Mission:
Organization, coordination and realization of individual training of soldiers, cadets, non-commissioned officers and officers from the active and reserve personnel, support of the collective training of the commands and units of the Army and development of Doctrines and lessons learned in the Army.
Tasks:
- Preparation and development of Plans and Programmes for individual training of soldiers, cadets, non-commissioned officers and officers from the active and reserve personnel of the Army;
- Realization of the basic military training of soldiers serving voluntarily in the Army, cadets and candidates for officers in the servicess in the Army;
- Realisation of the training of the professional soldiers and non-commissioned officers and their continuous professional development;
- Realization of language training for the needs of the Ministry of Defence and the Army;
Raising and training official dogs and training of official dogs leaders; - Support of the collective forms of training and exercises of the units of the Army;
- Support of the water training and winter conditions training;
- Development of doctrines, regulations, instructions, manuals and lessons learned in the Army.
Colonel Vasko Kokolanski
Colonel Vasko Kokolanski was born on December 12, 1974 in Strumica, where he finished primary and secondary education. After serving in the military in 1994 in Veles, he continued his education at the “General Mihajlo Apostolski” Military Academy. He began his military career in 1999 as an infantry officer from the first generation of officer graduates at the “General Mihajlo Apostolski” Military Academy in Skopje. After being promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, he was assigned to his first duty as a platoon commander in the Military Police battalion in Skopje. In his career so far, he has performed several command and staff duties: company commander, chief of section of the Special Operations Regiment, deputy commander and commander of the Military Police battalion, public relations officer in the Joint Operations Command, deputy commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, and as of August 2022, he has been appointed commander of the Training and Doctrine Command.
He upgraded his military education on specialist studies for command and staff duties at the “United States Army Command and General Staff College” in Fort Leavenworth in the USA and in 2019 he completed his studies at the “National Defense University” in Washington DC, the USA where he obtained his master’s degree.
He has enhanced his professional development by participating and completing several courses in the country and abroad: Advanced Course for Military Police Officers in Missouri, the USA; Alpinist Course in Andermatt, Switzerland; NATO Orientation Course for Officers, NATO School in Oberammergau; Course on NATO Operational Planning Process; Course on Combating Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Drugs and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Ankara, Turkey; Course for NATO CREVAL Evaluators in Oberammergau, Germany; Course on Combating Irregular Migration at the Marshall Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
During his career, he made his contribution by taking part in peace support operations: in 2006, he participated in the “Iraqi Freedom” mission in Iraq, for which he received an ARCOM medal, and in 2010, he participated in the “Phoenix” mission within the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. He also actively participated in several exercises in the country: “Macedonian Flash” (2,3,4,5,6), Krivolak; “REGEX19”, Veles. As a certified evaluator he took part in Self-Assessment and NATO Assessment level 1 and 2 of the declared units from the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia in the NATO pool of forces, from 2007 – 2013.
For his commitment, demonstrated and achieved results in the process of combat training, education and building of the Army, colonel Kokolanski has been awarded several times and has received decorations and awards from the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army and superior commanders.
He is proficient in English, and in his free time he likes to read and research.
Colonel Lulzim Nuredini
Colonel Lulzim Nuredini was born on November 5, 1977 in Kichevo, where he finished primary and secondary education. He continued his education at the Military Academy “General Mihajlo Apostolski” in Skopje and in 2000 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the branch of infantry. After the promotion, he started his officer’s career in the infantry battalion in Kichevo. In his career so far, he has performed several command and staff duties: Company Commander, Training and Exercise officer in the Logistics Battalion, Operations officer in S-3/7 in the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Head of S-7 training section in the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Commander of a Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Chief of the Training Department in J-7 in the Operations Command, Chief of Staff in the Training and Doctrine Command. As of November 1, 2022, he has been appointed Deputy Commander of the Training and Doctrines Command.
He continued his military education with specialist studies for Command and Staff duties at the Military Academy “General Mihajlo Apostolski” in Skopje in 2006, and he completed the National Defence School at the Military Academy “G. S. Rakovski” in Sofia-Bulgaria and obtained a master’s degree in “Strategic Leadership in Defense and Armed Forces” in 2019.
He has enhanced his professional development by participating and completing several courses in the country and abroad: Platoon Commanders Pilot Course in TC “Pepelishte”; Instructor Training Course in Vyskov-Czech Republic; United Nations Military Observer Course in Amersforoot-Netherlands; OCC E&F Course for evaluators – TC “Pepelishte”; Course on Analysis, Design and Evaluation of Peace Support Training in Vyskov-Czech Republic; Course on English Language Briefings.
During his career, he made his contribution by participating in peace operations led by NATO: in the period from 2009-2010, 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 as Commander and Deputy Commander of a contingent for securing the main base of the ISAF forces in Kabul Afghanistan when he received the NATO medal for participation in the ISAF operation and the “Afghanistan Campaign” medal.
