Brigadier General Gordana Garašić is a Croatian army officer and that country's first female

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

. A human resources expert, she has been posted to the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

in Afghanistan. Garašić has also served as an adviser to the Croatian delegations to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and as an adviser to the Croatian president.

Career

Garašić joined the Croatian

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in 1995 after graduating from

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

. She had intended to join the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

but reported to the defence ministry by mistake and was appointed as a senior counsellor in the

Human Resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

department. The country was at that time fighting the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. Garašić has served as an adviser to the Croatian delegations to

and the

and as a defence adviser to the president of Croatia. Garašić was posted to the NATO-led

(ISAF) in Afghanistan for six months in 2010 as head of personal affairs in Regional Command North. She also studied at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy in the United States. Garašić was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 2011. On 1 April 2014 Garašić was promoted to the

temporary rank Military ranks is a system of hierarchical relationships within armed forces, police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of La ...

of brigadier general prior to her posting as adviser for gender issues to ISAF. She became the first Croatian woman to hold general rank. In Afghanistan Garašić oversaw the introduction of an all-female facility for the

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ; ), also known as the Afghan Police, is the national police force of the Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The first police officer i ...

's elite Crisis Response Units. Her contribution to the integration of women into the police force was recognised in December 2014 when the Afghan government awarded her a medal for achievement. Garašić was appointed to the permanent rank of brigadier general in 2015 and is currently Deputy Director of RACVIAC, an international security co-operation mission based in Croatia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garasic, Gordana Female army generals Croatian army officers Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni Military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Living people Year of birth missing (living people)