63rd Paratroop Battalion
Encyclopedia
The 63rd Parachute
Battalion
( tr.
63. Padobranski bataljon) is one of the battalions constituting the Special Brigade
of the Serbian Army. It used to be of brigade-size, but it has the status of a battalion within the restructured Serbian Army. It is intended for special, reconnaissance
and diversionary operations deep behind enemy lines.
instructors, highest-quality psycho-physical and expert coaching of the men, thorough checkups and perfect condition of parachute accessories, together with high morale of individual and units, reduce risk.
was taken at the Novi Sad
Airport on 2 September 1926. Second Lieutenant Dragutin Dolanski was dropped from an altitude of 650 meters (2100 feet). The year 1938 was particularly significant for the Yugoslav parachuting, since that was when the First International Aircraft Exhibition was staged in Belgrade
. The Exhibition at the Zemun Airport included a combined jump of 10 parachutists, including Katarina Matanović, the first and only woman parachutist in Yugoslavia prior to the 1941 war.The Yugoslav Army
had realized the significance of parachute units, and a school of parachuting was opened at Pančevo
on 1 October 1939. The School was moved to Novi Sad
in 1941, where it remained stationed until the outbreak of the war, whence a move to Niš was scheduled. The fate of the School of Parachuting in the April War has not yet been ascertained. In the Second World War, paratroop raids had a significant role in almost all major military operations. In mid-1944, the Supreme Headquarters requested help from the Allies to form a parachute unit. After the transfer of the Supreme Headquarters to the Island of Vis
, urgent orders to lower-level commands were delivered by parachuted messengers.
In September 1944, a hundred troops were taken to Bari
, Italy, for a parachuting training course. Another hundred volunteers were selected for training from among the wounded soldiers recovering in Italy. The training and drops from airplanes took place in a training centre at Gravina. The School of Parachuting was successfully completed by 191 troops and officers. After completion of the training course on 14 October 1944, the First Parachute Battalion was formed, with Lieutenant Čedomir Vranić appointed its commander. The 1st Parachute Battalion recruits also underwent diversionary training, topography and target-shooting courses, and had intensive live-ammunition shooting practice. The Allies supplied the Battalion with complete weaponry and materiel (except for parachutes). In December 1944, the Battalion was shipped to Dubrovnik. On 6 January 1945, the Battalion arrived in Belgrade
. This elite Battalion had had no combat experience during the Second World War. In mid-July 1945, the 1st Parachute Battalion was disbanded.
Apart from Italy, a number of Yugoslav paratroops were trained in the USSR during the Second World War. Upon return to the country, they were integrated into the existing parachute units. In the 1946-1950 period, a parachute training course was operative under the Air Force Command. In 1946, on the order of the Supreme Headquarters, the 46th Parachute Battalion was formed at Bela Crkva
. In 1948, the Battalion was relocated to Novi Sad. Because of the threat of potential invasion from the east, the Battalion was again relocated, this time to Mostar
, in January 1951. The Battalion remained stationed at Mostar until 1954, when it was transferred back to Novi Sad and combined with the newly-formed 63rd Parachute Brigade. In 1952, the 46th Parachute Battalion was divided into two parts. One part remained at Mostar, and the other was transferred to Šabac. Out of this part the new 63rd Parachute Battalion was formed. By Order No. 200 of the Armed Forces Supreme Command (VKOS) of 5 February 1953, the 63rd Parachute Brigade was formed at Šabac. The Brigade was relocated to Novi Sad in March 1954 thanks to more agreeable circumstances. Considerable errors have been committed in the understanding of this unit's use and combat tasks. The prevailing position was that the Yugoslav People's Army
(JNA) did not need larger parachute units, as, presumably, battlefield drops from the air had no chance of success in a nuclear war and with modern anti-aircraft defence and mass armoured vehicles in use. On the order of the JNA General Headquarters, the 63rd Parachute Brigade was dismissed in late 1959, and out of it 3 independent parachute battalions were formed: 159th Parachute Battalion in Skopje
; 127th Parachute Battalion at Batajnica
; and 148th Parachute Battalion at Cerklje
. In 1964, a Parachute Training Centre was formed by combining the 159th and 127th Parachute Battalions in Niš
. The 63rd Parachute Brigade was once more formed on 5 December 1967 by combining the Parachute Training Centre and the 148th Parachute Battalion. From 1967 on, the 63rd Parachute Brigade has been stationed in Niš
. The Parachute Brigade recruits have participated in numerous parachuting and other domestic and international sports events, where they achieved enviable results.
