czech armed forces review 1-2012

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REVIEW1/ 20121/ 2012

New Chief of General Staff Czech Armed ForcesNew Chief of General Staff Czech Armed ForcesLieutenant-General Petr Pavel:Lieutenant-General Petr Pavel:

Equation StaggeringEquation Staggeringtoo muchtoo much


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Published by MoD CR, Commnication and Promotion DepartmentTychonova 1, 160 01 Praha 6, Czech Republic; www.army.czIdentication number: 60162694

Address: Rooseveltova 23, 161 05 Praha 6, Czech RepublicPhone: +420 973 215 553, +420 973 215 786

Editor-in-chief: Jan Prochzka, e-mail: [email protected]: Andrea Blohlvkov Translation: Jan JindraCover photos by Jindich Plescher

Distributed by MoD PDD Production SectionRooseveltova 23, 161 05 Praha 6, Czech RepublicOga Endlov, tel. +420 973 215 563Printed by: EUROPRINT, a. s.

ISSN 1804-9672Registration number: MK R E 18227

Published: July 2012

Contents

An equation staggering too much 2Interview with new Czech CHOD, LTG Petr Pavel

Never step into the same river twice 6

Medics were the rst 12

Interactivities green-lit 14

Facing new challenges 17

Czech aid for Afghans 20

Four Czech years in Kabul 22

Cadets attained the jaguar 24

Managing oneself 27

A unique helicoper project 30

Minimi machinegun 32

A school with no teachers 35

Czech MTA Hradit turning into Logar 38

Hit! 40

Unique institute with mission out of the ordinary 43

Solving the puzzle of death 46

In tune for missions in Afghanistan 48

In the kingdoms of the mythic Scheherazadea 52

Firing at the Artic Circle 54

The Czech contribution to NAEW&C 58

The Balkan crucible 60

(Extra)ordinary eight-digit number 62

Science against terrorism 64

Lieutenant-General Petr PavelLieutenant-General Petr Pavelnewly appointed the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic

On Friday June 29, 2012, the President of the Czech Republic Vclav Klaus appointed thenew Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forcesof the Czech Republic. Replacing General Vlas-timil Picek, Lieutenant-General Petr Pavel tookover as the new CHOD at July 1, 2012.

The President congratulated both Generals,and thanked General Picek for his achievementsin the highest military post. I had the chanceto watch his performance for a number of years,not only as the Chief of Military Of ce of thePresident, but also in this assignment, and I haveto admit he proved excellent. It is our duty tothank General Picek for his endeavour of manyyears standing, President Klaus said and awar-ded General Picek with the Golden Plaque onthat occasion. It is a sort of personal award thatI, as the President of the Republic, bestow on

those who have excelled in their branch, became publicly recognised personalities, and enrichedme personally, the head of state explained.

The President also wished the new Chief of General Staff Lieutenant-General Petr Pavel thevery best of luck in his new assignment, that heremained unchanged and would not yield to ex-ternal pressures. I fully realise the complexityof your position in the situation of current cut-ting of defence expenditures and I trust you will be able to cope with it successfully. I am alwaysready to be of assistance to you in this respect,President Klaus added.

General Picek thanked to the President on be-half of the whole Czech Armed Forces. Todayis a very important day for me. Not only I amending my term as the Chief of General Staff, but my service career that lasted over forty yearsconcludes as well. I have seen good times and bad times too and I would like to accentuate that perhaps the most enjoyable moments I experi-enced in my military life involved working by

your side, generalPicek said to the Pre-sident. The period of time when he servedas the Chief of theMilitary Of ce of thePresident gave him anextensive experiencethat he sought to usein his assignment asthe Chief of Defence.

Lieutenant-Gene-ral Petr Pavel notedthat this day could befor him the proverbcome true of mar-shals baton in theknapsack of a simple

soldier. But he ra-ther underscored hewas at the beginningof a journey, thatwould not involve lustre only, but surely alsohard work, often with uncertain outcomes. "Inaddition to pride, I also increasingly realise theresponsibility, which is and will be obliging, andwill be greater than that I have ever been facedwith in my service career," General Petr Pavelsaid. By the way of conclusion, General Pavelthanked the President for the support the Presi-dent has shown and emphasised he would do his best for the armed forces to be responsible andcontinuously able to provide national defence.

On the same day, the National MemorialsCourtyard of Honour was the venue to a mus-ter ceremony involving the servicemembers of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic on theoccasion of the armed forces day and handover/takeover in the post of the Chief of GeneralStaff.

The ceremony started by laying a joint wre-ath in the Courtyard of Honour of the NationalMemorial by the top MoD and Armed Forcesof cials and continued with a minute of silen-ce in honour of those who died in the line of duty.

The Czech Armed Forces may be right-ly proud of its legionnaire traditions that areworthy of honouring and following on. I haveno doubt that the Armed Forces of the CzechRepublic thoroughly protects the legacy of thefounding fathers of our armed forces and of our statehood, Defence Minister Alexandr Vondraaccentuated in his remarks and thanked to Ge-neral Vlastimil Picek, who ended hisve-ye-ar term in the position of the Chief of GeneralStaff of the Czech Armed Forces for everythinghe has done for the Czech Armed Forces. Henavigated the Armed Forces through a highlydif cult period and led it successfully, Minister Vondra underscored.

I am a soldier, so let me be brief. Thank you very much for the years of diligent, effortful and meaningful work, General Picek said.

The newly appointed Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant-General Petr Pavel, mentioned in his remarks: The coordinated and sustained effort to penetrate the most senior levels of government and political parties withunbiased and complete information about the true condition of the armedforces and its readiness to ensure national defence is beginning to yield theexpected outcome in the form of an increased awareness that the defencedepartment may no longer serve as a readily available auxiliary resource to ll public spending decits.

After the order of the Minister of Defence was pronounced on his appo-intment as the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant-General Pavel took over the banner of the Czech Armed Forces General Staff from the hands of Mi-nister Vondra. Exactly at 12:00 hours, Minister Vondra, General Picek andGeneral Pavel signed a document in the foyer of the National Memorialon handover and takeover of the of ce of the Chief of General Staff of theArmed Forces of the Czech Republic.

by Olga Haladov and Pavel LangPhotos by Marie Kov and Radko Janata


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Guest

One of our colleague editors served with yourfather in the military. He recalled your father asa man with huge natural authority and a soldierwith big S. Were you reared military style evenbefore enrolling at the Military Grammar Scho-ol in Opava?

Exactly. My dad was a true soldier in hisheart and soul. Although I probably did not ad-mit it at that time, I perhaps grew up as a sortof a little soldier. Not that he would force me tofollow a military regimen, but the military spiritwas always there. He had sort of strictness andhigh demands for me and tried to motivate mefor a higher notch than I thought I would be ableto attain.

