Special Purpose MP Detachment Cobras
The Special Purpose Military Police Detachment "Cobras" is a unit directly subordinated to the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff intended for the security and counter-terrorist protection of specific individuals and facilities.
The Special Purpose Military Police Detachment "Cobras" comprises the Headquarters, Command Platoon, and MP Companies.
Tasks of the Special Purpose MP Detachment
The Special Purpose Military Police Detachment "Cobras" performs the following tasks:
- Security protection of specific individuals and facilities,
- Security protection of foreign military delegations during visits to the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces,
- Counter-terrorist protection of specific individuals and facilities,
- Counter-sabotage protection of specific individuals and facilities.
Manning
Admission to the Special Purpose Military Police Detachment "Cobras" is conducted through public and internal competitions. The selection of candidates takes place in several stages, with the most important being the selection training, which lasts ten weeks.
The unit admits the highest-ranked candidates who have completed the selection training, based on the decision of the personnel commission.
Background of the Special Purpose MP Detachment
By order of the Federal Secretary of National Defence on April 14, 1978, a Military Police Section for Counter-Terrorist Operations was established within the military police platoon of the 282nd Military Police Battalion of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), which marked the beginning of the first special counter-terrorist unit within the JNA.
The section, which is the precursor to today’s "Cobras", initially consisted of 12 non-commissioned officers. In 1985, the section was reorganized into a military police platoon within the Military Police Company for Counter-Terrorist Operations of the Guards Brigade. In 1992, the platoon came under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Special Units Corps, and in 1999, after the dissolution of that corps, it was placed under the Security Directorate of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army. In 2000, the unit became a Counter-Terrorist Detachment directly subordinated to the Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army.
As part of the reforms implemented in the Serbian Armed Forces, a battalion-level unit named the "Cobras" Military Police Security Battalion was established at the end of 2006 and placed within the structure of the Guard. In 2008, the unit was renamed the Special Purpose Military Police Battalion "Cobras" and became directly subordinated to the Military Police Directorate of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces.
Since the end of 2020, the unit has been directly subordinated to the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, and in January 2021, it was renamed the Special Purpose Military Police Detachment "Cobras".
