Air Force and Air Defence Day celebrated in Zemunik

Unit members were addressed by Colonel Ivica Mandušić, who said that the 93rd Air Force Base was staff unit of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence that besides the training of military pilots conducts important humanitarian mission for community through fire-fighting, medical flights and search and rescue. The unit provides air support to the Coast Guard and other units of the Armed Forces from Zemunik Barracks, and Divulje and Udbina airfields.

In a review of activities where the Air Base has been involved in the overall tasks of the Air Force and Air Defence, Colonel Mandušić emphasized the high potential in training military pilots, where the Air Base through different training process with NATO and partner countries has been developing in the international center for training of helicopter pilots.

Talking about engagement of individual squadrons, Mandušić also presented data that this year we recorded the highest engagement of the fire-fighting crews. Air Force crews participated in extinguishing 393 fires with Canadairs captains achieving an average 230 flight hours. Two firefighting actions were emphasized as the most demanding – in Rudine where the fire posed a direct risk to households and homes and where in the fire extinguishing 6 airplanes with 30 hours spent on the fire scene were engaged, and on August 25, when the squadron was involved in extinguishing 15 fires with 10 airplanes spending 80 hours on extinguishing the fires. The squadron also provided assistance in extinguishing fires in other countries, 5 days in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 4 days in Greece.

As for the emergency medical flights, crews of the Transport helicopter squadron every day on average spent in the air more than an hour while they transported 353 patients, of which 72 foreign tourists, and transported more than 1300 soldiers and firefighters during the fire-fighting season.

Colonel Mandušić expressed special acknowledgment to aircraft maintenance technicians of all levels for outstanding efforts and support of the flight activities of the unit. “We are expected to maintain and develop the achieved level of proficiency and readiness to implement all tasks and activities through the next year as well, and I am sure that we will with a joint effort still be successful”, Colonel Mandušić concluded and congratulated all unit’s members the Day of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defense.