Deputy Chief of the General Staff

Brigadier General Franc Koračin was born on 27 March 1966 in Murska Sobota. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in 2015. 

After graduating from the Military Academy of the Yugoslav People’s Army (YPA) in 1989, he started his military career in the Territorial Defence of the Republic of Slovenia as a reserve officer. He was appointed commander of the Counter-Sabotage Platoon – a special platoon in the then Gornja Radgona municipal headquarters and the 73rd Regional Territorial Defence Headquarters Ljutomer. He was first employed in the "14. OKTOBER" Chamber of Craft of Gornja Radgona in 1989. In 1990, his platoon was on standby to intervene in the event of possible confiscation of recruitment documents by the YPA. During the War of Independence he was actively involved in combat activities in Gornja Radgona. In the same year, he interrupted his studies at the Faculty of Business and Economics (fourth year) and joined the Territorial Defence in an active-component platoon in Ljutomer. He gained a lot of experiences in staff and command duties, which he performed at various levels of command and control, including the international environment as Deputy Commander of the European Brigade. Under his leadership, two battalions were formed, the 172nd Infantry Training Battalion and the 670th Headquarters Logistics Battalion. The latter incorporated the first SAF unit formed and affirmed according to NATO standards, namely the Transport Company of the 670th Headquarters Logistics Battalion. When he was Commander of the 72nd Brigade, the Brigade successfully transformed and built up the capability of a Motorised Battalion Battle Group (MOTBBSk), and was the first SAF unit to successfully pass a combat readiness review under the supervision of international observers and in accordance with the criteria applicable in the Alliance. He has also gained experience in numerous Slovenian and international exercises, in the activities related to flood relief, the aftermath of glaze ice, in the provision of support to the Ministry of the Interior in managing the refugee and migrant crisis, and in the field of civil-military cooperation. He is a veteran of the 1991 War for Slovenia.

He is married to Darinka, with whom he has two sons, Jure and Žiga. He is an amateur painter and participant of the General Maister art workshops. He has participated in numerous exhibitions at the Ministry of Defence and has had a solo exhibition in Slovenska Bistrica.