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Yugoslavia Military Training and Education
In 1990 about one-half of all conscripts came from rural
backgrounds. They tended to adapt well to the rigors of military
life. Many conscripts lacked significant technical training or
mechanical experience prior to entering military service. This
factor, combined with a relatively short time of service, impeded
training beyond basic military skills. Article 243 of the 1974
Constitution guaranteed the equality of all national languages in
the armed forces. However, that article also stated that a
single, unspecified language could be used for military training
and command. In practice, Serbo-Croatian was the only language
used in the armed forces.
Conscription was instituted at the time of maximum Soviet
threat in 1948. Many seventeen-year-olds received premilitary
training prior to induction. This training was intended to give
youths some basic military knowledge so that they could enter the
YPA prepared to fight. In 1990 reserve NCOs and officers still
conducted regular premilitary drills in intermediate schools.
Basic YPA training was conducted in special training units.
Based on the TND doctrine, training covered both conventional
military operations and unconventional guerrilla warfare tactics
developed by the wartime Partisans. Basic training included
twenty weeks of individual physical conditioning, military drill
and discipline, weapons familiarization and range firing,
political indoctrination, and squad and platoon tactical
exercises. Soldiers participated in more advanced training in the
units to which they were permanently assigned at the end of basic
training. They were involved in larger unit maneuvers and
exercises up to the brigade level. Some troops received
specialist training in their permanent units, while others were
sent to technical schools.
Economic stringency limited expenditures on realistic live
fire exercises, large-scale maneuvers, and extensive education.
The YPA also was required to supply conscript labor for many
large-scale civilian construction projects. YPA units and
military engineers worked on roads, bridges, railroads, tunnels,
coal mines, and water supply systems. These activities detracted
from conventional military training time.
Data as of December 1990
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