MP Detachment for Special Purposes
Military Police Detachment for Special Purposes "Kobre" is a unit directly subordinated to the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff intended for protection of certain persons and facilities of special importance.The Military Police Detachment for Special Purposes "Kobre" consists of HQ, Command Platoon and MP Companies.
Tasks of the MP Detachment "Kobre"
The tasks of the Military Police Detachment for Special Purposes "Kobre" are related to securing the required level of operational capabilities and availability of the forces required to perform missions.
Within the mission, the Military Police Detachment for Special Purposes "Kobre" performs the following tasks:
- Preventive measures and actions in performing security protection, counterterrorism and counter-insurgency actions ;
- Assessments, planning and implementation of security tasks in the domain of protection of certain persons and objects ;
- Counterterrorist and counter-insurgency actions in all environments (inhabited areas, transportation means, facilities); and
- Protection of the highest foreign military delegations on an official visit to the Republic of Serbia.
Manning
The admission procedure to the Military Police Detachment for Special Purposes "Kobre" reflects the demands of the unit and the tasks it performs. The selection of candidates is conducted at several levels.
The admission requirements are general and specific and include the age limit, impeccable record and high official marks, successful health and psychological examinations in accordance with specific criteria and high standards, as well as security clearance.
Following the selective training that lasts for 3 weeks, with increased physical and psychological challenges, the candidates are admitted to the unit on the basis of assessments made by a team of experts.
Background of the MP Detachment "Kobre"
By the order of the Federal Secretary for Defence from April 14, 1978, the Military Police Counterterrorist Section was established within the 282nd Military Police Battalion of the Yugoslav People’s Army (YPA), which was the precursor of the first special counterterrorist unit in former YPA.
In the Section, which was the predecessor of the current "Kobre" unit, there were 1 officer and 12 NCOs. The Section was transferred to the newly formed Special Forces Corps in 1992, and in 2000 it became the counterterrorist unit directly subordinated to the Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Armed Forces.
At the end of 2006, in line with the reforms implemented in the Serbian Armed Forces, a battalion-level unit called Military Police Battalion for Protection "Kobre", was established and became part of the Guard. Since 2008, when the unit changed its name to the Military Police Battalion for Special Purposes "Kobre" it has been a part of the Military Police Directorate of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff.
Since 2020 the unit is directly subordinated to the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff and in January 2021 it was renamed the Military Police Detachment for Special Purposes "Kobre".
