controls and checks You should turn the hedgehog on its
them. Once checked and sorted out back and step on it on the sides in
useless products are thrown away order to open the internal soft part
and buried under ground. He points of its body. After the soft part has
out the mistakes the groups made been found, head is located and
while collecting products- and how to
recognize edible ones. The instructor
explains practically how to cook the
edible products.
PREPARATION OF
CERTAIN PRODUCTS
The territory of the Republic of Ma­
cedonia has an abundance of edible
products form the wild flora and
fauna.
Further down in the text we will
elaborate about the products which
have been found during the training
for eating in nature, conducted in the
region among the villages Slatino,
Slivovo, Turje, Arbinovo and Mra-
morec.
45
 slaughtered by pulling the
knife from the neck to the
top of the head (nose). Af-
ter slaughtering the hedge-
hog is left to bleed. Then you
should take its front and back
legs and stretch it to see the
soft part of the skin without
spines. After that the skin
near the front and back legs
is cut and striped from the
body. Once the skin is re-
moved the internal organs are
taken out and thrown away.
You must boil the meat be-
fore eating and then prepare
as you wish. a female tortoise eggs should
Tortoise
All tortoises found on the ter-
ritory of the Republic of Mace-
donia are edible (turtles are
not edible). They can be found
in oak forests, bushes and near
water.
How to prepare it:
Front legs of the tortoise are
pulled out so that it protrudes
its head hidden in the shell. The
head is stretched and cut off.
The tortoise is left to bleed.
After that the tortoise is put
on its back and the shell is cut
in two, with an axe or a knife,
between the front and back
legs. The lower part of the
shelf is pulled inside out, cut
with a knife and removed from
the body. The upper part of
the shell remains on the body.
Front and back upper legs are
separated from the body be-
cause they are edible. The liver
is also edible if its surface is flat
and smooth. If there are some
spots and cysts on the surface
it is useless. You must cook
the meat. The fist water should
be thrown away and then you
prepare it as you wish. If it is
be removed from her body and
they are also edible.
Snake
All snakes found on the territo-
ry of the Republic of Macedonia
(both poisonous and not poi-
sonous) are edible. While catch-
ing the snake it is important to
follow the precaution measures
in case it is poisonous.
How to catch it:
When you find a snake ap-
proach it carefully and step
on it with a boot right behind
the head. Then cut it two fin-
gers below the head. The cut
off head must be buried under
1. and 2. Frog
inland On the territory of the Repub-
turtles are lic of Macedonia the so called
the only ones green frog can be used. It lives
eatable in water (rivers, lakes, pounds
etc.) The green frog can be
3. all snakes caught in several ways with a
can be used as
fishing rod and a lure (insect
food or small cloth), in the evening
4. frog’s legs hours with a barrel on which
are very tasty a primitive light has been put.
Then frogs jump on the insects
5. and 6. gathered around the light and
salting and
fall into the barrel etc.
cooking fish
7. the green How to prepare it:
lizard can be When you catch a frog, cut off
the back legs which are edible,
and throw away the rest. Sep-
arate the foot from the leg and
strip the skin, then wash the
meat and fry it.
Fish
Fish can be used as food all
through the year fresh or dried.
You can catch it with a fishing
rod, with a handmade net, axis
or hands.
How to prepare it:
You clean the scales with a
knife in direction from tale to
head. You start cutting from
the anus towards the neck,
remove and throw away the

ground or burned since the poi- cooked the

son is active 6 months after it same way as
had been killed and can harm fish
human if they step on it.
8. the snail
is tastiest in
How to prepare it:
early spring
The skin is stripped form the
body at the neck of the snake 9.
and then it is pulled towards grasshoppers
the tail. While the skin is pulled are fried in
the internal organs – the guts oil
go out with it. The snake is cut
near the anus and the part be- 10. ant’s
tween the anus and the end of eggs are
the tail is thrown away. Wash used in small
the rest of snake’s body and quantities
prepare it as you wish.

46

internal organs. If the fish has eggs
they can be eaten too. The head of
the fish is used to make stew but
there are certain types of fish which
head is not edible. (e.g. mrena from
our regions). The preparation of eel
is specific since it must not be eaten
raw due to the poisonous blood. Eel
is prepared similarly to fish but it
should not be eaten in big quantities
because it is greasy and causes di-
gestion problems and stomach pain.
Fish can be prepared fresh, on a flat
stone, on a skewer, folded in a big
leaf and put on fire, etc. If the fish is
needed for a longer period and there
are no appropriate conditions for its
storage, you put salt on, then dry it
on sun and smoke it hung 2 meters
above the fire. After that you can eat
the fish or keep it in hot water and
cook it.
Green lizard
A green lizard which lives in the lower
parts of oak forest and bushes can
be used as food. Grey (brown) lizard
found in the same area is not used for
food due to the insufficient amount
of meat.
How to prepare it:
Cut off the head, legs and tail of the
caught lizard. Cut the skin at the bot-
tom of the tale and strip it. Remove
the internal organs from the lizard,
then wash the body. Prepare the liz-
ard the same way you prepare fish.
Snails
Snails can be found all over the ter-
ritory of the Republic of Macedonia,
mainly near water flows and damp
areas, areas with grass, bushes
and places with nettle. Snails are
very active and can be found in
early spring, as well as in the sum-
mer. They are best in spring before
they start eating and reproduction.
Being one of the main sources of
infectious diseases in the later pe-
riods of the year they should be
cooked.
How to prepare them:
You put the snails in a container with
water and boil them until the body
gets out of the shell. Then remove
body from shell and take out inter-
nal organs. After cleaning, put the
snails in water again until dirt gets
out. Finally you can grill, boil or put
the snail in stew. If you don’t have
enough containers or time snails can
be grilled on an open fire. When they
are ready remove the burnt shell and
eat them.
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers are insects that can
be found everywhere on our mead-
ows. After you collect them fry them
in hot oil.
Ant eggs
Ant eggs can be found inside the ant
nest. Eggs of a forest ant, which is
larger than a regular ant, are edible.
How to collect them:
When you find the aunt nest, re-
move the soil or the stones with
which the nest is covered. Take the
eggs and dispose them to sun. Put
some branches or a box close to
this. The aunts transfer the eggs
under a shadow themselves. After
the aunts had transferred the eggs
in the box or on the branches take
them and prepare them. Fry the
eggs but do not eat larger quanti-
ties because it can cause stomach
problems (stomach ache, nausea
and vomiting etc.).
Big and small game
All sorts of wild animals which are
found on the territory of the Repub-
lic of Macedonia and the Balkans can
be used as food. Meat of wolf, fox,
wild cat, badger, marten, cony, wea-
sel and squirrel should be avoided
but in exceptional situations, when
there is no other food, this meat
can be used if previously properly
cooked.
The internal organs of wild animals
should not be eaten due to diseases.
If there is no expert around, the qual-
ity of wild meat is visually checked
by observing the lungs and liver. If
you see spots on the lung or on the
liver do not eat the meat. Wild meat
must be cooked before eating.
Birds
All types of birds with high qual-
ity meat can be used for food. Vul-
tures (raven, magpie etc.) are not
eaten because their meat is not of
a good quality. Wild birds are pre-
pared in the same way as home
birds but they must be cooked
much longer.
Igor Jovanov
47
 Photo: Raul654

