Sergeant Major Danijel Kovac
SAF Command Senior Enlisted Leader
Sergeant Major Danijel Kovac was born on 14 August 1972 in Maribor, Slovenia.
He was drafted into the Army in 1993 as a soldier, conscript. In 1994, he applied for the Slovenian Special Forces. He passed the Special Forces selection and completed an eight-month specialized training course. After graduation, he was assigned into the specialized reconnaissance unit. Sergeant Major Kovac has held leadership positions in Infantry as Squad Leader, in a Reconnaissance Platoon, as Platoon Sergeant, Infantry Company 1st Sergeant, Command Sergeant Major of the Infantry Battalion, Command Sergeant Major of the Infantry Brigade and is currently a Command Sergeant Major of a Military Schools Center since June 2017.
He is a graduate of the US Army Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course (Ft. Benning 2000), Ranger School (Ft. Benning 2002, class 06-02), Battle Staff Noncommissioned Officers Course S-2 & S-3 Staff functions (USAJFKSWCS 2003), Defense Language Institute (Lackland AFB San Antonio 2011), United States Sergeant Major Academy (USASMA Ft. Bliss 2012). He participated in several US military training exercises to include the Peace Keeping Operations (PKO) Exercise at Fort Polk (Cooperative Nugget 1997), Peacekeeping Operations Military Police Course (Vienna Training Center 1996), NATO CIMIC Field Worker Course (Maribor, 2014), NATO Command Senior Enlisted Course (Oberammergau, 2017).
He is a graduate of the following Slovenian Army Courses: The Basic NCO School, Platoon Sergeant Course, Advanced NCO Course, Leadership Course, Instructor for the Remote Weapon Station
(RWS) Kongsberg course (Patria, Finland 2008), Airborne Course, Basic and Advanced Mountaineering Course, Basic and Advanced EOD Course.
He completed overseas tours in Cyprus (UN mission in Cyprus UNFICYP, 1998, 1999), Bosnia
(SFOR 2004), Afghanistan (ISAF, member of the Slovenian Reconnaissance team attached to the Canadian Reconnaissance Squadron - The Royal Canadian Dragoons, 2005), Kosovo (KFOR, 2007 and 2015 as Slovenian Contingent Command Senior Enlisted Leader).
His awards and decorations include several Slovenian awards and decorations and foreign medals, as follows: NATO Non-Article 5. Medal (SFOR, KFOR, and ISAF), Canadian General Campaign Star Medal (ISAF), and UN Medal (UNFICYP).
He speaks and writes in English, completing the NATO STANAG 3.
He finished University of Applied Business and Social Studies and holds a degree in Business Administration.
He is married to his wife Sandra, has two sons, Tian and Jakob. He lives in Bistrica ob Dravi, Slovenia.