You served a tour abroad in 2007-2011, and thelast three years at SHAPE, which is understoodby some as a farewell post in military career.Did it occur to you then that you would be of-fered the most senior post in the Czech ArmedForces?

I do not think that posting in SHAPE would be something given on farewell.

But there were cases in the past that this posting was given as if before honourabledischarge...

But that was a mistake. Some posts may have been given as a reward prior to retirement. ButI am condent that SHAPE should contrari-ly be the doorway to the highest armed forcescommand echelons. It is a place where one hasopportunities to gain much experience and con-tacts. First and foremost, however, one gainsa different perspective on various issues to be judged. People learn, for instance, how problemsare solved in multinational environment. Bothme and especially General Malennsk broughta body of experience from there, which we to-daynd very useful in our day-to-day work.

When you gave us an interview then, you saidthat you reached certain horizon, but the hori-

zon afterwards moved much farther again...Just that I served at SHAPE and was pro-

moted Major-General was much more thanI ever hoped to achieve. I have had manyobjectives in my military life. One of therst ones was to get to Prost jov and become a member of airborne forces.That came true for me, I lived throughloads of good things and worse things

too and when I returned there after years as thecommander, I felt like in military heaven. Allthe rest that I achieved afterwards just kept mesurprised. Every new post gave me the pleasurethat I got as far as there. I have overcome myhorizons quite frequently and I was happy withevery one of them.

When General tefka was taking over as CHODin 2002, he called his people the winning team. Your team is rather referred to as a team of da-

redevils. You will be the most senior military leader in a very difcult period. Do you fully realise the challenges you will be facing?

Sure. The more the takeover was drawingcloser, the more the feeling of responsibili-ty pressed on me. But I seek to take it as nottying me down, but rather obliging me. It willdenitely be hard, but I always maintained theopinion that unless the situation is completelyhopeless, people should do their best to achie-ve maximum. I believe the team of people hereare capable enough that we will be able to ght problems somehow. From my perspective, the biggest problem is that most of the tools for so-lutions are not in our hands. That is what I amafraid of most. What you can inuence is most-ly manageable. But if those are matters outsideour purview, it is naturally worse. Things havehuge inertia at the highest echelons of commandand senior MoD level, and potential successonly come out in the long run. If some thingsdo not materialise straightaway, I do not losehope. Even minor achievements ll me with op-timism, at least in part. Then I start to trust thatthings are going to move forward.

There are not many service personnel sharingthis optimism. What sort of advice would youoffer to them?

I believe we are living some kind of realityand there is nowhere to hide. Of course, we havethe option to throw the towel in, retire from themilitary and hope for a brighter future elsewhe-re. But there are problems in all sectors thesedays. Unless people have professions that arein high demand and low density in the civiliansector, which is unfortunately not the case withmost of military service personnel, we have nochoice than to try andght what there is. It isour life, our time, and although it is hard, wehave to cope.

How numerous will be the team you are goingto bring along with you, and do you considerreplacing some of the deputy chiefs of generalstaff?

I have not brought any team; I am going totake over the people serving here. When one isin a managerial post, especially the most seni-or one, the qualication should be their abilityto work in team. If that is a problem, then theindividual is probably not in the right position.

I stand ready to work with the team that I have.I do not mean to say at all that I would take over people lacking in quality. But that does not apply to this component nevertheless. There will be just one change, with another general of cer moving to my position.

Who will be that person?Brigadier-General Bohuslav Dvo k.

You are one of the authors of the White paper

on Defence, but it now shows that there willnot be enough funding allocated to bring itinto reality. Do you think nevertheless that itbe fullled?

The White Paper is not a set of tasks withspecically dened timing. We simply cannotsay now the White Paper no longer applies, thatwe may calmly archive it for the generationsto come, as a memory of an effort made. TheWhite Paper is rather an evaluation of certaincondition, which we made in given time and isalso a policy. And that has not changed a bit. Itremains equally valid as it was twelve monthsago. Some conclusions that have the nature of assignments are likely to be accomplished ata later stage, but that is the destiny plans have.I think that the concept of the White Paper, theappraisal of identied issues and solutions to problems are generally right.

People wrote on the Facebook that nally a true soldier comes to this post. Does it atter you that soldiers take you that way?

Of course it does. I should underscore on theother hand that people should be cautious abouthaving too high expectations. There are manysoldiers with big S in the armed forces and yetthey are unable to push things forward. Theysimply do not have the necessary tools. AlthoughI will be in the position of the Chief of GeneralStaff, I will not have the complete toolbox. Andthat will restrict me in performance of essentialchanges. Although we all know what should probably be done, we may nevertheless be ableto push forward some things only. Sadly, noteverything can be realised for the time being.

Does it not annoy you that you have a reformpackage at hand and yet you do not know whatthe defence appropriation will be next year?

We do have a funding allocation for the nextyear already, although it has not been authorised by the Government yet. We are making calculati-ons observing the limits we have been given. Wenaturally are aware that a number of very real problems will emerge already next year, and wewill have to solve them in a very short period of time. The force structure and the way the forcesoperate will naturally need to reect on that, butnot fully yet in 2013. In that timeframe, we only plan to realise a part of the changes we have prepared on paper. On top of that, everything must

be authorised by the Government. We were tas-ked to prepare a defence policy document for the Government by the end of August, whichwill replace the 2008 National Military Strategyand elaborate on the National Security Strategyendorsed last year. It should redene our level of ambition and provide a clear assignment. Thatwill provide the basis for another other docu-ment covering the force structure and size cor-responding to the assignment. Only when all of that is approved by the Government, some sort

of realisation comes in question.But General Picek said the nal shape of de-fence reform would be made public at June 30.Does it mean this deadline is postponed?

Yes, this is postponed. We attended a sessionof the National Defence Council, where we de-livered a brieng on the condition of the armedforces and the ability to perform missions, but,rst and foremost, we made it clear to the Nati-onal Security Council that the current equationcomprising the tasks, human andnancial resou-rces is completely out of balance. This status issimply not sustainable down the road. We simplymust bring these three principal parameters backinto balance. While the defence appropriation isconstant according to the Government, i.e. thatwe will get no increase, and we say at the sametime that we do not want to eat our budget outin personnel cost, then we have no choice butto adjust the other two quantities in the equati-on. That is either to reduce the tasks, or dip intothe personnel strength. Or possibly do both. TheGovernment mustrst approve our assignments,then the force structure and size, and only after that we may realise some changes.

The servicemembers are denitely interestedwhat course their life will take. Could you givea specic timing for the prepared changes at

this time?I do not think we would leave soldiers in someunhealthy expectation or information vacuum.On the CHOD handover/takeover, we madea tour of all major command headquarters, haddiscussions with commanders at all echelons,sergeant majors, and we informed them in-depthabout how things stood. Through their comman-ders and sergeant majors, all service personnelshould have an awareness what changes may beexpected. In case the Government approves inSeptember the proposals we are going to sub-mit, then reorganisation of the operational levelcommand headquarters and building of agenciescould take place sometime in the middle of thenext year. Reorganisation of units would most probably be on the agenda only at the point theamendment to the Act No221 on Career Soldiersand the new Act on Remuneration of ServicePersonnel will be becoming effective, i.e. at Ja-nuary 1, 2014. We would do it at the same timeand according to single standards.

