54th Conference of the International Military Testing Association

The conference will cover all the topics in the field of psychology that can be applied in the military, such as the psychosocial climate in the military environment, the psychological crisis intervention, psychological combat readiness and morale in the armed forces, the role of the psychological profession in international military operations, etc.

The conference was opened by the Assistant Minister of Defence for Human Resources Sunčana Vukelić, who pointed to the importance of military psychology in the defence system, and expressed confidence that this conference would be a good opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge. On behalf of the Defence Ministry and the CAF General Staff, participants were welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Defence Višnja Tafra and Deputy Chief of General Staff Brigadier General Mate Pađen. Deputy Defence Minister Tafra pointed out that there was no doubt that the military psychology contributed to the development of defence systems, whereby noting that the Croatian military psychology last year marked 20 years of its operation. Deputy Minister Tafra also pointed to some of the areas of work of military psychologists, particularly mentioning providing the support to participants in international operations and to their families, which she characterized as an extremely important and noble work. General Pađen gave a brief overview of the military psychology since its establishment until the present situation in the Armed Forces and stressed the important role of military psychologists in the defence system.

International Military Testing Association (IMTA) is an international association for the military and psychological testing established 53 years ago. Members of the association can only be the organizations that have a clear relationship with the military and perform applied research and activities in the field of military psychology. Military psychological service in the MOD and CAF has been a member of IMTA since 2004, when it was admitted to the Board of Directors of the Association. Leading nation of IMTA are the U.S., and membership in this organization have many entities responsible for military psychologists from the armed forces of countries around the world, including for example, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Australia, Canada, India and others. At this year’s conference, which was held for the first time in Croatia, two new states joined the association – Norway and South Africa.

International Military Testing Association, given the long tradition and a large number of member states, according to the President of the Organizational Committee, Major Ingrid Cipicco, has immeasurable contribution to the development of military psychology that plays a significant role in all modern armies in the world.