NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY DEVESELU, Romania (NNS) Sailors assigned to Naval Support Facility (NSF) Deveselu and Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) Romania visited Belgrade, the capital of the Republic of Serbia, during a trip organized by the command’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) program.
Fifteen Sailors from the land based ballistic missile defense (BMD) command spent four days exploring various landmarks, sampled local cuisine and embraced the culture of the Balkan nation’s capital.
“Between the vibrant city and nightlife, welcoming locals who have such a passion for their history and their mouthwatering cuisine, I can’t wait to plan more trips to this area,” said Megan Villapudua, NSF Deveselu’s MWR Director or ‘fun boss’. “I’m in awe of Serbia’s expansive history; the people are resilient and positive despite constant rebuilding after a history of bombings and destruction.”
Belgrade, which is Slavic for “white city” due to the stone many of its original structures were built from, is home to more than 1.2 million people and has been host to various civilizations dating as far back as 279 B.C. According to local tour guides, throughout the city’s long history it has been destroyed and rebuilt no fewer than 44 times.
“Belgrade is an amazing city, with so many easily accessible sites full of history,” said Construction Mechanic Constructionman David Truell. “Being deployed to this kind of command here in Romania gives us so many opportunities to travel throughout Europe; we have really found a special place in Belgrade.”
Through guided tours, the Sailors spent time sightseeing such landmarks as the Temple of Saint Sava, a Serbian Orthodox church that has been under construction since the 1930’s, the Kalemegdan Fortress, which was first constructed in 279 B.C. along with the original city, and various other major landmarks such as a medieval torture chamber and the Nikola Tesla Museum. All of the work put in to planning a trip such as this is a major task for the commands MWR program, but they were able to accomplish their goal to show Sailors an unforgettable experience in a country less frequently visited by Sailors.
“Planning a trip to Serbia had unique challenges but those were far outweighed by the reward of this experience,” said Villapudua. “Having worked on board carriers, you’re put into contact with the USO or a travel agency, here we have to do all of that work ourselves. We wanted our Sailors to have the opportunity to travel outside of Romania to somewhere they might not have considered going on their own, and Belgrade has certainly provided us with a hidden gem.”
As the first Navy shore installation commissioned since Everett, Wash., in 1987, NSF Deveselu is located in south-central Romania aboard the Romanian 99th Military Base. Its mission is to provide installation facilities, resources, and services to support and enable AAMDS Romania’s operational abilities.
For more information and resources about Naval Support Facility Deveselu please visit our website at https://cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnreurafswa/installations/nsf_deveselu.html or our social media page at https://www.facebook.com/NSFDeveselu/.
| Date Taken: | 11.12.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2017 03:17 |
| Story ID: | 255376 |
| Location: | BELGRADE, RS |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Romania Based Sailors Visit Serbia, by William Dodge, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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