Staggering Too MuchOn July 1, 2012,Lieutenant-General Petr Pavelwas appointed the new Chief of General Staff of the ArmedForces of the Czech Republic.

An Equation


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Guestfactsheet

The new remuneration bill is conceived quitegenerously. Do you think it will win support inthe Chamber of Deputies?

Although I am optimistic by nature, I will nottrust that until the bill is passed and promulgatedas an Act. There have already been all sorts of various efforts and hopes. We do everything wecan for this bill to enter into force at the begin-ning of 2014. We met the deadline for the billto complete the intra-MoD staf ng procedure. Now it is ready for staf ng by other Ministriesand governmental departments. Then it will becontingent on what shape and form it comes outof the process and how it will be judged in theGovernments Legislation Council and the Parli-ament. Naturally, there might be a gamut of bot-tlenecks and snags wend dif cult to foresee.That is also why I would be cautious to speakabout January 1, 2014. But all measures we havetaken so far are directed at that timeframe.

You made a mention about meeting with sol-diers and sergeant majors; what was their re-sponse to the changes at hand?

Certain degree of frustration is understan-dable. What we are conveying to them is notreally pleasing news. At the same time, we per-ceived a certain feeling of relief with them asthey arenally told something. I am condentthat people much better cope with bad news, incase they are told early and bluntly. The worstthing is when something is covered up or conti-nuously procrastinated. So it came as a surpriseto some extent that sergeant majors received thenews with certain relief. The point is that theyknow what they are up to and will be better ableto get ready for it.

Preparing reorganisation for the next year,do you work on the military budget amountingto CZK 38 billion, which was there according tothe MoD midterm development plan, or is it 41billion spoken of at the moment?

It is 41.9 billion, which is virtually the sameas the 2012 allocation, after 1.4 billion has beenfrozen. It is naturally the nicer gure. But it isnot the solution to the problem as such. Evenwhen we restructure the armed forces, huge gapsin O&M expenditures will persist, not allowingus to operate fully. That primarily involves indi-vidual equipment, ammunition, POL and sparesexpenditures. Those are items involved directlyor indirectly in quality and scope of training.The next year will see our training expenditurescurtailed. And that is alarming. First of all, wewill seek to ensure training of forces assignedfor deployment in Afghanistan. Consequently,we have to restrict the training of others. Whichis exactly the other way round than we wouldhave wanted it to maintain the armed forcescapabilities in its primary functions. This willnaturally be reected in the paper for the Go-vernment, Parliament and the National SecurityCouncil, because we are of the opinion that thissituation is manageable in the short-term, but itwould mean some of the national defence capabilities would be lost in the long run.

Are you ready for what we are already facing,including the economic downturn, a low tax re- venue, which has lead the Government to fre-eze spending and the MoD could possibly endup without the promised billions in the end?

We do realise that. Already when we were de-veloping documents for the worse scenario, wecautioned that the force structure does not allowcuts across the board. In case there would beanother round of cuts, we would have no choice but again initiate a session of the Government,the National Security Council and submit a newequation: for given sum of money, we are onlyable to deliver this amount of tasks. If we getlesser money, we are only able to perform accor-dingly. Only then we can present to the Govern-ment the way we are able to support performan-ce of the reduced set of tasks, in case it would

still be feasible. It is our aim for the policies toincorporate a much more specic denition of the threshold minimum for us to be able to stillspeak about a defence posture.

But we have some NATO commitments That is the point. While we dene our nati-

onal defence solely in NATO context in all po-licy documents, the contribution we make to NATOs collective defence equals to the defenceof this country. If we fail to meet those criteria,we would lose the right to collective defence andtherefore defence as such. On standalone basis,solely on our own, we lost the ability to performthat assignment a long time ago.

A reform of the active reserve component hasrecently been prepared. If things get worsein the years ahead, do you think that savingscould still be achieved by building up the re-

serve component while reducing some units toframework units?It is naturally one of the ways ahead, but an

option that entails a set of risks at the same time.The active reserve component is much frequen-ted at this time, as if it would be a magic cure.With due respect for the existing reserve component, I have to admit that a lot of water willow under the bridge before we attain the condi-tion allowing us to make up for some shortfallsin the Armed Forces size and capabilities usingthe reserve component, Not only consideringtheir size, but their training and equipment in particular. Those are indeed matters that require both time and relevant resourcing. In order for us to achieve a higher number of reservists, andI am not speaking about the compulsory reser-ve component, it is essential to motivate peopleappropriately. One of the options would be in-centives for employers to let people off for tra-ining. We naturally try to seek solutions to that, but it is challenging with the limited resourceswe have available. In case there will be further reductions, the incentives for employers will be the limiting factor for the size of the reservecomponent. It goes without saying that we areunable to make this happen using the defence budget only. National defence is not a task justfor the MoD, it is indeed primarily the Gover-nments responsibility. The Government should probably try andnd resources outside the MoDto cover some activities. For example, incentivesfor employers in the form of tax reliefs would bean appropriate measure. The current strength of the active reserve component oscillates aroundeleven hundred members and the number doesnot increase despite all effort the Armed Forcesis making. We are authorised to have three thou-sand active reserve component personnel. Butefforts to man the units have failed so far.

Slovakia already dipped into staffs of individualarms brigades. They do not have an artillery brigade anymore, but just an artillery battalionembedded with a mechanised brigade. Are sa- vings still p ossible in the staffs at that echelonin the Czech Armed Forces?

The objective force structure we have tabledalso includes an option of abolishing brigadesin individual arms such as artillery, CBRN andGBAD, and replace it with regimental system.That would save us certain volume of staff and

support functions, but naturally at the expense of slight reduction in capabilities. We have conside-red all options available. We plan to assign thoseunits of those arms to mechanised brigades to jo-intly create what we used to name combined-armsformations and now we call brigade task forces.Regimental staffs would then be earmarked for task force staffs. But it is all just in planning sta-ge. We plan for this to happen at January 1, 2014. Naturally, provided that such change will be ne-cessary. In case it turns out over the next year that we are able to perform our assignments withthe current force structure, then we will not pushsuch a change at any cost. We denitely do notmean to destroy something that works well.

When the Rapid Deployment Brigade was for-med, it had the strength of three and half thou-sand personnel, including own artillery, engi-neers and other combat support components.

Have you not considered that you would reas-sign those arms directly under the command of mechanised brigades?

