15.10.2017.
Stable Manning of the Serbian Armed Forcees
Answering a reporter’s question about manning and drain of the members of the Serbian Armed Forces, Chief of General Staff Ljubiša Diković stressed that the issues of that sort are being dealt with daily, and that the Serbian Armed Forces has been dealing with that type of problems since the transition to professional manner of manning, and that it is nothing new.
- People come to the Serbian Armed Forces and leave it. They leave it depending on their wishes, abilities, and also depending on the requirements of the Serbian Armed Forces. Today, there is a small number of countries of the world that can be proud and satisfied with the interest of their people in military service, so that the situations that we have, in terms of increased or reduced interest is nothing new – The Chief of General Staff said.
He emphasised the fact that every well trained professional soldier or contract soldier who leaves the military leaves a vacancy which requires new training.
- These are all the risks that we have assessed and knew more or less when we were deciding about the professional manner of manning. I do not say that it is the best way, and it is subject to daily analysis and I often discuss it with military experts, my colleagues. It is normal that our every member, professional soldier, who finds a better work, try to go where the salary is higher, where his employer offers more, but I would not say that this problem is so pronounced, and the most important thing is that it does not bring into question the capabilities of Serbian Armed Forces, since that is a process in progress and we do have solutions.
- Apart from leaving the possibility for voluntary military service, I am personally glad because of certain intentions and consideration of a possibility to try to prepare the people who are not in the military, both voluntarily or professionally, in a way for what awaits them in terms of country defence. It is great news – General Diković said and underlined that we have stable manning of the Serbian Armed Forces, and that “everything that the minister stated, regarding the betterment of the status, would surely have a positive effect on the interest of everyone in working in the military”.
In 2017, 1114 professional soldiers have been admitted to the Serbian Armed Forces. Another 867 individuals are in the process of admittance.
