ZAGREB, September 14, 2019 - The newly-established Marko Babić Leadership Development Centre was opened at the "Josip Jović" barracks in the central town of Udbina, with President and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović presenting diplomas to instructors who underwent the centre's demanding training programme.
The event was also addressed by Defence Minister Damir Krstičević, and the Army Chief-of-Staff, General Mirko Šundov, who both said that the centre was established on the model of the centre for the specialist training of non-commissioned officers "Damir Tomljanovic Gavran", which operated in Šepurine near Zadar from 1994 to 2000 and whose establishment was initiated by General Ante Gotovina.
Underlining the need to modernise the army so that it can cope with current security challenges, Minister Krstičević called on military attaches of the diplomatic corps of NATO member-states to relay to their countries an invitation to send their soldiers to the new centre for training as soon as possible so that it could become an international centre.
He said that the main purpose of the new training centre was to strengthen the competencies of commissioned and non-commissioned Croatian Army officers as highly motivated leaders who understand their soldiers and lead them by setting a personal example.
General Šundov spoke about the necessary competencies and skills to lead a team, group or squad, explaining that group leaders and higher-level commanders would gain unit leadership and command skills in line with modern requirements.
Addressing those attending the opening of the training centre, named after the Homeland War hero and Vukovar defender, President Grabar-Kitarović said that Marko Babić, like Blago Zadro, Predrag Matanović and Damir Tomljanović Gavran, would be role models for Croatian soldiers forever.
Welcoming General Gotovina, who also attended the ceremony, Grabar-Kitarović said the opening of the centre showed, among other things, "that the time has passed when the legacy of the Homeland War was lightly renounced and belittled and when the role of the most deserving individuals from the time when Croatia's independence was established was negated."
"Such unjustified and unjust treatment was also felt by workers and instructors of the Šepurine training centre, and the Croatian Army and state will never again deny the memory of the brightest period of our history," she said.
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