The idea of combined-arms brigades, or bri-gade task forces, has already been tabled onseveral occasions. The premise we work on isthat a country sized like ours is much more li-kely to deploy contingents smaller than brigadetask forces. Our objective is to achieve maxi-mum freedom of movement andexibility informing them. We will always try to tailor thedeployments to the specic situation. By preser-ving a degree of autonomy for the units of thosearms, we are going to have a greater exibilityin building task forces according specic needs.If we would place them into combined-arms bri-gades, it would be more dif cult.

Asked about what he would recommend for you to be careful about, General Picek said youshould be more assertive than him. Do yourealise you will have to resist some politicalpressures?

I perceive it with a smile that the outgo-ing CHOD advises me to be more assertive.

I naturally accept that and realise this time willdemand that we be pushing more. While we aregetting into serious dif culties, we have no cho-ice but to abandon diplomatic language commu-nicating some messages and address things theway they stand. I have lowered on diplomaticlanguage over the last twelve months. In addi-tion to pushing energetically, we also have to bemuch clearer in formulating the positions of theArmed Forces as an organisation. The recom-mendations by the Armed Forces to its politicalleadership must be communicated clearly. Thedecisions then are naturally up to politicians tomake. The Armed Forces must build on clear positions and criterions.

You have nevertheless surprised many with your outspokenness; people are rather notused to it here. Some say such senior functio-nary should be more diplomatic. Do you think

you will hold out, that it will not wear you out?I may not say something and act different-ly, just because I would obviously need to telllies. Since I came back from the tour abroad, wehave actually been doing nothing else than com-municating reality. Veiling our conclusions andrecommendations into a blank package wouldappear ridiculous to me. On top of that, it woulddenitely take the Minister, Government andParliament by surprise. We have told them thenaked truth on several occasions already.

You have been known for driving a motorbiketo work. Tomorrow you will be appointed theChief of General Staff. Will you go to work ina Skoda Superb, or on your motorbike?

The weather should be nice on Monday, soI will go on my bike. I suppose I will make somereasonable arrangements with the security guysand if possible, I will continue to ride my biketo work.

by Vladimr Marek a Jan ProchzkaPhotos: Marie Kov, Radko Janata and Archives

Fifty-year-old Lieutenant-General Petr Pa- vel started his military career at the Mili-tary Grammar School in Opava. Then hestudied reconnaissance program at the Army College in Vykov. In 1983, he wasassigned to Special Regiment in Prostjov.Later he served as a military intelligenceofcer. In the beginning of 1990s, he par-ticipated in UNPROFOR mission in theterritory of former Yugoslavia. During thatdeployment, he volunteered with his unitto go and rescue French soldiers trappedbetween warring factions, for which hewas eventually decorated with the FrenchCross of War with Bronze Star and lateralso the Order of the Legion of Merit.None of us contemplated whether wewould go or not. The situation was quiteunclear and called for a quick solution. Wefollowed basic human and military instincts.It was soldiers, our colleagues, who werein danger. We could easily nd ourselvesin similar situation a week later, GeneralPavel commented his decision afterwards.In 1994, General Pavel was appointed asthe Deputy Military and Air Attach in Bel-gium and studied the Kings College in theUK. Then he was appointed the comman-der of the 6th Special Brigade in Prostjov. After eighteen months, he went to serve ascoordination ofcer and later aide-de-camp

to the Director of Operations Planning atthe Regional Headquarters Allied ForcesNorth in Brunssum. He was appointedthe Deputy Commander 1st MechanisedDivision in Brno in July 2002 and then theCommander of Specialised Forces in De-cember that year.In 2003-2005, he was the Deputy JointForce Commander and then Deputy Direc-tor of MoD Operations Division Directorof Operations Branch.Then he served another tour abroad, rstas the Deputy Czech Military Representa-tive in the EU in Brussels and then as theCzech national military representative inSHAPE. General Pavel was appointed De-puty Chief of General Staff Chief of Staff in July 2011. Then he also became involved in development of a strategic policy document, the White Paper on Defence.He was promoted Lieutenant-General inMay 2012. General Pavels hobbies includetravelling, diving, skiing, photographs andbooks.


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OperationsServicemembers of the Czech Armed For-

ces 9th Provincial Reconstruction Team Lo-gar with commanding of cer Colonel AntonnGenser, Deputy Commander 4th Rapid Dep-loyment Brigade, took over the operational as-signment from their predecessors on Tuesday,February 14, 2012, following upon what had been near ly four years of intensive effort of Czechs in Logar. Many of them indeed came back to the place they had known very well, but it holds true for Afghanistan perhaps morethan anywhere else, that you never enter thesame river twice.

The core of the 9th PRT Logar deploymentis formed by the personnel of the 42nd Mecha-nised Battalion Saint Wenceslas of the 4th

Rapid Deployment Brigade. The 42nd Mecha-nised Battalion returned to man the ProvincialReconstruction Team for the second time as theveryrst unit and indeed the only unit to havedone so to date, because the 42 MechBn person-nel comprised the core of the 4th rotation, thenwith Colonel Milan Schulc as the commandingof cer. The unit with roughly two hundred per-sonnel of the 42nd MechBn is complemented byadditional specialists from twenty-one militaryunits and components across the Armed Forcesof the Czech Republic to make the total strengthof 293 personnel.

Pandur or chamois?The Logar province consists of a central plain

roughly 2,000 metres above sea level surroun-ded by high rocky ridges reaching as high as3,000 metres, with some peaks being close to4,000 metres above sea level.

Their journey into the Khoshi district towardsANA observation posts on the Jerowbay ridgewas an example of the many patrols off the baseinvolving vehicle movements truly high in themountains, which the Czech forces carry out.

The mountain range that rises into the Azra dis-trict reaches as high as 2,700 metres above sealevel and that is where the Czech soldiers hea-ded together with civilian experts to discuss andsurvey another development project designed tostrengthen local security.

For thenal ascent, soldiers picked four MRAP MAXXPRO vehicles and a Pandur wheeled armoured personnel carrier from theconvoy. The choice was not coincidental at all.MAXXPRO and Pandur are the most powerfulmachines the Czech deployment has. In additi-on to its advanced monitoring systems and ef-fective weapon station, the Pandur has the bestoffroad mobility of all the machines in the motor pool available to Czech forces in Afghanistan

exactly what the forces needed then, besidesa high payload capacity.

The last several hundred metres of elevationdifference were to be negotiated on a narrow andvery steep stony road rather suitable for walkingor for caravan of mules than for heavy milita-ry vehicles. But the vehicles managed. Althou-gh slightly heavier than MAXXPRO vehicles,Pandur clearly capitalised on its lower centre of gravity and 8x8 wheel conguration, thanks towhich long steep climbs in the terrain posed nomajor problem.

Viewing photos taken from the narrow ridge,it seems close to incredible where vehicles maygo through thanks to superior skills of the dri-vers. Just for illustration: the Czech warriorsdrove their heavy duty vehicles on this missionat elevations just under 2,700 metres above sealevel. In the forbidding terrain, the Pandur pro-ved its Alpine descent andguratively conque-

red the Czech Republics highest peak, MountSnka, reaching 1,602 metres above sea level, by more than 1,000 metres.