A MATCH
FOR THE BIG FIRE
THE “SPIRIT” OF THE FIRST FLIGHT OVER THE ATLANTIC
e live in an era of great miracles.
Man has conquered the entire
planet, and now its views are di-
rected beyond the planet. Every-
thing considered normal today,
for our not so distant ancestors was a
true magic. Man has relaxed so much in
the convenience of its big achievements
that he forgot to think, the fact that
it takes only a few minutes to fly over
the Atlantic doesn’t give him any excite-
ment. That’s why we have to refer to the
germ, to refer to the atom that created
a brand new world – the creation of “the
global village”.
THE FLYING ERA HAS STARTED
“The Spirit of St. Louis” is a
wonderful plane. It’s like a
living creature, gliding along
smoothly, happily, as though
a successful flight means as
much to it as to me, as though
we shared our experiences
together, each feeling beauty,
life, and death as keenly, each
dependent on the other’s
loyalty. We have made this
flight across the ocean,
not I or it - stated the great
Charles Lindberg in 1927
the offer was on nobody tried to win
it, so Orteig extended the period to
five more years. This time everything
changed.
The technology was so advanced that
made pilots think seriously about tak-
ing the risk and trying to achieve the
unimaginable idea at that time. In
September 1926, the French maverick
from World War I, Rene Fonck, became
interested in winning Orteig’s prize.
Unfortunately, Fonck’s two engines sil-
ver plane with luxurious cabine explod-
ed on the runway before even taking
off. Fonck survived the accident, but
two crew members died.

The flying history started on the 17

December 1903 in North Carolina, the
USA. The Right brothers started it with
their twelve seconds in the air. It is
even more amazing that after only thir-
ty years people thought about flying
over the big water massive between
Europe and America. People were mo-
tivated from two aspects – to be the
first to fly over the Atlantic and to win
the 20.000 dollars prize, which have
been feeding the pilots’ desire since
1919 to undertake this big accomplish-
ment. The Frenchman Raymond Or-
teig, the owner of the “Brevoort” and
Lafayette” hotels in New York offered
the prize. During the first five years

