CROATIAN MILITARY ACADEMY PRESENTED TO JOURNALISTS

ZAGREB, Feb 1 (Hina) - Reporters on Thursday toured the Croatian military academy "Petar Zrinski" in Zagreb to gain an insight into the organisation and activities of this academy which trains military staff for commanding duties. This academy consists of a college for national security (which is being established on an initiative of the President of the Republic), the war academy "Ban Josip Jelacic", the academy "Blago Zadro" for the education of high-ranking officers, the academy of the infantry "Fran Krsto Frankopan" in Jastrebarsko (outside Zagreb), the academy of the navy "Petar Kresimir IV" in Split, the academy for the air force "Rudolf Perisin" in Zadar and foreign languages school in Osijek. This model of education of Croatian officers and non-commissioned officers should enable them to respond to challenges of the 21th century. This system is also compatible with military educational systems of western democracies and open to new programmes of training and NATO standards as well, said the "Petar Zrinski" academy's head, Major General Darko Grdic who graduated from U.S. Army War College and earned MA at the Economy Faculty in Zagreb. So far, about 16,500 officers and non-commissioned officers have been trained at this academy. (hina) sb ms