CIMIC aiding schoolsand hospitals

A small CIMIC group operating as a part of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team inLogar does a tremendous job. Realising the so-called quick impact projects, particularly in thesphere of education and medical care, they aid people in need, and also practically help win thehearts of people in local communities. But theCIMIC effort cannot do without the assistanceof others, because their activities arenanciallydependent on help from sponsors and humanita-rian organisations.

The Centipede On Own Feet childrens mo-vement, headed by Ms. Bla Gran Jensen, ranksamong traditional partners the Czech ArmedForces cooperate with. The cooperation startedalready during the war in the Balkans, where thecentipede movement delivered aid side by sidewith the Czech troops, for example in Bosnia andHerzegovina and in Kosovo. For humanitarian

projects realised by the CIMIC team of the 9thPRT Logar deployment, the Centipede donatedUS$ 10,000 for procurement of textbooks andother teaching aids for selected basic and secon-dary schools in the region, painting aids for localchildren and education courses for women withfocus on housework skills and to counter illite-racy. Like the Centipede, military chaplains andtheir charity collections organised in individual parishes back in the Czech Republic are also animportant source of aid for CIMIC.

In addition to aiding girls and boys schools,especially in Puli Alam, Muhammad Aghah andKhoshi districts, the Czech CIMICers work withlocal radio stations to hold various quizzes for children.

As to helath care, CIMIC delivers aid in co-operation with the Ministry of Health Care of the Logar province especially by distributingessential medical materiel for local hospitals

and clinics. This aid has also partially bene

tedAfghan soldiers and police of cers in Logar andWardak, including personalrst aid kits. Sol-diers received bandages and additional materielfrom Czech children involved in collecting oldcar rst aid kits.

Dobanday: the most beautiful valley in Logar

Some of water management projects run bythe PRTs civilian component are situated inone of the most beautiful corners of the pro-vince the Dobanday river valley. The 2ndmechanised platoon augmented with two Pan-dur wheeled ghting vehicles plus additionalessential assets from the unit took up the taskto inspect the Abtak weir, a feeding concretechannel and the small hydroelectric power sta-tion nearby.

Major part of the journey leading to the Ko-shi district in this direction is on main pavedroads, and so the physically most demandingtask awaited the war ghters only when theydismounted from the vehicles on the edge abovethe valley. The descent leads among steep slopes that soldiers have to negotiate on foot. Withthe subsequent movement to the locations whereindividual projects had been realised, they wereup to a fairly good mountain hike. The point of departure was about 2,500 metres above sea le-vel. First they had to get several hundred metresdown into the valley, go on to individual placesof interest and then return back to vehicles. The planned route was not too long, just about six ki-lometres, but the overall height difference never-theless made it really demanding. On top of that,soldiers must always wear full body armour,carry weapons, observation and communicationdevices off base. So, each individual carries theload of roughly 25 kilos.

Down and through the valley, the war ghterswere going through a landscape dotted with stan-dalone qalats. Qalat is a typical Afghan dwellingstructure with square or rectangular yard enci-rcled with high earthen walls built for defence purposes. One qalat usually houses multiple mu-tually related families. Surroundingelds andorchards watered by the Dobanday stream pro-vide subsistence to the locals. As opposed to the plain without vegetation above the steep slopes,this place is a true green oasis.

Minister Vondra visited Czech deployments in Afghanistan At the end of May earlier this year, Minister Defence Alexandr Vondra, 1st Deputy Chief of General Staff Major-General ika and Czech Parliamentarians visited Czech forces operatingas part of ISAF in Afghanistan.On their arrival to Kabul, the delegation was welcomed by Colonel Jn Koiak, the Comman-der 4th Czech Armed Forces Task Force ISAF, accompanied by the commanding ofcers of hissubordinate units stationed at KAIA, including the National Support Element, Field Surgicalteam, Air Adviser Team and the CBRN defence unit.I arrived to Afghanistan after some time to express my support to the Czech men and womenin uniform, who are doing an excellent job here. Their effort is also highly valued by our Allies.In addition, I came in time when the decision is to be made about the mandate the Czech Armed Forces will have for operational deployments. The mandate has been endorsed by theGovernment and now it will go through the Czech Parliament. Afghanistan remains a dange-rous place and the more pleased I am, touching wood, that this year has seen no fatalitiesamong the Czech warriors, Minister Vondra said.You have just a couple of days to go before you hand over your operational assignment. It is vital not to slacken on the regimen, make sure all responsibilities are handed over properly tothe deployment coming to relieve you and bring all people safely back home, General ikaunderscored.

Minister Vondra with his delegation visited the 9th PRT deployment in Logar, the 4th OMLT inWardak and also met with 3rd Military Police team at ITC camp in Wardak

www.army.cz


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OperationsfactsheetTo keep the oasis alive, the Czechs helped

renovate the Abtak weir to withstand springooding, and built a connecting channel to the power station cut deep into the rocky mountain-sides in some places. The channel bed may both bring water to the power station, but also to theelds worked by the locals. The Czech trace inthe Dobanday valley is therefore quite tangible, but living in there is not and will not be easy for a long time down the road. The beauty of its sce-nery can be admired in photos, but seeing it onown eyes however costs much sweat.

Czech Afghan cooperationthrough mortars

A completely new activity that Czechs startedin Logar was the cooperation on training mortar crews of the 1st Kandak 4th Brigade the Afghan National Army at Camp Altimur. Members of the

mortar battery of the 42nd Mechanised Battalionwith commanding of cer Captain Viktor P ser-ving on the 9th PRT took up the challenge.

As therst one weapon, the Afghan soldiers provided to the Czech servicemembers calibre82mm M69 mortars for testing and the coope-ration therefore developed based on that type of weapon. Therst Kandak lacks trained crews plus there is not any piece of information avai-lable on this weapon, similarly as is the casewith other mortars. Therefore, we had to startfrom scratch, Captain Viktor P. explains andgoes on to say: We were lucky to have receivedvaluable assistance from our colleagues back inVykov, who also have experience with mento-ring Afghan soldiers in Wardak. We made a rea-ch-back request and they managed to get hold of an English manual for the weapon. The mortar guys of the 42nd MechBn were able to use themanual as a basis for their training effort.

According to Captain Viktor P., the M69mortar is a very good weapon in its class: It hasa standard range of 3,000 metres, and up to 5.5kilometres with special rocket-powered muniti-ons. An experienced crew is able tore as manyas 20 shots per minute, he comments what arefairly good parameters for calibre 82 mm weapons and adds that Afghans also have newly ma-nufactured modern Bulgarian ammunition torewith the weapon.