48
AIRMAIL PILOT
Planes can safely connect Europe
and America. This is the fact that
made the young Charles Lindberg
an airmail pilot who worked for
“Robertson” start thinking about
flying over the Atlantic Ocean.
Though very young, Lindberg had
a rich experience flying through
snow and fog, and he has worked
as a mechanic as well. Anyway,
the most important thing was his
desire and courage to be the first
to “connect” the two continents
by air. “Why shouldn’t it be me
who will first fly from New York
to Paris? I have four years fly-
ing experience and I have flown
storms through half of the Ameri-
can states. I have more than
2000 flight hours. Don’t I have
the sufficient qualification for
such a flight”, Lindberg tried to
convince the public.
FINDING “BENJAMIN”
It was time to surpass the first
obstacle on the long way to Par-
is, finding finances to cover the
expenses for his pioneer flight.
Starting with his humble 2000
dollars savings, he managed to
deliver a presentation for the lo-
cal businessmen. This was done
with the great help of Harry
Night, his big admirer. He showed
them that a flight like this will
bring benefits for the city and
winning the Ortega award will
mostly cover the expenses. The
“Saint Louis supporters” agreed
to give him 15.000 dollars, the
amount sufficient for this big
achievement.
After he had all the money he
needed, Lindberg started look-
ing for the right plane. Maybe
his unconventional thinking, at
a time when everybody thought
that two engine planes are the
most suitable for accomplishing
this long flight, about flying in a
single engine plane (the second
engine will lessen the chances
for a successful arrival in Paris)
was crucial for reaching the goal.
His search was aimed towards
finding a single engine plane he
would fly himself and thus have
bigger advantages – decrease
the patrol costs and increase the
range. After unsuccessfully trying
a couple of times to persuade
the manufacturers in his good
concept, Lindberg was offered a
single engine “Columbia Aircraft
Corporation” plane worth 15.000
dollars. Still, the project was not
realized because the head of the
corporation insisted on choos-
ing the pilot and the crew. Time
a half demolished building which
used to be a canned fish factory.
“There is no runway, no hangar,
nor sound of engineers doing
their work. There is only the smell
of dead fish”, thought Lindberg
after arriving in the factory. Af-
ter he spoke with the chairman
Mahoney and the chief construc-
tor Hall, Lindberg was assured in
their professionalism. Mahoney
and Hall approved Lindberg’s
plans for a single engine plane.
They strongly believed in Lind-
berg’s plan that they agreed to
make the plane in two months,
which required a big sacrifice of
all the employees and the chief
was passing and the rivalry was constructors. Hall practically lived
1. and 3. increasing. in the factory while constructing
Charles the plane.
Lindbergh in IN THE FOCUS
the „Spirit OF “RYAN AIRLINES” ONE GOAL DESIGN: PARIS
of St. Louis“
In February 1927 Lindberg’s luck Working on the planes of the
2. Charles changed for the better. Only 24 plain’s body they had to make
with his hours after hearing about the a few completely new designer
wife Anne young pilot’s plans, “Ryan Air- constructions. Due to the long
Morrow lines” corporation from Sen Di- flight duration they concentrated
Lindbergh ego, California offered to produce on placing the gas tanks which
the plane for only 6000 dollars, had to hold 1.700 liters (1082kg).
4. center not including the engine. Lind- The main gas tank was placed
– the berg’s impressions after visiting in the front part of the body, be-
swastika the factory were not promising. fore the cockpit, which contrib-
was a “Ryan Airlines” was situated in uted to the gravitation center,
talisman and at the same time it reduced
for luck of the possibility of pilot finding
the native himself between two fires – en-
American gine and main tank, when land-
peoples. It ing. The disadvantage of this
was used by design was the impossibility of
the pioneer placing a front window which
pilots as constrained the pilot’s visibility
well. on the side windows only. The
problem was solved by installing
a periscope that would avoid an
accidental crash with trees when
flying a low altitude. There is no
evidence if Lindberg used it at
all during the flight. The naviga-
tion was conducted via special
navigation instruments like Earth
Inductor Compass which deter-
mined the magnet declination
from the Earth.
The cockpit was designed ac-
cording to the standard func-
tions, simple and light. It was
94cm wide, 81 cm long and 130
cm high – dimensions that didn’t
give Lindberg a chance to stretch
his legs.
The reliable 223 horsepower
Wright J-5C “Whirlwind” gave
“Spirit” the power to fly a maxi-
mum operating time of 9,000
hours. Right’s engine had a few
extremely important special
features that supported its con-
tinuous work. Some of these
features were a mechanism that
kept the engine clean during fly-
ing and a mechanism for valve
49
 self-lubrication for the duration of 40
hours. The engine was constructed in
“Wright Aeronautic” in Peterson, New
Jersey by a 24 year old constructor Tom
Rutledge, who received a thank you let-
ter from the manager of the company
four days after the flight was success-
fully conducted.
The original Ryan M2 wings size was
enlarged for twenty centimeters so
that they could hold the additional fuel
tanks (in the left, right and middle wing).
Regarding the aerodynamic stability,
Donald Hall decided not to change the
original Ryan M2 wing design in order
to minimize the time for constructing
the plane. Another advantage was the
smaller aerodynamic stability which
didn’t allow the pilot to fall into the
world of dreams during the long flight to
Europe.
Remarkably, Ryan NYP construction
didn’t include a radio, which at the time
was not a very reliable device. This was
the reason Lindberg decided to reduce
the plane’s weight and didn’t include a
radio in the final design.
The design was finished, and the con-
struction was on. The only thing left was
naming the plane. In honour of and ex-
pressing gratitude for the financial sup-
port to the businessmen from Saint Lou-
is, the plane that was to undertake the
revolutionary aviation step was named
“The Spirit of Saint Louis”.
50
SPECIFICATION Ryan Airlines into abyss. Namely, two
Frenchmen, Charles Nungeser and Fran-
Crew 1 çois Coli, whose track was lost started
Length 8.4 m on a flight from Paris to New York.
On 12 May Lindberg arrived in Paris in
Wings’ span 14 m
his “The Spirit of Saint Louis”, and due
Height 3m to the bad weather had to wait patiently
Wings’ size 29.7 m2 for a couple of days before he started
his journey.
Weight (empty) 975 kg
Weight (loaded) 1.310 kg “WHAT DO YOU THINK –
LET’S TRY”
Maximum weight 2.330 kg
PERFORMANCE The weather was not in favour of Lind-
Maximum speed 220km/h berg a few days after he arrived in New
York. On the 19 May before watching the
Speed 160-175 km/h play “Rio Rita” Lindberg and a couple of
Range 6.600 km his friends called the Weather Forecast
bureau, they got good news. Finally, it
was time to conduct the historical flight.
THE FIRST FLIGHT After a few hours work on the plane,
AND THE JOURNEY TO NEW YORK Lindberg returned to his hotel and was
met by a crowd of reporters who want-
The big effort of Ryan Airlines engineers ed to interview him. It was more than
was worth it – the 60 day deadline was obvious to him that he couldn’t rest.
met and on 28 April 1927 Ryan Airlines On 2:30 am on 20 May Lindberg was
conducted its first completely success- on the Curtis Field, where the plane
ful flight. The following few days were was. When it stopped raining at 4:15 am
spent in testing the new plane’s perfor- Lindberg asked that the “The Saint Louis
mances, as well as in the adjustment Spirit” be taken to Roosevelt Field so
of fuel consumption. The probe flights that he could take off on his long jour-
showed that the plane didn’t lose power ney to Paris.
though fully filled with fuel to the satis- Everything was ready. An army of peo-
faction of Hall and Lindberg. ple were filling the tanks with fuel using
The information Lindberg got on 10 May buckets and 1.700 liters were already
could push his and the entire work of filled (100 liters more than planned). The
wet weather which decreased the en-
gine power and untested weigh gave
Lindberg a lot of headache.
At 7:51 am Lindberg fastened his seat
belt put on his helmet and his goggles.
The journey to Paris started in a minute.
Although he had problems because of
the weigh, after touching the ground for
a couple of times “The Spirit” took off.
At 7:54 am Lindberg started his glorious
journey.
33H 30MIN 29.8 SEC
AND AFTER THAT
Despite the absence of a front window,
the thick fog and ice, after flying for 33
hours, Lindberg landed his “Spirit” on the
“Le Bourget” runway in Paris, France,
where he was welcomed by 150.000
people. The pilot who won the Ortega
award became a celebrity. He said: “I
was amazed by the effect my landing in
Paris had over the whole world. A fire
was set with my small match”. On his
way to the USA, Lindberg flew his plane
to Belgium and after that to England,
where he got the USS Memphis cruiser
to take him to USA. Lindberg, the hero,
arrived in Washington DC on 11 June, es-
corted by a fleet of military ships, bomb-
ers and fighters.
The great Charles Lindberg contributed
a lot to humanity. He started the era
of connecting the west which was the
reason he was awarded “The Cross for
Outstanding Accomplishment in Flying”.
Ivan Petrushevski

COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS - VII
n the last issue we explained the for-
mation, withdrawal and “seizing” ini-
tiative, so in this issue of “Shtit” we
will interpret the rest of the phases
that should be taken into account
when organizing or planning a campaign
for counterinsurgency operations. These
phases, as we mentioned in the last issue,
are: dominance (derived from: dominate),
stabilization (comes from: stabilize), and
support and training civilian authorities
(comes from: enable civilian authority).
Counterinsurgency operations and
dominance: During this phase, the activi-
ties of troops who conduct the counter-
insurgency operations are the most ex-
plicit. But it must not be understood that
operations should prevail predominantly
with dimensions of armed conflict. Given
that this is a specific way of warfare (com-
bat with ideas or for ideas), it becomes
clear that the access to building a strat-
egy will determine the operations which
will be performed. If counterinsurgency
operations are designed according to the
strategy that will have direct access, in
this case they will dominate the offensive
operations (so-called direct actions, ac-
tions such as movement to contact and
contact, etc.), where they in some cases
will have operation dimensions of armed
conflict. However, if the approach at this
stage is indirect, in that case dominance
is based on different parameters. This
should not be understood that in the first
case (direct access) there will be no tasks
for support or tasks that are more spe-
cific for the indirect approach. The same
goes for the latter case; thus, in certain
MODERN
PERSPECTIVES
IN PLANNING
COIn
situations direct actions will be included
as well.
Given that we already said that the
modern approach to tackling the global
threat imposes the need for an indirect
approach to solving set challenges, in the
section that follows we will in detail focus
on the specifics to be considered during
this phase - dominance in the counterin-
surgency operations planning.
Although for many classical operatives
this may seem ridiculous and not related
to military operations, facts point out to
different conclusions. In particular, the lat-
est guidelines issued by the current com-
mander of forces in Afghanistan, General
Stanley McCrystal (ISAF and Enduring
Freedom), are precisely in this direction.
Thus, the isolation between the popula-
tion and the rebels will not be done with
aggressive operations, something that is
characteristic and typical for the classical
conventional combat operations. Other
operations will dominate instead, in which
the main objective will be isolation of the
rebels from the population through un-
conventional approach, or what almost all
military books about military operations
call them as additional activities. These
operations should serve as a basis to win
the respect by the population.
Next point of disagreement in this con-
text may arise during the installation of
these frames. We refer to the application
of so-called “soft operations” (“soft” infil-
tration, “soft” approach during the control
points, “soft” approach during the search,
etc.), which mark the indirect approach.
There are viewpoints that do not oppose
Photo: Ronald W. Stauffer
to the need for this approach but it is be-
lieved that at this stage it is still early to
start the execution of such tasks. Their
arguments (those who advocate posi-
tions that at this stage should not be ap-
proached by indirect and unconventional
methods) are based on the assertion
that these procedures should be applied
in the next phase of stabilization, not at
this phase when more aggressive dealing
with insurgents is needed.
Although it seems logical, what is prob-
lematic in this context is that these atti-
tudes do not take into account the possi-
bility of building legitimacy. As a segment,
legitimacy may carry the total weight
during the counterinsurgency operations,
especially when they are carried out
against rebels who have the same basis
(national, ethnic, etc.) with the population
that should be won and gained (for more
details further in the text).
Counter arguments that this article repre-
sents have the view that during the sta-
bilization there next, more advanced step
with foundations set in advance for the
operation legitimacy should be initiated.
The best proof for this error is the same
one that the U.S. and coalition partners
have made in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Thus, for example, if instead of the ap-
proach that was advocated and applied
this viewpoint had been used (applying a
more indirect approach even during this
phase), then in that case there would not
have been such resistance to the coali-
tion forces. Namely, according to some
opinions, the initiative loss is due to the
application of direct actions (part of the
51

