The development of pedagogical competence of General Jonas Žemaitis Lithuanian Military Academy (MAL) cadets is an important factor in ensuring their ability to effectively teach, lead and organise the training process in a military context as future officers. This access is based on the document "Sectoral Qualification Framework for all stages of an officer's career" (SQF-MILOF), which the EU countries jointly developed. This document focuses on lifelong learning and addresses a specific sector, i.e. military officers and their career requirements. SQF-MILOF aligns with the European Qualification Framework in the general education system throughout the EU and Bologna Process partner countries. An officer's ability to train soldiers is one of the most important skills, as it directly determines the unit's readiness, combat effectiveness and security.

An officer's pedagogical competence includes theoretical knowledge, practical skills and personal qualities. Cadets must have the opportunity to develop their skills in these areas. However, particular attention is paid to one aspect of pedagogical competence: didactic competence. As a future officer, a cadet needs to learn to objectively assess the soldiers' progress under his/her command and provide constructive feedback to stimulate the soldiers' motivation to learn.

Developing psychological and communicative competence is an important part of the cadets' pedagogical training. The leadership skills developed in MAL allow future officers to learn how to present information creatively and to learn what motivational methods build fighting spirit and determination to achieve goals. Finally, knowledge of ethics and promoting professional values are important factors in developing cadets' pedagogical competence.

A study was carried out to investigate the attitudes of MAL cadets towards the development of pedagogical competence and its importance in their professional career path. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to reveal the differences in participants' attitudes. The data shows cadets confronted with a lack of practice, pedagogy resistance, individual learning differences, and other difficulties.

The study's results suggest that not only is it necessary to pay more attention to cadets' development of pedagogical competence, but also that this attention should be systematic and comprehensive. Such an organisation of the process would enable the three components of theory, practice, and self-reflection to be integrated on an equal footing and would enable cadets to become instructors with pedagogical competence.

Keywords: Pedagogical competence, cadet education, teaching methods, leadership, communication.