Deputy Minister of Defence Radostin Iliev will participate today, 17 October, in the solemn celebration of the Military Paratrooper Day.
He will congratulate the servicemen of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and will present awards to those honoured by order of the Minister of Defence for high professionalism and responsibility in the performance of their duties. The ceremony will begin at 10.20 a.m. in the JCSO area (2 Radko Dimitriev St.) in the town. The ceremony will take place in Plovdiv. Members of the Special Forces will also be decorated with orders of the Chief of Defence and the Commander of the JCSO
The commemoration of the Day of the Military Paratrooper will continue on 18 October, when at 10.30 a.m. a funeral prayer will be held at the Paratrooper's Alley in the Central Sofia Cemetery in memory of the fallen Bulgarian paratroopers. At 12.30 p.m. at the National Assembly Square in Sofia, military honours will be paid and wreaths and flowers will be laid at the Paratrooper Monument.
October 18 was designated as the Day of the Military Parachutist by the Bulgarian Army by a decision of the Minister of Defence in 1994. The parachute detachment of the First Bulgarian Army participated for the first time in real combat actions on this date in 1944. At the cost of great sacrifices, the detachment conquered the heavily fortified area of the Strazhin height, opening the way for the Bulgarian Army's offensive. Officers, sergeants and soldiers fought bravely, sacrificing their lives for their comrades to survive. I BGNES
