11th Anniversary of the Special Operations Battalion

“You are special. You are an elite part of CAF and be proud on this”, General Baric said and expressed satisfaction that he can congratulate the anniversary of the Special Operations Battalion (BSD) on behalf of the Minister of Defence and Chief of General Staff. As one of the most important feature of this unit he has highlighted a very good adaptability to every situation, which is the major challenge for every army, but also the unity, togetherness and determination of its members in the execution of all tasks. “Serving in this unit is the biggest challenge for each soldier”, general Baric said. He pointed to the necessity of continuous improvement and raising the level of training, and BSD was exactly the unit which was constantly looking for new challenges in training. BSD needs to follow the trends of special forces in equipping, training and readiness, and according to General Baric, we will continue to work on its development.

BSD Commander, Colonel Nikola Zupanic reflected on the past eleven years living and working in the unit pointing out that the special operations forces were not created overnight and by that BSD did not come to today’s results easy. In recent years the quality of life and work of BSD was raised, and we have created all necessary conditions for the implementation of their training events. In addition to their regular duties in the Croatian Armed Forces, members of BSD participate in international operations, and are active in the relief efforts. He also noted that BSD had very good international cooperation, particularly with the European Command for Special Operations of the U.S. Armed Forces and Special Operations Command of the Polish Armed Forces. “BSD is a unit of Armed Forces ready to answer the biggest challenges both domestically and internationally”, Colonel Zupanic concluded and congratulated all its former and current members especially those in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan on their unit day.

In Commemoration of the BSD anniversary, Monsignor Juraj Jezerinac served Mass at the Church of St. John the Baptist in Delnice, and tribute to the fallen members of the forces was paid by laying wreaths in front of a memorial room in the Drgomalj Barracks. “They could leave, avoid the war, but love for the homeland was stronger than anything else. Let their sacrifice be a pledge of our happy future”, said on that occasion Msgr Jezerinac, and blessed the BSD plaque that will be placed in the Church of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina.

All the present could also tour the display of weapons and equipment of BSD and an exhibition which displayed some of their training events and activities in international operations, and they could also see several demonstrational exercises of BSD members.