, the 63rd Paratroop Battalion is a unique "military school of parachuting". The "paras" are training experts on land also; they have an excellent knowledge of the mountain and its whims, of the plains, rivers and lakes, inhabited areas, communications and facilities of particular importance, in short, all the situations they may find themselves in both in peace and war. Sorties behind enemy front lines - reconnoitering and diversions - are their trademark.
, the members of the 63rd Battalion fought against the KLA
fighters in Kosovo, but also with diversionary detachments attempting raids from Albania
on the territory of Yugoslavia. The 63rd Battalion paras particularly excelled themselves in the defence of the Yugoslav-Albanian border posts
, where a major number of the unit members were killed or wounded.
The unit says its basic values are love of the fatherland and freedom, soldier's and parachutist's oaths, preservation of the honour of the arms, individual and collective courage, and unbreakable comradeship. The 63rd has been awarded many recognitions which its members and command cadre are proud of: the Order of the National Hero adorning our wartime banner, six Orders of Courage, and over a hundred other orders and medals awarded the 63rd Brigade members for participation in combat and other missions. Forty-six of its troops have given their lives while on parachuting and other missions.
The 63rd Parachute Battalion is a world-renowned and honoured unit. It also trains foreign armed forces in parachutist skills. The Battalion has been visited by many foreign delegations, which have assured themselves of the abilities and valor of the parachutists - their country's elite soldiers.
The unit distinguishes itself by a high degree of loyalty to it by its former and present members.
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
( tr.
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
63. Padobranski bataljon) is one of the battalions constituting the Special Brigade
Special Brigade
The Special Brigade is the main and the most elite special forces unit of the Serbian Land Forces. It consist from counter-terrorist, recon units, commando units, paratroopers and diving units....
of the Serbian Army. It used to be of brigade-size, but it has the status of a battalion within the restructured Serbian Army. It is intended for special, reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
and diversionary operations deep behind enemy lines.
Competences
When the competences of the 63rd Paratroop Battalion members are analyzed, the point to underscore is the safety coefficient of parachutist training, a parameter which, in spite of several tens of thousands of dives made in the last 15 years, is by far better than the comparable safety indicates for parachute units of the world's most powerful armies. This speaks for the high training standards and competence of the parachutists and a high degree of safety in training. In turn this suggests that strong work discipline, excellent abilities of officers and parachuteParachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
instructors, highest-quality psycho-physical and expert coaching of the men, thorough checkups and perfect condition of parachute accessories, together with high morale of individual and units, reduce risk.
History
The first parachute jump in YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
was taken at the Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
Airport on 2 September 1926. Second Lieutenant Dragutin Dolanski was dropped from an altitude of 650 meters (2100 feet). The year 1938 was particularly significant for the Yugoslav parachuting, since that was when the First International Aircraft Exhibition was staged in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. The Exhibition at the Zemun Airport included a combined jump of 10 parachutists, including Katarina Matanović, the first and only woman parachutist in Yugoslavia prior to the 1941 war.The Yugoslav Army
Royal Yugoslav Army
The Royal Yugoslav Army was the armed force of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from the state's formation until the force's surrender to the Axis powers on April 17, 1941...
