A detail from the competition. : specijalne-jedinice.com

A few days after the conclusion of the competition in Kuwait, impressions have been gathered, and analyses of the performance of our "Falcons" and "Griffins" began. Those interested could follow the competition through live streams on YouTube throughout all five days. Regarding the organization of the competition broadcast itself, it's worth noting that the feedback is very poor. The camera positions on the courses and the transitions between cameras were poorly coordinated. As a result, viewers were generally left without a complete view of the events on each stage. Particularly notable was the organizer's oversight in not recording the shooting of targets during the competition. At no point did the broadcast include footage from drones used to record the competition. Furthermore, these streams were not commented on, and they lacked enhancements like info-graphics, including stopwatches for competing teams, or even the names of the teams and their respective countries...

These are some of the reasons why Kole and Miloš, commenting for TV Front, often had to speculate about the events on the courses, make assumptions about the competitors' actions, and discuss the rules on the courses, and so on.

When it comes to the competitors, there is considerable dissatisfaction among them regarding the organization of the competition. On one hand, the entire training center in Kuwait, along with the courses, is built and organized at a high level. The center is modern, and the courses are very challenging — many would emphasize that they are significantly more demanding than the courses in Dubai. The propositions for performing on the courses are noticeably more complex for the teams, which is entirely expected, given that special forces are competing here. For instance, unlike the competition in Dubai, the composition of the team that would perform, or what each team member would do on a course, was not known in advance. Each team decides before a course which members will perform, and then they proceed to draw lots. Each competitor draws a color, determining their tasks on that course (for example, if they draw the color blue, they must shoot only their blue targets from blue shooting positions). Substitutions of colors among competitors were not allowed. Furthermore, another difference from the Dubai competition — which gives us the right to call the organizers classic scoundrels — is that no team was allowed to see or go through the courses in advance. No team, except the two host teams (boo!). Additionally, target revisions were not allowed (oh, oh), so many hits and misses among the competitors were highly debatable (except for the host teams, boo!), and some hits were not counted at all.

A detail from one of the courses. : specijalne-jedinice.com

These are just some of the details that we've decided to share, guided by a "gentlemen's code," which also implies calling things by their true names — that is, when someone is a scoundrel, we'll refer to them as such.

As for the performances of our guys, it's essential to highlight that achieving fifth place is a very good result, but it could have been even better, as the guys themselves are aware. As the competition progressed, they improved their form and achieved better results, for example, on the fourth day, securing the first position on the first course! Throughout the competition, our guys faced formidable competitors, particularly the excellent specialists from the Russian unit "Vityaz" and our neighbors from Bulgaria, from the SOBT unit. The performances of our special forces showcased top training and physical fitness — it was a real pleasure to perceive their weapon manipulation, shooting stances, agility in movement, and proficiency in overcoming obstacles. Of course, there were mistakes, and these should not be concealed (for instance, on the second day, a sniper hit a hostage, with a note that this mistake is quite debatable), but the focus should be on learning from them. Nevertheless, the most crucial aspect is that significant experience has been gained this year, which will contribute to further improving the performances of our "Falcons" and "Griffins."

Our boys at the end of the fifth day. : specijalne-jedinice.com

And in conclusion, we will emphasize that there is truly something special when the Serbian flag waves at such an international competition, and when you see our competitors crossing themselves and fighting for their country, their unit, and their team with that flag on their sleeves.

• 72 SPECIAL BRIGADE
• 72 SPECIAL OPERATIONS BRIGADE

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