Bozinovic congratulated voluntary conscripts on given oath

Minister of Defence Davor Bozinovic congratulated on given oath as well as the Independence Day the conscripts and their parents, stating that now they have become part of a great and famous family of the Croatian Armed Forces, the Croatian army, which, as he noted, even in the hardest moments was unaware of the retreat, but it fought for freedom and independence of its homeland. “By comprehensive reforms of the Croatian Armed Forces we have established such a service that has become a personal choice of highly motivated young people. Our transition to professional army proved to be an excellent solution because we are now able to invest more in each soldier because the goal is to make it superbly trained and equipped. This way it can also adopt all recent knowledge and skills that are needed in the modern world. Our emphasis is on man and we are lucky because the young people around Croatia choose military profession, military vocation as a life choice”, Minister Bozinovic said. He noted that more and more people were interested in military profession. Defence Minister also said that in the future more emphasis will be on the technical professions and training, since the entire system of military equipment and arms advance and Croatian soldier was recognized for its quality and reliability.

Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Drago Lovric also congratulated voluntary conscripts, reminding that today was a special ceremony, since the Republic of Croatia celebrates 20 years of independence. He stressed that the Croatian Armed Forces during the 8 weeks of training would ensure optimal conditions in order to be ready for joining the military system. “We would like to continue to be the preferred partner and reliable ally in international military operations, because only thus we can ensure quality and safe future of our army”, General Lovric said.
Noting that today, members of the Armed Forces participate in many international peacekeeping operations and that at present nearly 500 of them were engaged in missions around the world, the representative of the President, Zlatko Gareljic congratulated them the Independence Day and on given oath.

Since November 2008, when voluntary military service was introduced, till nowadays, more than 7000 candidates applied for service, of which 1500 women. Cycle training in the first five generations implied 250 conscripts in one generation, while the number of conscripts in the generations from 2011 increased to 300, twice per year. From the past six generations, 1314 men and 172 women successfully finished the training, and since 2008 until today an agreement on admission to active military service was signed by 826 people – 707 soldiers and 119 officers. It is expected that by the end of 2011, in accordance with the plan to obtain active military personnel – soldiers, the contracts would be signed with voluntary conscripts from 5^th and 6^th generations, while contracts with officers of these generations have already been signed.