He actively participated in several exercises carried out in the country and abroad: Exercise at the command post of the Mediterranean dialogue “Cooperative Associate 2005” in Skopje; “Energy Flame 2011” in Bulgaria; “See Breeze-2008” in Ukraine; “Macedonian Flash 9 and 10” at ATA Krivolak; “Fast Lynx-14” at the barracks in Kichevo, and the NATO/PfP/MD/ICI exercise “Cooperative Longbow/Lancer 12” at ATA Krivolak.
For his commitment and achieved results in the process of combat training, education, building the capacities of the Army, participation in peace operations, he has been awarded and decorated several times by his superior commanders, the Chief of General Staff and the Minister of Defence, and has received: NATO medal for participation in an ISAF peacekeeping operation; Army Gold, Silver and Bronze Badge; Silver and Bronze Partnership, Coordination and Cooperation Badge and the Army Plaque of Merit.
He speaks Albanian (native language), English, Turkish and Bulgarian. He is married and father of two teenagers, Alban and Visar.
Master Sergeant Sasho Kirovski
Master Sergeant Sasho Kirovski was born in 1978 in Shtip, finished his primary education in Zletovo, and completed his secondary education in Probishtip. He took his first steps in the Army in 1997 as a conscript and continued as a contract soldier in 1998. He was promoted to NCO rank in 2000 after completing the Basic Course for Non-commissioned Officers.
He started his military career as a Section Commander in Shtip, 2nd Infantry Battalion. During his military career, he has performed command and staff duties: Section/Platoon Commander in an Infantry Company, Instructor for Basic Training, Chief Instructor for Basic NCO Training, Instructor for Advanced NCO Training, Commander of Instructor Group for NCO Advanced Training, Command Non-Commissioned Officer in the Training Company of Soldiers on Voluntary Military Service at the Individual Training Center, Training and Exercise Non-Commissioned Officer in the Training and Doctrine Command.
He continued his professional development and training by completing several courses in the country and abroad. Among the more significant are the courses for performing the duties of an instructor that he completed in Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Germany. In 2016, he completed the Course for Command NCOs in Zagreb, Croatia. In addition, he has participated in conferences and seminars, as well as in several military exercises.
During his career, he has been awarded several times, including silver badge of the Army. He speaks English, Russian and Serbian very well. He is married and has one child.
Captain Cvetanka Velkovska
Captain Cvetanka Velkovska was born on 7, December 1991 in Veles. She completed her secondary education in ‘Kocho Racin’ grammar school – natural sciences and mathematics. She continued her education at the Military Academy ‘General Mihajlo Apostolski’ in Skopje.
After completing her military education she started her military career as Platoon commander for maintenance at the 3rd Logistics Support Company in Veles. In her career she has performed many command duties and has participated in different courses and military exercises, like the regional military exercise 2019 ‘REGEX 19’ in Veles, which contributed to her military experience.
She has attended many courses and seminars, for example, the Biological Weapon and Toxicology Basic Training in Krushevac, Serbia; International course for NBC Trainers for first contact with NBC incidents, Bulgaria; a seminar and a visit to the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, to the Mission of the Republic of North Macedonia to the NATO and to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) located in Mons, Belgium and others which also added to her military experience.
Previous appointments:
- Platoon Commander for maintenance in the 3rd Logistics Support Company in Veles, 2014-2015;
- Platoon Commander for decontamination in the NBC Company in Skopje, 2015-2016;
- Platoon Commander for supplies and transport in the 3rd Logistics Support Company in Veles and Company Deputy Commander, 2016-2019;
- Commander of the 1st team for training of professional soldiers, 2019;
- Public relations officer since 31.12.2019.
Promotions:
- Second Lieutenant 2014-2016;
- Lieutenant 2016-2019;
- Captain 2019.
Foreign languages:
- English.
With the object of improving the quality of the training of the Army several centers for basic and specialized individual training of the soldiers were established in 1996, whereas collective training was done within the units. Centers for training of: infantry, artillery, logistics, border guards, military police and reconnaissance were founded.
With the reducing of the Army on 19 March 2001 the Training Command of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia was formed at the Goce Delchev barracks in Skopje with three training centers: Infantry Training Center (Bitola), Border Guards Center (Veles) and the Branches and Services Center (Skopje).
On 15 December 2006, with the implementation of the regulations of the Defence Strategic Review and the dynamic plan for transformation of the units, the Training Command is transformed and its structure consists of:
- Individual Training Center (Veles),
- Dog training and dressage Center (Gjorche Petrov, Skopje),
- Foreign Language Center (Goce Delchev , Skopje),
- Training Area Krivolak (Krivolak),
- Water Training Center (Ohrid),
- Winter Conditions Training Center (Popova Shapka) and
- Firing Range Petrovec (Petrovec).
Starting from March 2010, the Cadet Training Center (Goce Delchev, Skopje) was added to the structure of the Training Command.
In 2012, at the Training Area Krivolak a Training Support Center was formed which consists of:Water Training Center-Ohrid, Winter Conditions Training Center Popova Shapka and the Firing Range Petrovec.
Moreover, a Preparation of doctrines, regulations and lessons learned Center is added to the structure of the Training and Doctrine Command in Veles.
