FSGT Bertović wins the Best Soldier Competition 2015

The victory ceremony was attended by the Chief of the General Staff (attending as envoy of the Defence Minister), General Drago Lovrić, the Minnesota National Guard Adjutant General, Major General Richard C. Nash, the Croatian Armed Forces Inspector General, Lieutenant General Mirko Šundov and numerous members of the Croatian Armed Forces.
General Drago Lovrić expressed satisfaction over the competition, organised by the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and administered by the Training and Doctrine Command “Fran Krsto Frankopan“ of the Croatian Army. “The Croatian soldiers have today demonstrated that they are capable of overcoming any obstacle and weather conditions. They have proved to possess the skills and the readiness to use them, of which I am highly proud. The foreign competitors performed excellently as well“, stated General Lovrić.
The competition winner, Sergeant Major of the Army Bertović crossed the exhausting 40-km competition route (consisting of 7 control posts and 13 worksposts) carrying the 17.6kg full kit in little over eight hours and thus retained the title, ahead of Private Zvonimir Tadejević (Special Forces Command) and Ensign Ante Jović of the Croatian Navy’s Flotilla. There were 112 competitors of the Croatian Armed Forces and of the police units. 
“I wasn’t certain to win, the competition was harsher compared to last year. The orienteering task  was the hardest to overcome, and completing it first surely helped me win. The success in a competition of the kind requires constant readiness and exercising“, said SMA Bertović following the ceremony. 
The winner of the International Best Soldier Competition, with 30 participants from Albania, Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Slovenia, Kosovo, Spain and the United Kingdom (representing the NATO JFC Headquarers from Naples) held concurrently in the “Eugen Kvaternik“ Training Range, was Staff Sergeant Johannes Vasold of the Austrian Armed Forces.
The competitions kicked off on 20 May, with the participants competing in two qualifying disciplines – rowing and assault rifle shooting. The score set the subsequent competitions starting positions. The first competitor took off at 6 a.m. sharp.
The workposts comprised assembly, disassembly and sharp shooting with the AK47 rifle and the HS9 pistol, the anti-tank weapon (AT 4 MILES) simulator handling, the urban warfare tactic procedures, hand grenade launching, navigation, crossing the contaminated area, water obstacle crossing, dynamic rope and the obstacle course. The final three posts were staged in the town of Slunj (MEDEVAC, rope river crossing and kayaking).
The finish line was in the central square in Slunj, whose residents and representatives of the Ministry of Defence, of the Croatian Armed Forces and foreign delegations cheered on the competitors.