had realized the significance of parachute units, and a school of parachuting was opened at Pančevo
Pancevo
Pančevo is a city and municipality located in the southern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina, 15 km northeast from Belgrade. In 2002, the city had a total population of 77,087, while municipality of Pančevo had 127,162 inhabitants. It is the administrative center of the South Banat...
on 1 October 1939. The School was moved to Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
in 1941, where it remained stationed until the outbreak of the war, whence a move to Niš was scheduled. The fate of the School of Parachuting in the April War has not yet been ascertained. In the Second World War, paratroop raids had a significant role in almost all major military operations. In mid-1944, the Supreme Headquarters requested help from the Allies to form a parachute unit. After the transfer of the Supreme Headquarters to the Island of Vis
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
, urgent orders to lower-level commands were delivered by parachuted messengers.
In September 1944, a hundred troops were taken to Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Italy, for a parachuting training course. Another hundred volunteers were selected for training from among the wounded soldiers recovering in Italy. The training and drops from airplanes took place in a training centre at Gravina. The School of Parachuting was successfully completed by 191 troops and officers. After completion of the training course on 14 October 1944, the First Parachute Battalion was formed, with Lieutenant Čedomir Vranić appointed its commander. The 1st Parachute Battalion recruits also underwent diversionary training, topography and target-shooting courses, and had intensive live-ammunition shooting practice. The Allies supplied the Battalion with complete weaponry and materiel (except for parachutes). In December 1944, the Battalion was shipped to Dubrovnik. On 6 January 1945, the Battalion arrived in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. This elite Battalion had had no combat experience during the Second World War. In mid-July 1945, the 1st Parachute Battalion was disbanded.
Apart from Italy, a number of Yugoslav paratroops were trained in the USSR during the Second World War. Upon return to the country, they were integrated into the existing parachute units. In the 1946-1950 period, a parachute training course was operative under the Air Force Command. In 1946, on the order of the Supreme Headquarters, the 46th Parachute Battalion was formed at Bela Crkva
Bela Crkva
Bela Crkva translates to "White Church" in the south Slavic languages in the Ekavian accent regions. As a settlement name, it can refer to:* Bela Crkva, Vojvodina, a town in Vojvodina, Serbia...
. In 1948, the Battalion was relocated to Novi Sad. Because of the threat of potential invasion from the east, the Battalion was again relocated, this time to Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...
, in January 1951. The Battalion remained stationed at Mostar until 1954, when it was transferred back to Novi Sad and combined with the newly-formed 63rd Parachute Brigade. In 1952, the 46th Parachute Battalion was divided into two parts. One part remained at Mostar, and the other was transferred to Šabac. Out of this part the new 63rd Parachute Battalion was formed. By Order No. 200 of the Armed Forces Supreme Command (VKOS) of 5 February 1953, the 63rd Parachute Brigade was formed at Šabac. The Brigade was relocated to Novi Sad in March 1954 thanks to more agreeable circumstances. Considerable errors have been committed in the understanding of this unit's use and combat tasks. The prevailing position was that the Yugoslav People's Army
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
(JNA) did not need larger parachute units, as, presumably, battlefield drops from the air had no chance of success in a nuclear war and with modern anti-aircraft defence and mass armoured vehicles in use. On the order of the JNA General Headquarters, the 63rd Parachute Brigade was dismissed in late 1959, and out of it 3 independent parachute battalions were formed: 159th Parachute Battalion in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
; 127th Parachute Battalion at Batajnica
Batajnica
Batajnica is an suburban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Zemun.-Name:...
; and 148th Parachute Battalion at Cerklje
Cerklje ob Krki
Cerklje ob Krki is a settlement on the left bank of the Krka River in the Municipality of Brežice in eastern Slovenia. It is best known for the Cerklje ob Krki Airbase to the north of the settlement. The area was traditionally part of Lower Carniola...
