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 NEWS
 National Guard leaders honor newest Serbian officers By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill, National Guard Bureau
 BELGRADE, Serbia, - Serbia's 130 newest  officers graduated in a national ceremony in front of Parliament as National Guard  leaders saluted
here Saturday. Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National  Guard Bureau, Army
Maj. Gen. Gregory Wayt, the adjutant general of the Ohio  National Guard, and
other Guard leaders were among distinguished  international guests reviewing
the latest class of officers to emerge in Serbia's  transforming armed
forces. "The youngest second lieutenants that stand before  us - along with their
younger counterparts, military academy cadets -  constitute the main body of
the future of our defense system," Serbian President  Boris Tadic said from
the steps of the National Assembly of the Republic of  Serbia. The Serbian armed forces are transforming from a  conscript to a professional
military - a process the Ohio National Guard has  contributed to through its
pairing with Serbia under the 62-nation National Guard  State Partnership
Program. Serbian Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac invited  McKinley to attend the
graduation of the 130th and 131st classes of the  160-year-old Military
Academy during a February visit to Quarters One, the  official residence of
the chief of the National Guard Bureau at Fort Lesley J.  McNair in
Washington, D.C. "I hope these new officers understand that the  partnerships with the United
States are designed to enhance both our countries'  national interests, and
that we ... can learn a lot from them, too,"  McKinley said. Thousands thronged the streets of this ancient city and  many more watched on
television as Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic,  ministers, military
officials, state and military delegations of the United  States, Italy,
Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the diplomatic  corps, representatives
of the European Association of Military Journalists and  numerous
distinguished Serbian and foreign guests welcomed the  future leaders of the
Serbian military. "Today is the day to remember all innocent victims  of the terrorist attacks
in New York which took place on 11th September  2001," President Tadic
reminded the new officers. "In foreign policy we are ... doing everything to  build anew and rebuild old
bridges of cooperation, friendship and  understanding," the president said.
"Restoration of political and economic partnership  will be the focus of
public policy because it is good for the state and our  citizens. "To abandon such a path would be very damaging and  lead the country into
isolation and complete economic uncertainty and security  risks to the state
with unforeseeable consequences." Since the Ohio National Guard and Serbia formalized their  partnership in
2006, the two have conducted more than 75 exchanges. "The visit from General McKinley and our very close  friend General Wayt
means a lot to us," Sutanovac, the defense minister,  said after the
ceremony. "It means a lot for Serbia ... on the  friendship level and also on
a military-to-military level." Ohio and Serbia participate in training, education and  other joint
activities, including noncommissioned officer  development. "We hope to have some kind of help from the Ohio  National Guard and the U.S.
to form  military base for peacekeeping  operations," Sutanovac said. He called Serbia's relationship with Ohio one of the best  of 50 cooperation
arrangements between the Balkan republic and other  countries. "We had a difficult past in the last decade,"  he said. "But we had a lot of
... very good historical relationships - in the First  World War, in the
Second World War - and we are willing to rebuild this  trust," he said,
predicting a greater relationship. Ohio National Guard activities this week to assist  Serbian forces included
exchanges on senior and company level NCO roles and  responsibilities,
training base planning and development, military medical  skills and cockpit
resource management involving more than two dozen  Citizen-Soldiers and
-Airmen at the NCO and officer level. The graduation ceremony included flyovers by Serbian jets  and helicopters,
drill and ceremony and the honoring of distinguished  graduates. (Editor's Note: The Republic of Serbia Ministry of  Defense contributed to
this report.)
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