Once a thorough inspection of the weaponand shells was completed, the Czechs could hitthe road to the shooting range. They selecteda gorge some 800 metres away. Using opticalsight, aiming the mortar laterally posed no problem. The more dif cult part was to set the rightelevation, because there were noring tables for the weapon and ammunition. We had no choi-ce but to try and calculate thering parametersusing the limited and incomplete technical dataavailable, Captain Viktor P. explains.

An explosion of therst round just a coupledozen metres over the target conrmed that thespecialists from Tbor do their job excellently.The second round was so-called shortened shot, before the target, to verify the calculation bothfor shortening and lengthening the distance.After this framing, the third HEF shell wentstraight down the middle of the target area to thesatisfaction of all.

With successful hits and good calculations,the Czech servicepeople won respect of the

locals, and proved that they will be competentand able mentors in the training done already jo-intly with assigned personnel of the 1st Kandak.

Back at home, the personnel of the mortar battery of the 42nd Mechanised Battalion usetowed Czech-made calibre 120mm Model 82mortars with range up to eight kilometres thatre Czech or Soviet-made high-explosive frag-mentation shells.

Mentoring Afghan PoliceRelatively less known fact in the history

of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Teamis that they started in 2009, with the 4th PRT

contingent serving the tour, a formal training program for the ground component of the Af-ghan National Security Forces, specically per-forming basic courses to train the Afghan Nati-onal Police of cers. It was the personnel of the42nd Mechanised Battalion, who launched thelecturing and training, and Military Police ser-vice personnel took over and have carried on todate.

The 9th PRT deployment order of battlealso includes a Military Police training andmentoring team comprised of the membersof the Military Police Headquarters Tbor and Star Boleslav. The situation developed

markedly as the Czechs managed over time to progressively train instructors recruited fromthe ranks of Afghan police of cers. The CzechMilitary Police were therefore able to transiti-on from actually doing the training themselvesto mentoring providing supervision and me-thodology oversight of lectures led by Afghansthemselves.

The job has nevertheless become any easier and involves everyday practical assistance toAfghan instructors, especially with preparingthe lectures and leading individual sessions.That Czechs perform very well is best proven by the statement of the commander of the Af-ghan police school at Camp Shank, First-Lieu-tenant Mohommad Bassir Stanekzi, who has been leading the academy for eighteen monthsalready: I enjoy working with Czech poli-ce of cers and we have no issues between uswhatsoever. I am proud of what we have jointlyachieved here so far. After all, when lecturingstarted a couple of years ago Czechs had to lead

all training sessions, but now we have our owninstructors, whom you helped to train. Today,those instructors are in charge of preparing our new police of cers and the Czech instructorsonly mentor and assist. Words are not enoughto thank you for everything you have done.

In the basic patrolling course, the new Afghan police of cers gain familiarity with what theywill need in practical performance of police ser-vice in theeld and at police stations. The com-mander of the Military Police team the 9th PRTLogar deployment Major Lubo ., explains:In addition to essential physical preparationand basic drills, the practical subjects includeapprehension procedures and techniques, safe personal search methodology or vehicle checkas well as rudiments of practical investigationand crime detection. Given the security situati-on, a high premium is placed on shooting andmedical training and, with a view to the low lite-racy rate among Afghanson reading and writing. Furthermore, the course also teaches Afghan

law and essentials of traf c service and traf ccontrol.Major Lubo . concludes: The training is

now led by six Afghan instructors, who have al-ready achieved certication authorising to leadlecturing under supervision. The objective of the Czech instructors is therefore not only tohelp them with lecturing, but also to carry oneducating them in afternoon hours to preparethem for future exams that will qualify them tolead lectures and sessions completely on their own. Some of them are already so experiencedthat they are highly likely to achieve that quali-cation already during the tour of the 9th Provin-cial Reconstruction Team deployment.

by MAJ Jan ulc,9th PRT Logar deployment

Press and Information Ofcer

Since taking over their operational assign-ment in mid-February earlier this year tillthe end of May 2012, in other words overthree months, the service personnel of the9th PRT Logar completed 150 aeromobile, vehicle-borne, combined and foot patrolsand 11 rotations of teams assigned forpermanent protection and defence of theforward operating base in Puli Alam. Ontop of that, PRT personnel have also beeninvolved in ve coalition security operati-ons in the Logar province, continuously assigned EOD specialists for permanentduty and assistance on route clearancepatrols (RCP) and also performed roughly 40 ights of the RAVEN unmanned sur- veillance vehicle. The ninth deployment forPRT Logar is also continuously involved insecurity and defence of Camp Shank andalso provides forces and assets to the quick reaction team. The Military Police teammentored two runs of the basic course formembers of the Afghan National Policeand the CIMIC team realised or launchedeighteen Quick Impact Projects. The 9thPRT also newly renders cooperation on tra-ining mortar crews of the 1st Kandak of the4th Brigade the Afghan National Army.The primary equipment used to performthe operational assignment are IVECOand Dingo light armoured vehicles, Pandurarmoured ghting vehicles and US MRAPMAXXPRO vehicles. Small arms used by the Czech PRT include modernised Mod.58 assault ries, Mk. 48 MINIMI machi-neguns, Sako TRG-22 and Falcon sniperries, Benelli shotguns, Glock G17 pistolsand CZ 75 SP-01 Phantom, RPG-7 and AGS grenade launchers. The 9th PRT Logarservice personnel are the very rst Czech Armed Forces foreign deployment to becompletely equipped with the new calib-re 5.56 NATO CZ 805 BREN assault rieswith accessories and CZ 805 G1 attachablegrenade launchers.


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Operations

The Czech 6th Field Hospital with comman-ding of cer Colonel Jind ich Sitta had huge body of experience at that time already. It wasformed in 1998 based on a commitment theCzech Republic had undertaken even prior to itsaccession to NATO. As early as 1999, the 6th Fi-eld Hospital deployed in the territory of Albaniaand in Turkey following a disastrous earthquake.In Afghanistan, the 6FH operated as a part of coalition mission FINGAL.

Over one thousand tons of materiel, includingthirty-nine vehicles and forty-two special conta-iner shelters, were transported by air. The CzechArmed Forces hired thirteen ights of the An-124 cargo airplane. Theeld hospital comprisedan HQ, staff, signal team, logistic element andspecialist medical component.

It was augmented with a force protection platoon and a Military Police team. The medi-cal component included an ICU, surgery ward,inpatient ward, operating rooms, dentist ambu-lance and a medical evacuation team.

The staff comprised of seventeen doctors,twenty-three nurses and medics, two pharma-cists andve lab specialists. Besides theeldhospital facility, the medical component hadavailable two POP-2 casualty aid stations, threeregular ambulances, three offroad ambulancecars, special OT-64 armoured ambulance vehic-le, a mobile dentist surgery and the PHEL-2 mobile hygienic lab.