direct approach), which reported
many adverse casualties that ir-
ritated the people which at that
time was neutral. Thus, the for-
mula that was shown by McCrys-
tal HQ for mobilization (2 rebels
killed multiplied by 10 new recruits)
would have been avoided if at this
stage this approach was applied
(unconventional and indirect ap-
proach). The reason for the focus
to these debates in this dimension
and in this part of the debate over
counterinsurgency operations is
because the way of planning will
later depend on how operations
are performed.
This approach will create a basis
which will facilitate the work of
the military leaders on how to suc-
ceed properly in understanding the
real needs of the population on
the field. These needs will be es-
pecially important during the next
phase - stabilization. It certainly
destroys the counter arguments
of the stands that are contrary to
this approach and related to the
fact that if we accept this as true,
there would be no need for the
next phase. According to these
views, it undermines the whole
concept of planning according to
the system theory.
Despite this, I think that if this ap-
proach is applied, conditions will
be created from this point onward,
while taking the initiative and while
establishing dominance, to under-
52
stand the population and to under-
stand the real needs. Therefore, all
initiatives, which means building
schools, bridges, roads, or in one
word, investing funds to improve
the conditions and gain confidence
during the period of stabilization,
will be according to the needs of
the population. For example, be-
fore giving modern means of mon-
itoring and receiving/transmitting
the information to the population,
someone needs to show how and
in which way those assets should
be used, then to serve as a means
through which information will be
transmitted. The problem of un-
derstanding and transferring infor-
mation through electronic media is
mainly conditioned by the level of
education. If the population does
not know how to read, or is not
educated, the information cannot
be transmitted. Another problem
is the cultural values. Although the
western civilization has managed
to impose cultural imperialism in
other parts of the world, like us,
and electronic media have become
an important factor for the forma-
tion of attitudes among the popu-
lation in every respect, this does
not mean that the level of culture
which Afghans have will be toler-
ant of such an approach. All this,
if applied aggressively, regardless
how kind-heartedly it is, represents
a risk which could create additional
problems in terms of loss of legiti-
macy, i.e. the acquisition of legiti-
macy. This will be discussed during
the next phase - stabilization.
It is difficult to determine in a unidi-
rectional way which actions should
be undertaken in these opera-
tions. Frequently in such situations
(when the goal is the domination
over the insurgents) operations
are undertaken with an abundance
of activities through which they
could win the hearts and minds of
the population. In this context, dur-
ing the operation in Manila, for ex-
ample, General Templer, one of the
best strategists in fighting against
insurgents, said: “Victory in Manila
1. Close air will not be gained if we accumu-
support late troops in Manila only, but by
finding the proper steps that will
win the hearts and minds of the
2. gaining population.” This Templer’s idea is
confidence widely benefited, but it does not
in the domes- have the same meaning for every-
tic people is one out of a simple reason that
the key for these procedures are associated
a successful not only with natural elements
counterin- (such as hearts of the popula-
surgency tion), but also the cognitive parts
operation of their minds. This is an additional
problem that imposes a series of
3. the com- additional conditions to be fulfilled
mander of in order to achieve the desired
goal. We will mention the most
ISAF in Af- important among them: the level
ghanistan of education of staff that plans,
– General organizes and performs counter-
Stanley A. insurgency operations, the legiti-
McChrystal
macy of the forces that perform
counterinsurgency operations, and
perhaps the hardest part - the har-
4. the exces- monization of political objectives
sive use of with the expectations of the popu-
force can be lation.
counterpro- Level of staff education is of par-
ductive ticular importance in terms of ac-
quiring adequate capacity of key
5. from the personnel (and to some extent,
training of to the rest of the participants on
the Afghan the terrain) that will allow proper
security access to the cultural perspectives
forces of the population. The understand-
ing of these perspectives must not
be seen separately, but in the con-
text of political tradition, in the context
of the interests and objectives which the
population has, as well as in the context
of history. All this has a strong impact on
the way counterinsurgency operations
are planned, organized and performed
when the idea on which these operations
are built is an indirect and unconventional
approach.
Legitimacy of forces is perhaps the most
complex segment that should be provid-
ed in the counterinsurgency operations.
Provision of legitimacy is often associ-
ated and dependent on perceptions of
the population that exists on the terrain
where counterinsurgency operations are
performed. Moreover, legitimacy can be
perceived as the legitimacy of local au-
thorities and the legitimacy of the armed
forces to appoint these authorities.
Legitimacy of the Armed Forces who
perform counterinsurgency operations at
this stage is being built through indirect
access. Namely, the art of the leaders
and participants on the terrain to man-
age to dominate the insurgents by em-
phasizing indirect operations (unconven-
tional, though as we mentioned it does
not mean that direct operations will be
forgotten), is the key to success later in
the next phase which will be of particular
importance.
Elements that build the legitimacy of lo-
cal authorities at this phase may come
to expression only if the forces that carry
out combat actions and are supported
by local authorities succeed in presenting
themselves as legitimate. Indirect access
through the respect of the people and
their real needs, without any gross errors
(civilian casualties, for example) is certain-
ly the key to ensure legitimacy.
The next element that is necessary for
successful implementation of the coun-
terinsurgency operations in the phase of
domination through indirect (unconven-
tional) approach is compliance with na-
tional interests. Consequently, if at this
very phase is acted indirectly, that will cre-
ate conditions for a real assessment of
how and in what way national policy can
adapt to the armed forces, i.e. the coali-
tion forces with the interests of the pop-
ulation. In this context, it is the best to
indicate the courage of McCrystal. What
does it mean?
McCrystal had the courage to oppose
Obama and to inform him that the de-
mocracy in Afghanistan is simply not pos-
sible under the concept promoted by the
“western world”. Although it is nowhere
officially reported, it remains true to the
fact that after his address in London, Mc-
Crystal and Obama had an “unpleasant
flight” in the US Airforce1 from Ramstein
to Washington. As the Pentagon report-
ed, during the flight the President and the
General were reconciling their attitudes.
After this “smoothing” as the Pentagon
called it before the penultimate summit
in London, Obama announced that the
strategy for withdrawing from Afghani-
stan will be implemented by 2011, but in
phases and according to estimates by the
commanders on the terrain. However, if
this is compared to what was announced
about the withdrawal, for few it would
have the same meaning with the original
speech and the Obama’s idea on with-
drawal from Afghanistan.
The next phase which should be taken
into account when planning the counter-
insurgency operations is stabilization.
Counterinsurgency operations and
stabilization: This phase is the phase
in which all those who agree that the in-
direct approach is needed and it is clear
that it is to be formed on the principles of
unconventional warfare and through op-
erations whose aim is to stabilize the ter-
rain from counterinsurgency operations.
This phase aims to prepare the condi-
tions for transition and transfer of full
governance in the hands of the people.
However, what is important is whether
the government will be supported by
coalition forces, or the armed forces
that perform counterinsurgency opera-
tions will have the necessary legitimacy.
Without such legitimacy, the transition
will be considered a failure. Therefore,
based on what we agreed since the
previous phase that the foundations
should be laid on the indirect approach,
what is important for this phase is the
experience gained over the perceptions,
perspectives and expectations of the
population to be adequately addressed
by the armed forces. This is the only way
to continue the set goals and to create
conditions for transfer of authority. What
is difficult and appears to be a problem
for the leaders and other participants is
that they are often trapped in their own
“stereotyped framework”.
This framework refers to measuring
the effects of stabilization. For ex-
ample, it is very erroneous if the ef-
fects of stabilization and preparation
for transition are measured based on
the built schools or hospitals. It is a
fact that this is a necessity, but not
if this doesn’t correspond to the real
situation on the field. For example, if
people have lost their children in those
schools, as it is the case with Afghans,
everyone will refuse to send their chil-
dren to school. The same goes for hos-
pitals. Therefore, by understanding the
real relationships on the field, as an
alternative to this, for example, would
be building a common mechanism for
protection of the population. In this
mechanism, the population must hold
the key place. Thus, the population will
become an important part of effective
protection from the Taliban.
Only through this approach the confi-
dence “conceived” in the previous phase
will be built, and will lay the foundation
for the next phase, namely the transfer
of power in the hands of the people or
the representatives chosen by it in par-
ticular. These representatives will have
the legitimacy and all decisions will be
respected by the population. Only in this
way the trap of setting the central gov-
ernment before the local will be avoided
for the population that instead of a
deductive approach has a culture that
rather operates in an inductive approach.
What actually does this mean?
This means that local leaders are those
who the population trusts rather than
the central government. Hence, the key
player in building the legitimacy of power
is not the central government that is not
legitimate and it is corrupted in the eyes
of Afghan people, but the local leaders
who the population believes in. If this is
observed at this phase as coalition forc-
es did, it will remain an error and instead
the entire process to be completed ear-
lier, it will require additional time to cor-
rect inconsistencies.
The last phase is the phase of support
and training the civilian authorities.
Counterinsurgency operations and sup-
port and training civilian authorities: This
is the last phase of the overall enter-
prise that should be taken into account
when planning the counterinsurgency
operations. At this phase, as the name
itself says, the handover of power is
performed. Of course, this phase and
its outcome largely depend on previous
ones. In any case, legitimacy of the ci-
vilian authorities comes to term at this
stage. In this respect, six indicators are
determined.
Taking over security means: ability of the
government to secure the population un-
aided, selection of leaders in accordance
with the will of the major population, a
high level of participation of the popu-
lation in supporting political processes,
culturally acceptable level of corruption,
culturally acceptable level of social, eco-
nomic and diplomatic development, and
high level of acceptance of the regime,
i.e. establishment of the population.
In the next issue, we will focus on the
part of counterinsurgency operation per-
formance.
Metodi Hadzi Janev
53
 LONG LIVE THE KING, LONG

