Interview with Brigadier General Milan Mojsilovic

In order to become an active and reliable partner in the international system we have to possess certain capabilities. They cannot just appear of their own free will, but must rather grow and be built. It is a long process, and one of the mean to reach this goal is the upcoming exercise Medceur 2009. It represents an ideal opportunity to present our capacities and preparedness to other armies, since a large people of the representatives of NATO and PfP member states will take part in the exercise. When it comes to our military medical service, it can send a message via this exercise that we have military medical capacities we can be proud of, as Brig Gen Milan Mojsilovic, DEPUTY JOC Commander has stated in his interview to ODBRANA magazine.

He has been at the post of the Deputy Commander of the Joint Operations Command for two years now.

His military specialty is gunman on tank, and he has had experience outside the unit, as a teacher in the training center for armored units. Furthermore, he is fluent in Russian and English, which bespeaks of the fact that we have a modern officer before us. We talked about the functioning of JOC, the Peace Operations Center and the upcoming MEDCEUR 2009 military-medical exercise, which has turned out to be MoD and SAF’s  key activity.

MEDCEUR 2009 military medical exercise which is to be held from 31 August to 14 September is one of the key tasks of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces. .  Is everything going as planned and which states will take part in the exercise?

The Republic of Serbia, that is, the Ministry of Defense has accepted to host the exercise and EUCOM is the main bearer of the exercise, as each year this exercise is conducted in some of the PfP partner states. This ninth consecutive exercise is being hosted in our country, while the tenth will be held in Montenegro. The specification of the exercise started last year when we defined the main topics and started preparations in cooperation with EUCOM, with the participation of PfP partner states.

A team for planning the military medical exercise was made up of by SAF and MoD reps, as well as of the Ministry of the Interior and of other ministries outside the defense system. I was personally in charge of running preparations based on the decision of the Ministry of Defense and of other superior officers.

The planning process ran its course, as we started with an initial planning conference, followed by the main and final planning conference. In this period we realized several workshops in Serbia and one in Germany, and we abided by the exercise guidelines or the BiSC 75-3 documents.

And here we are, just before the start of the exercise, with final preparations under way which include technical elements. The Serbian part of the exercise command staff has already arrived in Nis and is accommodated in the exercise room.

Can you, please, tell us something more about the details of the exercise? How many locations will the exercise be conducted at?

The planned concept involves the third mission of SAF, that of providing civil support in disasters and catastrophes. The scenario envisions an earthquake, flood-ridden region, chemical accidents, fires with a large number of casualties and injured, and extensive material damage. The disaster and chemical incident-stricken region if that of Nis. The response of the governmental agencies and NGOs is also necessary, with the support of the military and of the international component, as a means of providing support to solving crisis in this region.

Red Cross is one of the most prominent humanitarian organizations with its IDP camp and for refugees from crisis zones. This camp will have all the features of the camp in real crisis.

Will we be able to see something of the equipment we have not yet had the opportunity to see?

Most certainly, since the plan is to see An-26 Ukranian made plane for surgery and resuscitation. Furthermore, we have planned to deploy C-130 plane for the transport of personnel and equipment of US Forces to Car Konstantin airfield. In joint work both EUCOM and SAF forces will make all necessary preparations by performing training in the parachutist center in Nis.

SAF helicopter HT-40 will be equipped with basic medical equipment for the exercise and will be used as SAR air crafts. Army special brigade members are planned to be deployed in activities of search and rescue under rubble, as well as the use of watchdogs.

We have also planned to demonstrate certain details not which are not direct part of the exercise, such as the functioning of the Vet Department and the center for pandemic diseases with veterinarian elements. A large scope of equipment for airlift will be presented in the exercise.

What kind of logistics and financial support are we talking about?

There will be two types of support-the logistics support within the scenario which wil be engaged in accordance with the tasks received as support to crisis response and the real logistics support to the command structure.

As for finances, EUCOM has taken the upon itself to fund these activities, where they have paid 80 % of al costs. They have alos contracted services to be performed by the Town of Nisw, which means funding fuel, accommodation and food expenditures for the participants. The participants will be accommodated in
Knjaz Mihailo barracks, as this facility has bee prepared with certain infrastructural works done on it. I believe that we are ready to start with the exercise.

What are your expectations from MEDCEUR 2009?

Given the fact that Serbia has been accepted into the Partnership for Peace Program nad that SAF has not yet had the opportunity to participate in such large-scale exercise, I believe that we can benefit from the information we gathered during the preparations process.

In order to become an active and reliable partner in the international system we have to possess certain capabilities. They cannot just appear of their own free will, but must rather grow and be built. It is a long process, and one of the mean to reach this goal is the upcoming exercise Medceur 2009. It represents an ideal opportunity to present our capacities and preparedness to other armies, since a large people of the representatives of NATO and PfP member states will take part in the exercise. When it comes to our military medical service, it can send a message via this exercise that we have military medical capacities we can be proud of.

On the other hand, this will be our chance to test certain functions in our state as they would be deployed on solving a crisis. Natural disasters are not uncommon, and therefore we have to be prepared.

In a nutshell, this proves to be our chance to reassure the public of our capacities and to prove to be a reliable and active partner in the international surroundings.