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Croatia - Ministry of Defence

The Ministry of Defence was established according the Decree of Internal Organization of the Ministry of Defence (Official Gazette 150/2011). This Regulation establishes the internal organization of the Ministry of Defence, the names of administrative organizations within the Ministry and other organizational units, their scope and mode of management, and outlines the number of civil servants, employees and active military personnel of the Ministry, in the matters not regulated by other special regulations. Internal organization, management, as well as the required number of civil servants, employees and active military personnel is determined in a way that the Ministry may carry out administrative and other tasks given to it by law in the jurisdiction and mandate.

Minister of Defence is a member of the Croatian Government in charge of the defence sector and head of the Ministry of Defence. Minister of Defence makes decisions, orders, guidelines, instructions and regulations for which he is authorized under the law to carry out the work from the scope of the Ministry of Defence. Defence Minister is responsible to the Commander in Chief for the implementation of the commandments in accordance with the provisions of the Defence Law. Minister gives consent on the Proposed Plan of use of the Croatian Armed Forces. Defence Minister at least once a year delivers to Commander in Chief the Report on readiness of commands, units and institutions of the Croatian Armed Forces.

The Ministry of Defence defines, coordinates, develops and conducts defence policy. It is responsible for the development of draft proposals for the following documents: the Defence Strategy and the Defence Plan of the Republic of Croatia as well as the development of the Annual Report on the Readiness of the Defence System, Conduct of Personnel Policy and the Overall State of the CAF.

Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) are specifically designed task forces, developed and prepared for defense of the country by military means. The Republic of Croatia, with its Armed Forces, has been full member of NATO since April 1, 2009. With the approval of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of General Staff proposes the structure and size of the Croatian Armed Forces, which are then approved and regulated by the President of the Republic, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces have adopted peacetime and wartime structure.

CAF General Staff (CAF GS): is a joint body of the CAF organised within the MoD, responsible for command, preparation and use of the CAF. The General Staff enables commanding of the entire CAF, in accordance with orders by the Commander-in-Chief and acts by the Minister of Defence, and performs other expert work for the needs of the Commander-in-Chief and the Minister of Defence. Sub-Staff units perform tasks for the needs of the The Commands of the three CAF services are responsible for the functioning of the services and are responsible for organizing, manning, development, equipping and training of commands and units for conducting tasks. Furthermore, the service commands participate in the professional development of personnel, develop branch and service doctrines, and are responsible for the training of active and reserve personnel.

The Support Command is responsible for the operationalization and coordination of logistic and medical support to the CAF in the overall spectrum of operations and performs a portion of activities related to unified personnel management. In accordance with assigned missions and tasks, the Command provides task-tailored logistic units/field logistic modules, as support to CAF units in operations in the country and abroad. It enables effective and efficient functioning of the CAF at base locations, including development and control of the external services system. In cooperation with other CAF units, the Command improves and conducts training of the CAF members for logistic military specialities, as well as functional training in the field of logistic expertise and skill.

The new role, structure and responsibility of the Croatian Armed Forces General Staff [CAF GS] over the planning and conduct of future operations indicates an orientation of the CAF towards joint action and towards the most probable forms of activity within the framework of international crisis response operations. The CAF GS, as a component part of the MoD with a portion of responsibility in the area of planning (forces, infrastructure, personnel, finance and equipping) is at the same time a strategic planning body in the area of operational planning. Introducing two deputy Chiefs of GS, along with a clear defining of responsibilities of CAF GS organizational units within the future structure will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of CAF GS in the area of defence planning, as well as in the area of operational military planning.

The Chief of CAF General Staaf is the main military advisor to af the President of the Republic of Croatia and the Minister of Defence. The Chief of GS carries out the directives of the Minister of Defence and orders of the Commander-in-Chief, in accordance with the Defence Law provisions. The Chief of CAF GS directly commands service commanders, the Support Command Commander, Director of the Croatian Military Academy, Deputy Chiefs of CAF GS, chiefs of CAF GS directorates and the CAF 1st NCO.