LONG LIVE
RTS with turn–based elements

Now is time for changes. I have decided to replace the guns and the rifles with
sticks, bows and arrows. The missile launchers have become the axes and the
tanks transformed into catapults. My favorite weapon-the nuclear bomb is
now represented by an army of ten thousand that destroys everything that
crosses its path. And after a long time I have finally changed the World in Con-
flict screen saver on my computer which depicts the modern conflict in the
world today. Now my computer is working with only one aim- revival of the
medieval dark ages. And I must admit that it successfully occupies my atten-
tion. The aim is achieved. I am taken into another world- far from reality.

54
LIVE MEDIEVAL II: TOTAL WAR

THE KING!

55
 THE GLORY OF THE PAST
What does the fourth game of the To-
tal War series offer us? It simply offers
us the world of brave knights, archers
and cannons. It is the time when prin-
cesses through arranged marriages
made firm alliance. It is the time of the
greatest European monarchies. At the
beginning of the campaign from 21 pos-
sible monarchies (17 are available) only
5 are given - the Kingdoms of England,
France, Spain the Holy Roman Empire
and the Republic of Venice. The game
progresses through several centuries
of history, spanning the years 1080-
1530 — the most turbulent period in
European history when high diploma-
cy and merciless destruction where a
way of living. Basically every aspect
of medieval life is covered. If you’re a
Catholic nation you can even get in- Complicated? You just have to concen- my or allow you to build the latest in
volved in some popery by getting your trate on your main task: creating and 15th-century military technology. For
man elected pope. Having the pope on raising a powerful army and issuing example, building paved roadways
your side can be a very powerful thing, movement orders as well as, develop- not only increases trade in a province,
because he’ll be much more willing ing the economy of your empire. but it also helps speed along troop
to overlook some of your aggressive movement; improving farmland, fur-
transgressions against your Christian DUALITY thermore, can help generate more
neighbors. On the other hand, if the food, and thus more gold which will
pope is close to your enemies, the Since it’s a Total War game, Medieval be scarce especially at the beginning
best you can hope for is to get excom- II has two layers. The “big picture” is of the gameplay.
municated, and the worst is that you covered in the turn-based strategic Campaigns will last even longer if you
find yourself the target of a crusade. layer, where you can examine a map of choose to fight out each battle in real
The papal election basically works like Europe and manage your empire and time when you can use your strategy
this: You enlist priests to help maintain real time. From here, you have com- most effectively (there is an option
the faith in your provinces. The more mand of all your settlements (towns to let the computer instantly gener-
effective a priest, the more likely he’ll and castles) as well as your armies, ate the result). I would most certainly
be promoted by the church to become navies, and agents. Each turn lasts recommend this way of playing not
a bishop, then a cardinal and with a bit six months. You can also construct because of the computer generated
of luck a pope. improvements to enhance the econo- results but because there are plenty