Alcatraz uptown KabulTheeld hospital was set up in the outskirts

of Kabul city, covering a narrow rectangular area of 60 by 300 m. Most of one hundred andthirty-two Czech service personnel spent close

to six months on what was a little less than twohundred thousand square feet. Practically allwarhorses concurred on the point that this stateof isolation was probably the most demandingfactor. Throughout their tour, nobody was per-mitted to leave the base except for the guard unitmembers and the mobile medical teams. And soit was nicknamed after the notorious American jail, the Alcatraz. A twenty-seven strong force protection platoon, comprising of airborne andreconnaissance troops, was responsible for secu-rity of the base and of the mobile medical teams.Those soldiers got into contact with the localsmost frequently.

Over their ve months tour, most of themlearned quite many words of Pashto, the of ciallanguage spoken by more thanfty per cent of Afghan population. Bakshish was the most fre-quented word, meaning both a demand for bribeand a request for a gift.

It was strictly prohibited for the Czech ser-vicemembers to consume any local food or beverages. Practically all food the cooks usedto prepare meal on the base was imported bya German contractor. The base was completelyindependent of its environs. The Czech ArmedForceseld hospital had there an AQUAOZON32 mobile water treatment plant, power gener-ators, mobile refrigerators,eld laundry, own

cookhouse and special engineer vehicles andequipment. The logistic support was to produceover ve thousand cubic metres of drinkable wa-ter, deliver over 300,000 kW-hr, dispose of threethousand cubic metres of liquid waste and washroughly eighteen thousand tons of laundry.

The alarm was at seven oclock. There weretwo hours off after the lunch. The working hoursended at six p.m. and there were six workingdays in a week. Only Sundays were free, re-gardless of the fact that Afghans do not work onFridays. In the medical facilities on the base, theCzech medical personnel were able to providetreatment to as many as one hundred and sixtyinjured and ill persons a day. Five surgical teamshad a capacity of up tofty surgeries a day.

Reaching out to deliver careOne of the missions the Czech medical per-

sonnel had was to cooperate with local hospitals

and medical facilities, including a Kabul hospi-tal nanced by the International Committee of the Red Cross. That had 224 beds and speciali-sed in surgeries. Majority of patients were menand children with war injuries. Limb amputati-ons caused by landmines were very frequent.

The principal, Doctor Abu Saeed, had nothing but praise for cooperation with the Czech me-dics. They come to our place quite frequently.They would choose ve or six cases they are ableto help us with. They would take those patientsto their eld hospital for operations and returnthem to us for post-operation treatment, Doctor Saeed said. Ten years ago, we had a chance togo with doctor Lieutenant-Colonel Igor Krivo-suck to the Hood Kheil district. They were go-ing out three times a week to provide treatment primarily to children there. Indeed, populationaged under eighteen accounted for half the Af-ghan population. Average life expectancy in thiscountry was forty years. Apart from heavy inju-ries caused by hostilities, the occurrence of infe-ctious diseases was quite high. All education isuseless when, just after you have once again explained the essentials of hygiene, you see a childdrinking water straight from an irrigation ductwhile waiting for treatment, LTC Krivosuckexplained. Thankfulness of the smallest patientswas most rewarding for the medics.

Three Afghan girls, who had been for treat-ment in our eld hospital as inpatients, learneda Czech song, which they sang for the Czechmedical personnel in the end of their stay as anexpression of their gratitude. One of the boys,who were treated in the hospital, was adoptedand brought to the Czech Republic by the thenMoD spokesman, Mr. Milan epka.

Attended for the rst timeThe 6th Field Hospital also performed com-

prehensive examination of the personnel for-ming several Kandaks of the newly built Af-ghan National Army and provided medical aidto them on continuous basis. It was interestingto see how our work boosted their self-conden-ce, microbiologist Captain Karel Kova k said.It was for therst time in their life that someo-ne seriously cared for them.

Ten years ago, we were also able to go, with

a heavy security, to one of the six districts atthe outskirts of Kabul our doctors regularly vi-sited delivering aid to outpatients. Our escorthad a Rottweiler with them. We learned it com-manded even higher respect than an armed man.There were nearly no dogs in Kabul at that time.Rabies spread out, and so dogs were destroyed.In October 2002, the 6th Field Hospital was re-lieved by the 11th Field Hospital that operated inAfghanistan till the end of 2002. A ten-member Czech surgical team then continued afterwardsto serve in the country for some time. Thanksto delivering aid to local inhabitants sufferingfrom the hardships of war, theeld hospital wonsome sympathy among Afghans. The Czech Fi-eld Hospital returned to Kabul in 2007 to staythere for nearly two years. Dozens of medicaldoctors and nurses have served tours at KAIA inve rotations altogether.

At present, there is a Fr ench military medicalfacility at KAIA housed in permanent buildings.And a Czech surgical team operates as a partof it.

by Vladimr MarekPhotos by Vladimr Marek and the CZE

6th Field Hospital

The Armed Forces of the Czech Republic hasoperated in Afghanistan for a decade already

MEDICSMEDICSWere the FirstWere the First

When the ghting forShahi Kot valley wascoming to a head in theeast of the country, the rstCzech soldiers arrived to Afghanistan. The SurgicalTeam of the 6th Field Hospitalhad serve from March 17,2002, with the British 34thField Hospital in Bagram forseveral weeks.By mid-May 2002, they werereplaced by the 6th FieldHospital. A couple of dayslater, the medical facility wasready to deliver medical careto full ROLE 3 standards forboth ISAF forces and for thelocals.


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NATO

Oberammergau nevertheless has one moremagnet that attracts people, indeed soldiers, notonly from Europe, which is the NATO SchoolOberammergau (NSO). The Armed Forces of the Czech Republic is represented in this NATOfacility. In addition to Lieutenant-Colonel Ji Havel, who has been here for over a year in hiscapacity of a CBRN defence expert, the f ormer

Czech Armed Forces Command Sergeant Major SWO Miroslav vadlena joined the NSO staff last year.

A bit of history A military compound was built at the town

outskirts in 1935. When construction of moun-tain troop barracks was completed, the 54th

Mountain Signals Company was based herefrom 16 October 1937 as part of the 1st Ger-man Mountain Division. The unit was orderedto the Balkans during World War II and the fa-cility was lent to the Messerschmitt company.In addition to other operations, the develop-ment was underway there of therst jet airpla-ne ever, the Me 262, and V2 rockets. A cave

complex was dug in nearby mountains at thattime, and critical parts of production were mo-ved in there. At the end of WWII, the barrackswere occupied by the U.S. Army that later established the Army Information Education Staff School there, which progressively underwenta series of reorganisations. Military police personnel and intelligence of cers were over here for training. The Special Weapons Schoolwas established in Oberammergau after 1960.Over time, the school gained an increasinglyAllied nature. It was integrated directly under the Supreme Allied Commander Europe andrenamed the NATO School in 1975. From the beginning of 1990s, students from non-NATOnations were also accepted for courses. Apartfrom the Partnership for Peace countries, thatcurrently involves countries of the Mediterra-nean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation

Initiative. A new building was constructed in2005 to house a self-service mess hall for stu-dents. In 2011, the NSO premises were expan-ded with new lecture rooms equipped with allstate-of-the-art learning process prerequisites.

