RSK
05-28-2004, 05:55 AM
Live ammunition shooting of Military Academy's 125th Class of students
FIREWORKS AT PASULJANSKE LIVADE
At the proving ground such as Pasuljanske livade three seasons can change in one day and at the same time you can hear both everything and nothing. We were lucky to have our whole day fully scheduled and to listen to the fiery symphony all day long.
This time the military programme was prepared by the students of the 125th Class from the Military Academy - department of Artillery and Armoured Mechanised Unit - who have been "laying siege" to the proving ground since May 16th and will be doing that until May 30th. Each student team had 18 members, not counting the assistance of training officers and soldiers from units in Kraljevo, Prokuplje and Leskovac.
That was the day when Pasuljanske livade were "aroused" from sleep by the 122mm howitzers, and after a day of successful shooting from the location in Venac, the students "tore" each other's clothes making a symbolic gesture that they have shed their skin and become full-time artillerymen - well actually artillery assistants, as their trainers call them, because they haven't become officers yet.
This is also the day when the tank crew members improved their skills by shooting from T-55 tanks. However, they had their baptism of fire the day before, when they shot their first missile from M-84 tanks. Unlike them, T-55 exhausted them very much, since they had to charge all the missiles manually. And there were dozens of them.
The most interesting thing was left for the end, and all the interested parties could observe it from the watchtower - the artillery shooting by night.
At the end of the day, the artillerymen conducted one simple ammunition shooting as a warm-up and then around 9 p.m., like clockwork, they took up positions in Miajlova rupa and Veliki Antravelj region, and the artillery cannonade began. In 2.5 minutes, one flare was fired each 15 seconds, and then as the blaze lit the whole target region, the missiles were roaring from the rest of the devices, first one by one and then in a salvo. Thus the missiles were hissing along Pasuljanske livade and fading away like lanterns as they were grabbing towards their target in depressions of Antravelj. In this game of light and dark, the orders of gunners and joyful cries of the observes became intertwined. And the luckiest people, the creators of this fiery spectacle were students and soldiers who have never seen anything like this before.
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/1.jpg
At a "battlefield"
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/2.jpg
Good signal unit members are priceless
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/3.jpg
Artillery shooting by night: one flare was fired from a howitzer each 15 seconds
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/4.jpg
With a little force and lots of tenderness
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/5.jpg
Student Slobodan Krstic - Krle carrying two cartridges with easiness
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/6.jpg
Checking the sighting set
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/7.jpg
The charge of the iron cavalry
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/8.jpg
The newly arrived missiles have to be checked, registered and
cleaned
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/9.jpg
FIREWORKS AT PASULJANSKE LIVADE
At the proving ground such as Pasuljanske livade three seasons can change in one day and at the same time you can hear both everything and nothing. We were lucky to have our whole day fully scheduled and to listen to the fiery symphony all day long.
This time the military programme was prepared by the students of the 125th Class from the Military Academy - department of Artillery and Armoured Mechanised Unit - who have been "laying siege" to the proving ground since May 16th and will be doing that until May 30th. Each student team had 18 members, not counting the assistance of training officers and soldiers from units in Kraljevo, Prokuplje and Leskovac.
That was the day when Pasuljanske livade were "aroused" from sleep by the 122mm howitzers, and after a day of successful shooting from the location in Venac, the students "tore" each other's clothes making a symbolic gesture that they have shed their skin and become full-time artillerymen - well actually artillery assistants, as their trainers call them, because they haven't become officers yet.
This is also the day when the tank crew members improved their skills by shooting from T-55 tanks. However, they had their baptism of fire the day before, when they shot their first missile from M-84 tanks. Unlike them, T-55 exhausted them very much, since they had to charge all the missiles manually. And there were dozens of them.
The most interesting thing was left for the end, and all the interested parties could observe it from the watchtower - the artillery shooting by night.
At the end of the day, the artillerymen conducted one simple ammunition shooting as a warm-up and then around 9 p.m., like clockwork, they took up positions in Miajlova rupa and Veliki Antravelj region, and the artillery cannonade began. In 2.5 minutes, one flare was fired each 15 seconds, and then as the blaze lit the whole target region, the missiles were roaring from the rest of the devices, first one by one and then in a salvo. Thus the missiles were hissing along Pasuljanske livade and fading away like lanterns as they were grabbing towards their target in depressions of Antravelj. In this game of light and dark, the orders of gunners and joyful cries of the observes became intertwined. And the luckiest people, the creators of this fiery spectacle were students and soldiers who have never seen anything like this before.
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/1.jpg
At a "battlefield"
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/2.jpg
Good signal unit members are priceless
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/3.jpg
Artillery shooting by night: one flare was fired from a howitzer each 15 seconds
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/4.jpg
With a little force and lots of tenderness
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/5.jpg
Student Slobodan Krstic - Krle carrying two cartridges with easiness
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/6.jpg
Checking the sighting set
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/7.jpg
The charge of the iron cavalry
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/8.jpg
The newly arrived missiles have to be checked, registered and
cleaned
http://www.vj.yu/img/ilustracije/Publikacije/Vojska/ob643/9.jpg