The Armed Forces of Serbia and Montenegro included ground forces with internal and border troops, naval forces, air and air defense forces, and civil defense. From 1992 to 2003, the VSCG was called the Yugoslav Army, created from the remnants of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), the military of SFR Yugoslavia. The rump state, then named Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, participated in the Yugoslav Wars with limited direct intervention of its own armed forces. Following the end of the Wars and the constitutional reforms of 2003 by which the state was renamed "Serbia and Montenegro", the military accordingly changed its name. The military was heavily involved in combating Albanian separatists during the Kosovo War and Preševo Valley conflict, and also engaged NATO warplanes during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

Zoran Stanković was a Serbian major general and politician. He served as the Minister of Defence in the Government of Serbia and the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro and Minister of Health in the Government of Serbia. His affiliation was independent.