A "Stryker" on the Square in Kumanovo: The Army Shows Off American Hardware for the Uprising's 85th Anniversary

In Kumanovo, the partisans rose up a day after the uprising began in Prilep, on 12 October 1941. Eighty-five years later, what stood on the town square for the holiday wasn't museum rifles but "Stryker" and JLTV armoured vehicles - the American hardware the Army of Macedonia uses today.

To mark 11 October, the Army held a tactical and technical display with support from the Municipality of Kumanovo. Residents could see the vehicles up close, along with military police, climbing and diving equipment and modern infantry weapons. Attending were Chief of the General Staff Major General Saško Lafčiski, Operations Command commander Brigadier General Mirče Gjorgoski and First Infantry Brigade commander Brigadier General Dejan Čiplakovski, as well as Mayor Maksim Dimitrievski and representatives of the government and parliament.

"I had the opportunity to get to know some of the modern equipment and weaponry of our Army," the mayor posted after the visit. The display is moving on to Prilep next.

Showing the army to the people is a nice gesture, especially on a day that celebrates an uprising of ordinary people against an occupier. But the gesture only counts if people see the Army away from holiday squares too - at fires, floods and rescues, when how well equipped it is really matters. How much of this hardware will we see there when it's needed?