Milan Emil Uzelac (26 August 1867 – 7 January 1954) was an Austro-Hungarian military commander who was a leading figure in the air forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Independent State of Croatia. Early life and education Emil Uzelac was born in Komárom, in present-day Slovakia, then Austria-Hungary, on 26 August 1867 in an Orthodox family from Lika. He grew up in the vicinity of Karlovac where he finished gymnasium after which he enrolled at the Technical Military Academy of Civil Engineering and Crafts in Vienna from which he graduated on 18 August 1888. Career After graduation, Uzelac entered the 2nd Engineer Regiment as a Lieutenant and served in Pula and Trieste. He also worked in Zadar as an engineering technical expert. After graduating in electrical engineering, he enrolled at the Naval Academy in Trieste and was promoted to the rank of the Lieutenant of the Merchant Navy. As an officer on the merchant ship, he sailed to New York City. Service in the Austria-Hungary After two years, Uzelac entered the Engineer's Command and served in Klagenfurt. He was promoted to the rank of Major on 1 May 1908. At the proposal of General Alexander von Krobatin, Uzelac was appointed Commander of the Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops. Since his appointment on 24 April 1912 until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, Uzelac was the only true commander of the whole Austro-Hungarian Air Force. After four weeks, Uzelac passed a pilot test and immediately continued training for the combat pilot which he finished in August of the same year. His task was very difficult because he had to found aviation in a country of limited industrial capacity and lack of raw materials, in the conditions of poor understanding among military authorities and highly bureaucratized military and overall state system. In 1912, Emperor Franz Joseph I awarded him Military Merit Cross for his achievements. Uzelac was awarded numerous domestic and foreign awards for his role in the modernization of the Austro-Hungarian aviation. In addition to flying in a plane, he also flew in an air balloon and was on 15 May 1914 awarded the diploma of the leader of free balloons by the Austrian aeroclub. On 7 November 1912, while performing his first looping, he had an accident and ended up in the hospital from which he came out as soon as he regained consciousness.