General Pađen appointed as a new Deputy Chief of General Staff
Pursuant to the Decision of the President and the Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Ivo Josipović, and on the proposal of the Chief of General Staff and with the consent of the Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mate Pađen was appointed as a Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces for Operations with effect from 1 October 2012.
Brigadier General Mate Pađen was born on 24 September 1962 in Ogulin. He obtained Master’s Degree from Strategies of National Resources in 1998 in Washington D.C., USA.
He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on 17 November 2003.
Since 30 June 1991, he was actively involved in the defence of the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia as a member of the volunteer armed groups. From 1 September 1991 he was a member of the 143rd Defence Regiment from Ogulin where he has performed all levels of duties including the duty of regiment commander. He was decorated with the Homeland War Memorial, Memorial for 5 and 10 years of distinguished and exemplary service, Order of the Croatian Three-strand Pattern, Order of the Croatian Trefoil, Order of Ban Josip Jelačić and with “Storm” and “Exceptional Undertaking” medals.
After the end of the Homeland War, he systematically educated at the Command and Staff School “Blago Zadro” of the Croatian Armed Forces including a training program for the staff officer under the MPRI program. He also completed the first generation of the Military-diplomatic School of the Ministry of Defence, and English language training in the Republic of Croatia and in the United States. Then he was sent for training abroad at the prestigious National Defense University in Washington D.C., USA. He has attended more courses in Croatia and abroad in the field of defence and national security, including training at the “George C. Marshall Center” in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
After the Homeland War, he held a series of high and responsible command positions, most of which in the field of defence policy and international military cooperation, including the duty of the Chief of the Office of Military Attaches and Protocol, the Head of Department for the MPRI implementation, Chief of the General Staff Defence Policy Directorate, Deputy Chief and then Chief of the Military Strategy and Defence Planning, as well as the duty of the Chief of the Defence Planning and International Military Cooperation Directorate.
In November 2007, by the decision of the Croatian President he was appointed a military attaché to the U.S., and in April 2008 he was also appointed a military attaché to the Canada, based in Washington.