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On the occasion of Knowledge and Schooling Day, President Serzh Sargsyan attended today the inauguration of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department of the Vazgen Sarkissian University of the RA Ministry of Defense and was present at the unveiling of the cross-stone memorial dedicated to the fallen graduates of the Military University, press department of the President’s Office reports.
According to the source, present at the ceremony were the relatives of the fallen graduates of the Military University, commanding staff of the RA Ministry of Defense and General Staff of the Armed Forces, Secretary of the National Security Council, RA Minister of Education and Science, Heads and Military Attaches of the diplomatic missions accredited to Armenia, Rectors of the higher education institutions of the Republic, and cadets.
After the unveiling and blessing of the cross-stone memorial dedicated to the fallen graduates, the President of Armenia and participants of the event laid flowers on the memorial and paid tribute to their memory.
At the ceremony dedicated to the inauguration, President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated those present on the occasion of the commencement of the academic year and opening of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department. The President toured the newly constructed premise of the Department, familiarized with the conducted works and conditions. According to the responsible officials, the use of the new unit of the Command and Staff Department provides opportunities to efficiently organize the process of training and retraining of the officers and to create infrastructural and institutional preconditions for the development of the theory of the military science. The Department comprises International, National Security, Military, and Warfare Chairs.

Below is the address by President Serzh Sargsyan on the occasion of the inauguration of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department for senior officers of the Armed Forces

Generals, Officers, and Cadets,
Distinguished Guests,

This is a momentous day for Armenia: We have gathered at the leading educational institution for the training of the military personnel for our Armed Forces, the Vazgen Sarkissian Military University, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new unit of the Command and Staff Department for Senior Officers. We are indebted for the creation of this educational institution equally to the enthusiasm and diligence of the experts from our military agency as well as to the academic experience of the friendly and partner States.

For the first time in Armenia’s history the entire process of educating officers has been put on the institutional base – from the pre-draft readiness up to the stages of training senior and the highest officer cadre. I believe this is a serious achievement.
Officers actually constitute the backbone of the state, and I believe that it is strengthening through the continuous development of their knowledge and skills. Military education occupies a leading role in this process.

This institution for the highest military education at the battalion–brigade level will provide our commanders and staff officers with the ability to make decisions and act in the army-wide, coordinated, state-wide, and international operative environment ensuring at the same time their training as Masters in Army Management. I am confident that this Department will become an educational forge for the senior officers endowed with a critical, creative, and organized mindset.
Now I would like to address the cadets of the Department.

Distinguished Officers,

Today, the Master’s degree stage of your education is commencing. You will acquire knowledge and skills necessary for becoming the future leaders of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, and critical among these skills are science of governance and art of management.

Armenia is a unique country with distinctive challenges and exceptional role. Our homeland has many strong features, and the greatest among them is the Armenian people with their innovative mind and boundless passion for creating.
Knowledge and skills to be acquired at the Command and Staff Department will guide you in the implementation of complex tasks and neutralization of challenges; they will instill you with the lasting ability to penetrate the intentions of the superiors in uncertain situations and through the precise vision of the task to guide the actions of the subordinates. The military actions of last April come to prove once again that unconditional devotion to the task of defending our homeland endows our Army with the competitive advantage of combating face to face with adversary, without pinning any hopes on foreigners, neutralizing in a fight the army and arsenal of the enemy. That very competitive advantage from the day one of our battle for existence and through the years of army building has been and remains the trump card of our Armed Forces, and it must also be applied and developed by the graduates of the Staff and Command Department during their daily service and in combat activities.

Distinguished Officers,

You will form the future military leadership of the Republic of Armenia. I want you to view this stage of your life as the most important stage for becoming skilled and professional officers. I congratulate us all on the occasion of this beautiful day, and I have no doubt that knowledge and skills which you will receive here are greatly anticipated by our people, the political military leadership of the Republic of Armenia, your immediate commanders and colleagues but most of all by your subordinates.

And since today is September 1, I would like to take this opportunity to address from this emblematical venue all our citizens who are going today to school and college.