The ceremony at the city's "204th Croatian Army Brigade" barracks was attended by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and President of the Republic, Stjepan Mesic, Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks, Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic, the Armed Forces' Chief-of-Staff, General Josip Lucic, and the students' families. A total of 446 students, including six cadet pilots, were promoted to higher ranks at the ceremony.
Congratulating the students on completing their training, President Mesic said that Vukovar was the symbol of resistance to aggression.
"By adjusting to the criteria of the modern world, the Croatian Armed Forces are transforming into an armed force that will be able to respond to all challenges," Mesic said.
"Ovcara must never happen again," the President said.
Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks recalled in his address that the Croatian parliament adopted the Declaration on Independence on June 25, 1991.
Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic said one of the purposes of the ongoing military reform was to establish a central system of personnel management.
The ceremony ended with an Air Force show.
Earlier in the day, President Mesic laid wreaths at the monument commemorating the victims of the 1991 Ovcara massacre and at the Memorial Cemetery of Homeland War Victims.