Peacekeeping Operations Center

Peacekeeping Operations Centre PKOC
Центар за мировне операције Centar za mirovne operacije
Active	1956–present (current form since 2005)
Country	Serbia
Allegiance	Serbian Armed Forces
Type	Peacekeeping operations
Part of	General Staff Joint Operations Command
Garrison/HQ	Belgrade
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Milivoje Pajović

Peacekeeping Operations Center (PKOC) (Serbian: Centar za mirovne operacije / Центар за мировне операције) is an organizational unit of the Joint Operations Command within the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces. It is the major authority for training, selection, equipping, preparation, and deployment of individuals and units from the Ministry of Defense and Serbian Armed Forces to multinational operations outside the borders of the Republic of Serbia.

Background

Since the end of the war in the former SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Army and the Army of Serbia and Montenegro have joined multinational operations starting 2002. Consequently, they participated in two multinational operations of the United Nations: UNMISET in East Timor and ONUB in Burundi. In these multinational operations, the officers were individually deployed as military observers.

Deploying individual officers requires the existence of an organizational unit that would coordinate all activities in selecting staff, their equipment, preparing for specific duties beyond the borders of the country and resolving their status during this deployment.

Since 2002, the area of peacekeeping missions in the military was coordinated by the Section for International Integration and Peace Operations from the Operational Department of the General Staff of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro. On October 14, 2003, this section became the National Center for Peacekeeping Missions, which was subordinated to the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro.

The Peacekeeping Operations Center, as the legal successor of the National Center for Peacekeeping Missions, was established on January 1, 2005, and since then, it is directly subordinated to the Joint Operations Command of the General Staff. The Peacekeeping Operations Center celebrates its Day on November 17th in memory of the day when, in 1956, the precursor of the YPA Detachment of 44 men was sent to the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) in Sinai. Currently there are 280 Serbian peacekeepers deployed in 9 UN and EU missions around the world. Center is full member of EAPTC (European Association of Peace Operations Training Centres) and IAPTC (International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres).

Tasks

The Center has various duties each of which are complex. They include:

• Selection, training and preparation of personnel and participation in the training and preparation of units for multinational operations.
• Monitoring, coordination and control of the forces of the Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations, in accordance with the decision of the competent authorities.
• Coordination of activities in the planning, organization, and realization of transport of individuals, units, weapons and military equipment in multinational operations.
• Planning, organizing and realization of national and international courses, seminars and lectures in the field of multinational operations.
• Development of criteria for manning units and key staff in units that are preparing for deployment in multinational operations.
• Proposing individuals for training in the country and abroad to participate in multinational operations.
• Participate in the selection and development of units’ training for multinational operations.
• Coordination of the preparation of forces for multinational operations with the organizational units of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff and the relevant entities in the Republic of Serbia and other international entities and organizations.
• Proposing the costs of preparing and deploying individuals and units to participate in multinational operations.
• Participate in the assessment of the capabilities of the units for deployment in multinational operations.
• Participate in the preparation of the Memorandum of Understanding and technical agreements for the deployment of members of the Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations.
• Proposing and participating in drafting and amending the normative and legal framework to participate in multinational operations.
• Cooperation with regional and world peace-support operations training centers and international organizations.
• Cooperation with the organizational units of the MoD and the General Staff in charge of international military cooperation and training.
• Cooperation with international entities for the exchange of ideas and experiences from multinational operations, in accordance with the plan of the bilateral military cooperation.

Organizational structure

The Center's organizational structure consists of four other departments and one group:

• Department of Human Resources
• Department for Operations and Staff Affairs
• Department for Training
• Department of Support
• Finance Group

References

1. "Peacekeeping Operations Center (PKOC)". Vojska Srbije (in Serbian).
2. "White Book of Defence" (PDF). Ministarstvo odbrane (in Serbian).
3. "Defence Act". Narodna Skupština (in Serbian).
4. "Serbian Armed Forces Act". Narodna Skupština (in Serbian).
5. "Act on use of Serbian Armed Forces and other defence forces on foreign soil" (PDF). Narodna Skupština (in Serbian).
6. "Regulation on guidelines of internal structure and systematization of formative positions". Vlada Srbije (in Serbian).