Croatian military psychology was founded in November 1991 with the establishment of the Department for Military Psychology within the Directorate for Information and Psychological Activities of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia, and after that a military psychologist was assigned to each brigade, larger unit and command, and then also to military institutions. This was preceded by the work of psychologists in the Ministry of Interior and the establishment of the Crisis Staff of the Croatian Psychological Society in August 1991, which directed the activities of Croatian psychologists in all areas of defence. The main activities since the foundation are: <br />• System for assessment of Psychological combat readiness. <br />• Psychological selection for professional military personnel, for military training and for certain duties, as well as selection of conscripts until 2007, then from 2008 selection for voluntary military training commenced. <br />• Psychological support and prevention. <br />• Military psychological training in units and in Croatian military schools. <br /><br />Among numerous activities introduced after the Homeland War, support and participation in international operations, since 1999, stand out. The implementation of each activity was accompanied by numerous instructions, regulations and manuals. The publication of 14 manuals during 1991/92 and the three-volume Military Psychology Handbook in 2000, 2003 and 2005, translated into Hungarian and presented with the Zoran Bujas Psychological Award in 2007, should be especially mentioned. Outside of the military, wider professional coordination takes place through sections within the Croatian Psychological Chamber and the Croatian Psychological Society. A course on ‘’Military Psychology’’ are offered for psychology students by three Universities, in Zagreb since 1992/93. Since the 1st annual Croatian Psychological Society conference in 1993 till 2023, 371 papers from 154 authors were presented at military psychology symposia, along with numerous papers at other national and international conferences and meetings. Since 1996, military psychology has had the legal status of a separate branch within the armed forces. It has been a member of the International Military Testing Association since 2004 and has received the Ramiro Bujas Award in 2001. Overall, since 1991, military psychology has grown with the Croatian Armed Forces as a robust branch with clear tasks, supporting the war effort and keeping abreast of post-war military changes. Military psychology in the Croatian Armed Forces has been firmly tied to Croatian national and international psychology, starting from the first day, from the principle of the foundation of applied military psychology to the scientific-based approach, which is the basis for further successfulness.

Military psychology, Crisis Staff of the Croatian Psychological Society, Homeland War, Croatian Armed Forces