. In 1964, a Parachute Training Centre was formed by combining the 159th and 127th Parachute Battalions in Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
. The 63rd Parachute Brigade was once more formed on 5 December 1967 by combining the Parachute Training Centre and the 148th Parachute Battalion. From 1967 on, the 63rd Parachute Brigade has been stationed in Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
. The Parachute Brigade recruits have participated in numerous parachuting and other domestic and international sports events, where they achieved enviable results.
Training
In addition to being a highest-rank combat unit of this type in the Military of SerbiaMilitary of Serbia
The Serbian Armed Forces are the armed services of Serbia. They consist of the Serbian Army and the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence...
, the 63rd Paratroop Battalion is a unique "military school of parachuting". The "paras" are training experts on land also; they have an excellent knowledge of the mountain and its whims, of the plains, rivers and lakes, inhabited areas, communications and facilities of particular importance, in short, all the situations they may find themselves in both in peace and war. Sorties behind enemy front lines - reconnoitering and diversions - are their trademark.
Recent services
In all the crises of the postwar era, the 63rd Paratroop Battalion has always been the first deployed, with the highest degree of combat readiness. In the course of armed conflicts in the territory of the former SFR Yugoslavia, the Battalion carried out all the assignments honourably, protecting all airports it had been assigned to. During the 1999 NATO war on YugoslaviaKosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
, the members of the 63rd Battalion fought against the KLA
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
fighters in Kosovo, but also with diversionary detachments attempting raids from Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
on the territory of Yugoslavia. The 63rd Battalion paras particularly excelled themselves in the defence of the Yugoslav-Albanian border posts
Albania-Yugoslav border incident (1999)
An Albania-Yugoslav border incident took place in June 1999 when the Yugoslav Army shelled the Albanian border towns around Krumë, Tropojë. At those villages were refugees being housed after fleeing the war in Kosovo by crossing into Albania....
, where a major number of the unit members were killed or wounded.
Overview
From the forming of the Brigade until today, the paras have participated in 250 major combined tactical maneuvers, carried out with notable success. In the 1947-1990 period, 330,000 parachute dives had been taken, and from 1990 until now over 10,000 drops have been made each year. The 63rd Parachute Battalion earned the repute of one of the best units thanks to the exceptional efforts on the part of the troops and officers and high marks obtained in combined maneuvers.The unit says its basic values are love of the fatherland and freedom, soldier's and parachutist's oaths, preservation of the honour of the arms, individual and collective courage, and unbreakable comradeship. The 63rd has been awarded many recognitions which its members and command cadre are proud of: the Order of the National Hero adorning our wartime banner, six Orders of Courage, and over a hundred other orders and medals awarded the 63rd Brigade members for participation in combat and other missions. Forty-six of its troops have given their lives while on parachuting and other missions.
The 63rd Parachute Battalion is a world-renowned and honoured unit. It also trains foreign armed forces in parachutist skills. The Battalion has been visited by many foreign delegations, which have assured themselves of the abilities and valor of the parachutists - their country's elite soldiers.
The unit distinguishes itself by a high degree of loyalty to it by its former and present members.
See also
- Special BrigadeSpecial BrigadeThe Special Brigade is the main and the most elite special forces unit of the Serbian Land Forces. It consist from counter-terrorist, recon units, commando units, paratroopers and diving units....
- 72nd Reconnaissance-Commando Battalion72nd Reconnaissance-commando BattalionThe 72nd Reconnaissance-Commando Battalion is a battalion within the Special Brigade unit in the Serbian Army. In the past it was brigade-size, and included the CT "Hawks" Battalion , and was known as the 72 Special Brigade. Currently it has the status of a battalion within the restructured...
- MP Counter-terrorist BattalionCounter-terrorist Battalion of MP Serbian Special BrigadeThe Counter-terrorist Battalion nicknamed: "Sokolovi" is a battalion within the Special Brigade unit of the Serbian Army. In the near past it was brigade-size, with 72nd Reconnaissance-Commando Battalion, and together was named 72 Special Brigade. It has the status of a battalion within the...