56
of jaw-dropping moments in
Medieval II combats and the
awesome spectacle of the co-
lossal armies is glorious.
Control over all these units is
a bit nightmarish, but battles
tend to have that effect on
command and control, as all
plans fall apart once contact
with the enemy is made. You
are rewarded for using tac-
tics correctly, like not sending
knights into the teeth of pikes
and maneuvering them to hit
the enemy from the flank or the
rear. Or you keep your archers
safely protected to the rear,
where they can inflict the most
damage on your enemy.
PRINCESSES AND
VAGABONTS
The list of characters in Medi-
eval II is long and diverse. Each
character has attributes that
determine their prowess. The
generals are members of the
Royal Family of the chosen
faction. A character’s actions
can affect his attributes - for
example, a general who rou-
tinely kills prisoners of war and
exterminates captured settle-
ments may see his “dread” in-
crease, making him frightening
to foes; a general who prefers
to release prisoners and oc-
cupy settlements may instead
increase his “chivalry”, which
makes his own troops much
braver. Characters can also
regress and for example turn
to alcoholism or even develop
paranoia. Some traits, mostly
positive, are brought out by
victories in battle: for example,
generals can become increas-
ingly scarred as time goes on,
and generals who successfully
complete a Crusade gain chival-
ry, command, and piety points.
Others accumulate while gov-
erning a city: poorly managed
backwaters tend to bring out
the worst in generals, whereas
advanced; central cities improve
a general’s traits. Owners of
strong traits earn epithets, such
as “the Brave,” “the Just,” “the
Lewd” or “the Corrupt.”
Captains are leaders of armies
that do not have a family mem-
ber controlling them. If a cap-
tain is killed or assassinated in
battle troop morale decreases
and a new captain will instantly
appear and take command of
the army in question. If a cap-
tain is victorious in a particularly
one sided battle or has shown
excellent leadership, he may
become ‘Man of the Hour’, and
comes with an option to adopt
him into the Royal Family. If ad-
opted, he turns into a general
and may gain attributes and
retinue
In Medieval II each faction has
a number of agents it may use
to maintain order and influence
other factions. These include:
princesses, diplomats, mer-
chants, assassins and spies.
Each agent has attributes that
develop the more he is able
to successfully be used. Prin-
cesses, for example, have a
“Charm” attribute that governs
their success in diplomacy and
the likelihood that a proposal in
marriage will be accepted. Spies
with each completed task gain
more experience. Diplomacy is
performed by diplomats mainly
involving negotiating treaties
such as cease fires, alliances
and marriages. Inquisitors are
controlled by The Papal States
and are sent to the player’s
lands if you have fallen out of
favour with the Pope. To get
rid of Inquisitors, you can gain
favour with the Pope by build-
ing churches and converting the
population
THE NEW WORLD
The success of Mediaeval II was
evident since it was released
in 2006, so Sega released its
expansion in 2007 Medieval
II: Total War: Kingdoms. It has
four new campaigns, focusing
on the discovery of the New
World. The Americas campaign
is set in the early sixteenth cen-
tury, when war rages across
Central America and the far-
away European powers have
begun to take an interest in
the New World. Three distinct
groups-Mesoamericans, North
Americans, and Europeans are
colliding, each with separate
interests. The most important
campaign is the Spanish territo-
rial conquests and the battles
with the Aztecs who rule a vast
territory but do not have a su-
perior army as the Spanish. On
the margins we also have the
Apachean and the Chichimec
tribes who quickly have to find
a way to resist the waves of
the Europeans coming from the
east. At the beginning of the
Britannia campaign in 1258, the
British Isles are in chaos. The
Kingdom of England exercises
influence over most of the Isles,
but its power is contested by
the united and rebellious Irish
led by their chieftain Brian O`
Neill and the Welsh united by
the Prince Llewellyn ap Gruff-
ydd. In the north, the English
have a very weak alliance with
the fierce Scots but they also
have to stop the warlike Nor-
wegians who are determined
to conquer Britannia. Perhaps
worst of all, dissent smolders
within its own borders, in the
form of the English barons,
who threaten to unify into a
full-fledged rebellion. In the ex-
tension the player can also take
part in the Crusades Campaign
(the Third and Fourth Crusade)
as one of the less known fac-
tions: the Kingdom of Jerusa-
lem, the Seljuk Empire, the Byz-
antine Empire and others. We
also have to mention the fourth
campaign - the Teutonic cam-
paign. Starting from the date
1250 it focuses on the conflict
between Christianity and the
Teutonic Order, represented by
the Eastern European pagans
led by Lithuania.
ANY FINAL WORDS?
The concept of the game is re-
ally amazing. Some of the most
noticeable elements are the
beautiful graphics and amazing
battles packed with cinematic
moments, complemented with
the epic, engrossing gameplay
that lets you feel as though
you’re managing a medieval
kingdom which makes it both
more interesting and challeng-
ing. On the other hand, the
gameplay has some draw-
backs. You will need a fairly
powerful system in order to en-
joy it, since it requires a 1.8 GHz
processor, 512 MB RAM and
128MB Graphic card. But it is a
small price to pay, isn`t it?
So, treat yourself and get the
Medieval II: Total War and
equipped with a shield prepare
for new victories!
Ivan Petrushevski
57
 Title of the original:
Rudolph W. Giuliani
With Ken Kursor
LEADERSHIP
Print: Akademski pecat – Skopje, 2009
he book “LEADERSHIP” by Rudolph
Giuliani is also part of the program of
the Government of the Republic of
Macedonia for translating 500 pro-
fessional books, science books and
text books studied at the top, the best
and the most reputable universities in the
USA and EU member countries.
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani is an
American politician, former mayor of New
York with two mandates, a famous lawyer
and a businessman. He experienced his
greatest political fame during and after the
terrorist attack of New York, on Septem-
ber 11, 2001, unselfishly engaging himself in
removing the horrible consequences from
the air raid. In that period he was called the
mayor of America and he was named man
of the year for 2001 by the prestigious
magazine “Time”.
LEADERSHIP is a wonderful book writ-
ten by Rudolph Giuliani and Ken Kurson
as a co-author while he was working as a
mayor of New York, when he energetically
started an arduous and high-risk venture
for decreasing the crime and revitalizing
the city economy. Great part of the book
was written before the 9/11 attacks. This
book was republished in 2007 during his
presidential campaign with the introduc-
tion of new content, including the differ-
ent actual problems which the USA was
facing. One of the key messages that Ru-
dolph Giuliani always stresses is “get pre-
pared mercilessly”.
The simplest definition of leadership
against populism is the one given by Ru-
dolph Giuliani: “Leadership means first
