The Paratroopers’ Statue

THE PARATROOPERS’ STATUE The military paratroopers found, in Buzău, a suitable space for the development and consecration of the concept of airborne troops, by transferring here, in 1951, the Paratrooper Battalion, re-established on the 1st of November 1950 next to the Aviation Training Center in Tecuci. The unit, continuing the traditions of the first paratrooper unit established in 1941, was, until 1980, the only paratrooper unit in the Romanian army. Tens of contingents were trained here, preparing, throughout its existence, for the Romanian army, thousands of young soldiers capable of carrying out missions of great importance, risk and courage. Buzău thus established itself as the "cradle of Romanian military parachuting", being, until 1980, the only profile unit in the Romanian army. Thanks to the paratrooper unit in Buzău, the foundations were laid for the other three paratrooper regiments established in 1980 at Caracal, Boteni and Câmpia Turzii, all equipped with the courageous spirit of those trained in Buzău. Also here, within the unit, on the 1st of February 1958, the first company with a special purpose was created, the one that would become, several years later, the first battalion of reconnaissance behind enemy lines by parachuting, a unit that greatly increased Buzău’s image and military relevance. It should also be added that in the Paratroopers Barracks in Crângul Buzăului, over time, various forms of specialized military education specific to paratroopers and scouts in the depths of the enemy's formation took place, culminating in the establishment, on the 1st of July 1986, within the 60th Paratroopers’ Regiment "Băneasa-Otopeni", of the Paratroopers’ Cadre Training Course, the first military education structure specific to this weapon. It would become, after 1990, the Paratroopers Training Center, later the Paratroopers Application School and, until 2008, the School for the Application of Special Operation Forces, after which it was resized as a training center for several military specialties whose specialty is military parachuting. The Paratroopers’ Statue is the work of the plastic artist Manole Gabriel, the one who founded the Sculpture Camp in Năieni, Buzău county, and it was made with the substantial material contribution of Mr. Nicolae Roşca, military scout in reserve, and the support of paratroopers and military scouts in reserve and retreating from the Buzău garrison.