Command and Staff Course for Officers

The goal of the Command and Staff Course is to train officers to command tactical units of their branch/service at the battalion level, to perform staff duties in brigade level commands and other duties in higher commands of the Serbian Armed Forces and organisational units of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) within the scope of missions and tasks which derive from doctrinal and normative documents in the field of the defence of the Republic of Serbia.

The tasks of career development are expanding the existing and acquiring new knowledge, skills and habits that enable the achievement of the goal of the Command and Staff Course, through:

Familiarisation of participants with:

theoretical achievements, legal foundations and practice of implementing modern security systems, as well as the specifics of military strategies and doctrines;
the organisation and use of tactical and operational formations (units) of the armed forces of foreign countries and military alliances and
achieved level and directions of development and modernisation of arms, branches and services.

Expanding the knowledge about:

current and potential challenges, risks and threats to security in the country, region and the world;
contents of strategic, doctrinal and planning documents in the field of defence and security of the Republic of Serbia;
missions and tasks of the Armed Forces and experiences from the participation of the Armed Forces in operations;
theoretical and practical knowledge and skills in tactics, operations, military strategy and logistic support;
theoretical and practical foundations in the field of one's type of career.

Training participants for:

commanding tactical units of one's branch/service at the battalion level, with creative application of doctrines and rules of engagement;
identifying and solving tactical problems, independently and in a team;
participation in the work of tactical and operational level commands in the preparation, organisation and execution of the missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces;
making decisions when planning and performing operations;
implementation of standards and procedures that would enable interoperability, in accordance with the tendencies of our country to approach modern security integrations;
organisation and implementation of civil-military cooperation at the tactical level for the successful execution of the missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces;
assessment and reporting on the state of operational and functional capabilities of tactical units (formations);
management of the system of training, control and assessment of competence;
identifying and solving problems within the scope of duties related to one's type of career;
preparation of professional papers, professional and scientific announcements;
other tasks related to organising the development and training of tactical units of one's branch/service at the battalion level within the scope of missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces and
maintenance and development of psychophysical abilities of participants.

The professional profile for which a participant is trained is a professional officer with professional knowledge, skills and leadership, analytical and communicative abilities required for successful problem solving and performing tasks within the competence of:

the commander (deputy commander) of the battalion-level unit (formation)
staff duties in brigade-level commands and
other duties in the higher commands of the Serbian Armed Forces and in the organisational units of the Ministry of Defence.

The Command and Staff Course is organised and implemented as a regular career development course, in accordance with the Law on Military Education ("Official Gazette of the RS", No. 36/2018 of 18^th May 2018 and "Official Military Gazette", No. 16/18 of 22^nd May 2018), Rulebook on Forms of Career Development and Special Conditions, Method and Procedure of Implementation of Special Career Development Courses for Professional Members of the Serbian Armed Forces and Civil Servants ("Official Military Gazette", No. 11 of 14^th May 2019) and the corresponding by-laws.

The School of National Defence - "Vojvoda Radomir Putnik" is in charge of the organisation and implementation of the Command and Staff Course. The Command and Staff Course lasts for one school year (ten months), and it is divided into two terms.

The Head of the Command and Staff Course is Colonel Mišo Planojević.