This year's competition has gathered a record number of teams from over forty countries, and competitors, traditionally, competed on five courses, facing five challenges over five days. This year, some innovations had been introduced into the competition rules.

Traditionally, the top contenders are the host teams, the Dubai Police teams, followed by the "Almaz" team from Belarus, the Chechens from the "Ahmat" team, and Russian teams. These teams usually train throughout the year on identical courses (Chechen and Russian teams on courses in Russia). They often arrive at the competition venue 2-3 months before the event for better acclimatization.

Our guys don't have that privilege. The preparations usually start around 3 months before the competition, and very often, they continue with regular service tasks during the preparations. The SAJ operators at the Batajnica base have only the obstacle course at disposal (to be completed on the fifth day of the competition), while other courses and obstacles are improvised. In the Gendarmerie of the Republic of Serbia, preparations for Dubai were organized this year at the Lipovica base in Belgrade. Willing operators from all four detachments were able to apply for selection. Sixteen of the best operators made it to the shortlist, and during the final phase of preparations, the eight were selected as the best, with two additional members as reserves, in case of injury or unavailability of a teammate. Our teams arrive in Dubai just a few days before the competition begins, often experiencing temperature differences of over 30 degrees in just a few days.

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Competitors were greeted with a surprise on the very first day — the first course, The Tactical Event, including resolving a hostage situation under elevated heart rate and pressure, while wearing a protective mask — had to be completed in the evening, meaning competitors had to work in reduced visibility conditions. The team result on this course heavily depended on the sniper's performance, who was the first to move from the starting position. The Gendarmerie team, participating for the second time this year, achieved an excellent result on this course. The sniper specialist Jevta, our great comrade from the Gendarmerie Detachment in Novi Sad, delivered an outstanding performance, being highly "amped up," which in special forces slang translates to being maximally motivated and up to the task.

This year, the SAJ team participated for the fifth time and was considered as one of the favorites, given their excellent results in the previous two years, securing 4th and 6th place overall, respectively. The Batajnica team had three rookies this year. During the completion of a tactical situation in the so-called kill house, each competitor had to enter a premise and hit a white metal target placed between two red metals that were not allowed to be shoot down. In one of the premises, the judges on the course did not return the white metal to the shooting stand, causing a brief confusion for a SAJ team member, who informed the course judges. Contrary to online comments later that day, the competition rules do not specify the behavior of competitors in case a metal target is not set up in the shooting situation. Therefore, there is no instruction to stop the team's performance, or for a competitor to continue. This appears to be a "loophole" that needs clarification, as it significantly affects the competitors' behavior and the team's final result. The organizer decided that the SAJ team is to repeat the course later that day, after all other teams had completed it. The "Cobras" team was led by their captain Igor Ignjatović for the second time, and on this course, they demonstrated exceptional coordination, achieving a good time without any time penalties.

On the second day of the competition (The Assault Event), another innovation by the organizers had been introduced — shooters were to engage in shooting situations not only with their submachine guns as in previous years, but also with a shotgun (the Benelli M4 system). Among the Serbian teams, the "Cobras" were the first to perform on this day. The guys tackled shooting situations using the HK UMP submachine guns in 9 mm, beefed up with mounted holographic sights (EOTech). The SAJ team received a time penalty after the shooting situation involving submachine guns and shotguns. Thecompetitors used the B&T APC submachine guns in 9 mm, with integrated sound suppressors, recently introduced into the unit. The penalty was imposed because competitors did not leave the bolts in the rear position after shooting (so that judges could see the empty cartridge chamber), only locking the firearms, as did all other teams. Only the SAJ team was penalized for this. The Gendarmerie team was excellent again on this day, achieving an impressive time of 2:06.

On the third day, teams had tackled The Officer Rescue course, where they "rescued a wounded", specifically their sniper simulating injury. An innovation on this day was the installation of a zip line above the water channel. This course was demanding, requiring both physical fitness and tactical expertise, as well as team coordination (especially in packing the wounded and crossing the zip line). The SAJ team faced a major setback this day, resulting in a significant time penalty of 150 seconds. During the packing of the wounded, the sniper's belt turned, along with his handgun holster. When attaching the climbing harness to the rope pulley, the rope slipped under the holster mount, and after releasing the sniper to hang, the rope tore the mount, causing the holster with the pistol to fall into the water channel. This time penalty had a significant impact on the overall ranking of the SAJ team.

On the fourth day (The Tower Assault), similar to the first day, the team's final time depended heavily on the sniper's performance. Snipers engaged targets from two positions: straight shots from a prone position at targets 100 meters away and, from a height of 20 meters, inclined shots at targets approximately 280 meters away. Strong winds posed a challenge for the snipers, especially at the elevated shooting position. The Gendarmerie snipers faced difficulties with inclined shots. In our later conversation with the boys, they told us that they had made a mistake in choosing ammunition, realizing they should have opted for heavier, e.g., 185-grain, like the SAJ team snipers did, instead of choosing the 155-grain rounds. This was seen as valuable experience for professional improvement and for future competitions. Many wondered how the SAJ team would respond on this course after the setback with the holster from the previous day. The answer was classic Serbian — the guys approached the course highly motivated, full of determination and a desire to "dominate" the course, which they did — demonstrating the true spirit of the Serbian special forces. Again, there was a missing target for shooting in one situation, but the competitor in front of whom the target was missing simply turned away and continued with the course when he saw there was no target. It wouldn't be wrong to imagine a scene where the competitor gestured with a middle finger towards the judges, but, of course, that did not happen for real.

On the fifth day, The Obstacle Course, all the three Serbian teams successfully completed the challenges. There were some unpleasant situations at the so-called "hamster wheel," where a competitor spins a cylinder along metal beams until it touches two vertical yellow beams. Many believe that two teams, "Almaz" and "Ahmat," were unfairly treated on this obstacle by the organizers — judges claimed that the competitors did not fully bring the cylinder to the mentioned yellow targets.

After the fifth day, the Gendarmerie team is the best-placed Serbian team, securing the 10th position in the overall standings. The SAJ team is in 22nd place, and the "Cobras" team is in 28th place. A great result for the Serbian gendarmes, while the SAJ and "Cobra" teams can certainly do better, as the guys themselves are aware. In any case, the competitors gained valuable experiences that will aid them in their professional activities and future competitions.

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