to understand what is right and then
to explain that to people. Despite that
it is necessary for the people to inform
you what they think it is right and af-
terwards tell them what they want to
hear”. “Leadership doesn’t happen by
itself. It can be taught, learned and
developed. There are many ways to
be a leader. Some people for example,
Franklin Roosevelt, inspire with aiming
speeches. Others, like Jo DiMaggio led
by giving examples, Winston Churchill
and Douglas Macarthur were outstand-
ingly good orators. Ronald Reagan led
through his own powerful and stable
character-people followed him because
they believed in him. Eventually you will
know which techniques and approaches
work the best- the ones that you hope
to lead somehow will get you on the
right track. Great deal of your capability
to make people do what they are sup-
posed to do depends on what kind of
58
picture they receive when they see you
and hear you. They should see a person
who is stronger, but at the same time
more humane than themselves”.
“Many signs of American humanity origi-
nated from the horror of the 9/11 attacks.
One of them was the newly discovered
respect toward the police and the fire-
fighters who risked their lives every single
day. They did not distinguish whether the
people in those buildings were black or
white, young or elderly, Muslims, Chris-
tians or Jews. Simply they entered and
participated in the biggest rescue mission
in the history of America”.
The book is divided into three major parts
with sixteen subparts in total out of which
fourteen are in chapter 2. The first and the
last –the sixteenth part, are completely
dedicated to events before and after 9/11.
In the most important part of the sec-
ond part of the book, Giuliani narrates his
own story how he came to a situation
to become a leader and a manager and
to handle the challenges imposed by the
function he was performing-Mayor of New
York, giving us examples, setting principles
which he personally followed as a lead to
success. Thus, in the second part titled
“Everything has its schedule”, he elabo-
rates on the principles how you should cre-
ate an atmosphere, to start with modesty
but successfully and how to use the small
things to their maximum”.
In the third part entitled “Get prepared
mercilessly”, the author points out the val-
ue of the preparation as key to success in
every field. He writes about the technique
which he used very often-visualizing the
things in his own head and the importance
of the necessity to prepare others.
In the fourth part entitled “Everybody is
responsible at all times”, he gives us his
personal experiences in managing the de-
crease of the crime rate in the city and the
management system with responsibility
at complete efficiency, rounding up with
the message “do what is possible, try
with what is impossible!”
Part 5 teaches us to be surrounded by
great personalities, to analyze the advan-
tages and disadvantages (including the
personal), how to learn from great teams,
how to motivate and how to summarize.
Making the right choice is the most im-
portant part of leadership. Every other
element-from developing and exchang-
ing ideas, to being surrounded with great
personalities is based on making good
decisions. Therefore “Think, then make
a decision”- continues Giuliani in part 6,
describing one of his toughest decisions
when he was suffering from the most dif-
ficult disease-prostate cancer, which he
overcame and then continued with very
important advice how to be ready to pull
the trigger when the time is short, how
to use the creative tension and especially
how to listen to people.
“Promise less, achieve more, promise
only when you are positive and don’t
transform victory to defeat”, are the sub
titles in part 7.
Great leaders lead according to the ideas.
Ideology is the most important when you
lead some huge organization. People who
are working for you, the ones that address
you for a response, media, even your rivals,
have the right to know how you see the
world. He is talking about these things in
part 8 where the author emphasizes how
to develop and share firm beliefs, how to
reexamine them and discuss them, to be
direct and resistant to influences, to use
the correct terminology and to stick to our
words..
“Be your own person, give an example,
defy the expectations, don’t let the critics
define your agenda”, are the sub titles in
part 9 that are about the content of this
part in a more detailed way.
Part 10 is about loyalty as a necessary vir-
tuosity with a message to defend all those
who are attacked and not to let the oth-
ers abuse you because you are not paid
for that.
We already indicated to the principle “Wed-
dings as you wish, funerals obligatory”,
which is a title of part 11 whereas part 12
is titled “Oppose the bullies”, of any kind.
“Study. Read. Learn individually”, is the title
of part 13, and part 14 is dedicated to the
fact how to organize yourself about some
intention.
Part 15 is entitled “Bribe only those who
will stay bribed”.
We recommend this book as an unusual
one and as a valuable experience and con-
firmed lesson. Not only because it contains
original views, perceptions, estimates and
chronology of events during his mandate,
especially during and after the terrorist at-
tack on September 11, 2001.
The book is a testimony and at the same
time a handbook, a good lesson on how
to react and what to do in order to lead
successfully in regular, but also in the hard-
est conditions as well in one of the biggest
cities in the world and the financial center
in the USA-New York.
MA Juliana Stojanova
 STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
MACEDONIAN ROOM
MACEDONIA’S
I am really grateful for the information AMBASSADORS
regarding the Macedonian room in the
„Jane Sandanski “ barracks in Shtip. At the I have to say that I really liked that in this
same time I would like to ask you if there month’s issue you presented a different
are any other „Macedonian rooms“ in the kind of peacekeeper – a woman that
other barracks in Macedonia? took care of soldiers’ health during
their mission in Bosnia. I am eager to
Blagica Sterjoska read about the experience of our other
soldiers – keepers of the peace and
security in the world.

Mladen Isailovic

answer: answer:

Dear Blagica, we hope that you were very Dear Mladen,

surprised when you opened page 44. The whole purpose of keeping a
peacekeeper’s journal is to uncover some
Regards, editorial „Shtit“ part of our soldiers’ experience from the
missions in Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan
and ,fortunately in this issue, Lebanon.

OLYMPIANS, WELL DONE

Hi,
I am truly amazed by our Olympians’
results. They are our pride! Furthermore,
I would like to point out that I am happy
with the fact that your magazine honored
their results by putting them on the cover
page.
Darko Eftimovski
Dear readers,
In our new magazine, we are implement-
ing a new kind of direct contact with
you - our respected audience. Taking in
consideration that we value your opinion
the most, we decided to dedicate this
page to you. Please send us your propos-
als, opinions and criticism to our e-mail:
stit@morm.gov.mk

answer:

Darko, the skills and effort our professionals

showed, earned them the right to be on the
cover of this month’s issue.

Respectfully, editorial „Shtit“