During 2023, more than 500 officers completed the “Captain’s Course”

In 2023, the joint efforts of the Command of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces, the Come Back Alive Foundation, and responsible businesses managed to train more than 500 officers of the Defense Forces.

Commanders of companies, platoons, and officers of battalion headquarters from all regions of Ukraine completed the training.

“Captain Course” is a training course on military leadership developed by leading military specialists in compliance with NATO standards, considering the latest experience in warfare in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

For two months, Ukrainian officers have been studying military decision-making procedures, sharing combat experience, and developing leadership skills.

In 2023, five intakes of the training course took place and 505 officers graduated. In addition, 20 officers were trained under the special “Training of Unmanned Systems Commanders” program.

In particular, in addition to the TDF servicemen, 31 representatives of the National Guard of Ukraine and 8 representatives of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine completed the course. The participation of other units proves the effectiveness of the program.

The final test of the graduates shows high results in mastering the material on battle planning procedures and military decision-making.

Based on the results of the 2022 pilot class, the course curriculum has also been changed to include additional topics for in-depth study of military decision-making. This, in turn, affected the duration of the course, which increased from 6 to 8 weeks.

“Participants of the course – from platoon commanders to combatants and chiefs of staff – call the Captain’s Course the best training. The program is constantly being improved. It meets the standards of NATO militaries, as well as the experience and needs of the Ukrainian military. The training is highly effective and produces results on the battlefield. That is why it is important to continue and scale this project,” Taras Chmut, Director of the Come Back Alive Foundation, comments.

The course is conducted by the Command of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine together with the Come Back Alive Foundation with the support of the main partners – IT companies Genesis and SKELAR.

The initiative was also supported by Universe and AMO from the Genesis ecosystem, as well as appflame and Headway. Due to the help of responsible businesses, decent learning and living conditions were created for the course participants.

In particular, 96.7% of the fifth intake’s participants rated their overall impression of the Captains’ School as “excellent” or “good.”

In particular, 96.7% of fifth-issue course participants rated the overall impression of participating in the “Captain’s Course” as “excellent” and “good.”

“Genesis and our partner companies support the course throughout the year because we understand the value of this project and the level of its impact on effective counteraction to the enemy. Without exaggeration, this is one of the best educational programs for captains in the country, and every investment in education is strategic. We are pleased to support the project, which is making systemic changes and developing leadership in the army. I thank the entire project team, our partners, and most of all, I thank the Defense Forces!” Volodymyr Mnoholotnyi, founder and CEO of Genesis, noted.

Another positive result was the fact that in 2023, the Captains’ Course was shortlisted for the first DOU award in the category “Most powerful initiative from an IT company that brings victory closer.”

“At SKELAR, we believe that Ukrainian business should help the Armed Forces and other Defense Forces of Ukraine. And we also see that investing in the education of our military is one of the best investments in terms of “return on investment” – increasing the efficiency and combat capability of our army. That is why SKELAR chose the Captains’ Course as its flagship project to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The project’s audience – both young and experienced military personnel from different parts of Ukraine and from different branches of the armed forces – are united by one goal: to defeat the enemy. I am proud that we have the opportunity to support such a useful and effective project. Many thanks to all the organizers and graduates of the course – you are a source of inspiration and motivation for everyone at Skelar!” Maksym Shtepa, Co-Founder and CEO of SKELAR, said.

In total, since its creation, 580 officers of the Territorial Defense, National Guard, and Air Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have passed the “Captain’s Course” course. All of them continue to command fighters on the front lines with gained knowledge and skills.

Each of them has about a hundred people in subordination. That is, the course directly affects the coordinated and effective participation in the battles of 58,000 Ukrainian soldiers.