General Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska


The General Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska was the highest professional and staff organ for preparation and use of the Army of Republika Srpska in war and in peace.

Main Staff (1992–1995)

After the outbreak of the Bosnian War, the Army of Republika Srpska was founded on 12 May 1992 with Ratko Mladić as its commander. Since the command and units of the Yugoslav People's Army withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina on 20 May; that brigades of the Territorial Defence of Republika Srpska with few or none professional military cadres were just formed; that Bosnian War was already in full motion; and that war zone was flooded with volunteer units out of control, the creation of an unified military command unfolded in exceptionally difficult circumstances.
The core of new General Staff was formed by Bosnian Serb officers of the 9th Knin Corps and the 2nd Army District of the Yugoslav People's Army. The General Staff was composed of the Command and staff units.

Command

The head of the Main Staff and the Command was General Ratko Mladić. The Command was divided in five independent sectors, staff and administration:
Closest advisors of commander of the Main Staff and people charged with the most responsible tasks were: Đorđe Đukić, Manojlo Milovanović, Zdravko Tolimir and Milan Gvero.

Staff units

The principal task of the Main Staff was planning the strategy for the conduct of the war, and cooperation with civilian authorities in order to secure the necessary resources. Very often, the Main Staff would conduct military operations via front command posts. In the first year of the war, almost whole attention of the Main Staff was directed towards the formation of military brigades out of the Territorial Defence units and volunteers. The Command of the Main Staff often came into clashed with civilian authorities, partly because of different perception of political repercussions of military operations on world public opinion, and partly because of interweaving of responsibilities, especially about material and financial supply of the Army. According to opinion of some experts who studied the course of the Bosnian War, the Command of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska proved to be the most capable military leadership among the participants in the war:

Chiefs of the General Staff