Ten thousand a yearThroughout its existence, the NSO has built

on the basis of bilateral cooperation between theU.S. and Germany. These two countries providefacilities and logistic support for the NSO. Butits budget is dependent on student fees, so theSchool is quite self-reliant to a large extent. The predominant type of training is one-week cour-ses, but there are also courses lasting fourteenweeks. The courses are continuously revised andupdated to reect newest developments. Rough-ly three hundred students are here for courseson weekly basis, but the NSO accommodation

facility only has forty-ve beds. The School ar-ranges accommodation for the rest of students inguest houses and hotels that are found in dozensin Oberammergau. It is an interesting source of funds for the town.

The NATO School courses were attended by10,487 students from 67 countries in 2010, withmost of them coming from France. In thersthalf of 2011, about three students attended thefacility a month, but recently the number grewup ve or six individuals a week. Majority of Czech military professionals interested in tra-ining courses however recruit from those ser-ving in NATO structures. They are sent to Obe-rammergau from individual NATO commandheadquarters.

While the school started with two courses in1953, it holds over a hundred of them at pre-sent, including information about NATO, mul-tinational forces, electronic warfare, command

and control, psychological operations, logis-tic operations, force mobilisation, weapons of mass destruction, peacekeeping missions, crisismanagement and public diplomacy. The NATOSchool employs approximately two hundred pe-ople from twenty-three countries. Most of themare Americans and Germans. The NSO organi-sational structure comprises the command andlogistic support components.

But the most important is the teaching staff,who are divided into six sections; the posts aremanned with service personnel from NATO aswell as non-NATO nations. They are headed bya dean.

Best qualied expertsLieutenant-Colonel Ji Havel graduated from

the Army College in Vykov in 1982 followingthe successful completion of a CBRN defence program. He is the Czech National Representati-ve and leads and has responsibility for two cour-ses in the NATO School Oberammergau. Therst course is designed for experienced soldiersin senior ranks or their civilian equivalents, asit comprises lectures by renowned experts fromuniversities and schools or military professio-nals or civilian staff from higher NATO com-mand headquarters, specialised organisationsand various agencies. In a single week, thoselecturers offer a broad spectrum of latest trendsand perspectives on political developments anddoctrines, non-proliferation as well as latest les-sons from operational deployments worldwide.Students mostly appreciate the opportunities toactively join discussions and share their obser-vations and experience in this subject-matter area. The other course covers CBRN reportingand warning and leaks of hazardous industrialcontaminants.

These posts should be lled with individu-als having a record of experience. Both studentswith minimum subject-matter knowledge comehere as well as those dealing with the specia-lism full time. Those individuals are interestedin highly sophisticated matters and apply for courses to maintain their currency, LTC Havelexplains. The alert and warning system coursecomprises academic lectures and a practical part,which is held in dedicated lecture rooms suitedfor practical exercises. We introduce a situationinvolving a type of threat, and they have to re-spond somehow. That way, we verify in practice

Interactivities Green-LitInteractivities Green-Lit

Czech experts lecture at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Bavaria

With about six thousand inhabitants, the town of Oberammergau mostly reminds of a woman that gets pregnantin regular intervals. Every year in winter, the community growsby ten thousands visitors attracted by skiing opportunities in theBavarian Alps. Many more people from across Germany comehere every ten years (last in 2010) to see the OberammergauPassion Play.


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NATO

whether the students have mastered the subject.We have to be real experts and we may not af-ford to fail. That would discredit both the courseand the whole school. Having said that, thereare relatively few people specialising in thesesubjects though. If someone goes out, we have problems replacing them.

Senior Warrant Of cer vadlena is respon-sible for two weekly courses. The NATO Aca-demic Instructor Course is open for of cers,senior NCOs and civilian employees alike. Hefocuses on didactical models. Our goal is to bring lecturing in NATO to the same standards.Every nation has indigenous instructor trainingsystem and we would like to see them workalong the same lines. We focus on the structureof lectures. Plainly speaking, we teach peopleto teach, SWO vadlena elaborates. I am thecourse lead, which means in practice that myresponsibility is to develop the course structureand get in touch with all the lecturers. We invi-te external lecturers, but we also make use of own contacts and experience. I am able to iden-tify the best students already during the course.I may contact them later and ask whether theywould be willing to come back to give lectu-res. In addition, you have to book the lecture

rooms, develop the timetable and prepare thetechnical support, including computers, Inter-net access etc. There are plans for me in thefuture to give lectures as well. I am also aninstructor here. In addition, he is responsiblefor the NATO Instructors course, which is onlyopen to sergeants. In our section, we chose tensubjects we deem important. Just from the topof my head, they include NATO's history, stra-tegy and so forth. We train instructors, whosemission will be to train other senior NCOs in NATO. Those are mostly instructors from va-rious schools. This course came into being pursuant to their requirement, SWO vadlenasays. At the beginning of this process, therewas a NATO document signed by both Sup-reme Allied Commander Transformation andthe Supreme Allied Commander Operations in2010 containing NATO recommendations for the nations how to shape development of the-ir respective NCO corps. That is why focus onthis specic area.

The Netherlands and BelgiumLeading the Way

In September last year, the originally two-member section expanded with SWO vadlenaand his Hungarian colleague. One more U.S.Sergeant is to come later on this year.

Maximum twenty-four people may apply for this course, but demand exceeds supply in gene-ral. The procedure is such that individual nationsclaim certain posts and the School is to decide inthe end. It often happens that they send just onestudent instead of two.

When one joins such an organisation co-ming from the General Staff, it is a major chan-ge. First of all, you have to gain familiarity withthe workings and get settled here. We thereforetry to get every individual involved in the lear-ning process. Everything is much more interac-tive here than back home, otherwise we wouldhave students falling asleep in lectures. Practicallectures are valued most. Everybody is able totry out what it is like to give a lecture on the-ir own, SWO vadlena explains. We preparethe courses and lecture plus we evaluate themas well. This process in particular is highly ac-centuated. Students evaluate every single lesson

using a scale from one tove. First the lecturersevaluate themselves, then their fellow studentsevaluate them and then us, the instructors.

When instructors divide the students intosmaller groups, it is always interesting to seewho is going to stand out as the leader. Nati-ve speakers have an advantage in this respect, but it does not apply universally. Moreover, theleads seek to make them backgrounded in or-der to leave room for others. My post here isnot administrative; I work with people and givelectures. It is an excellent opportunity for NCOs.I do the same job here as senior of cers. But it ischallenging though. Nobody orders students tocome here. You have to develop lectures intere-sting enough for them to show interest and applythemselves. When I prepared myrst course, noone applied initially. Naturally, that makes younervous. But with about a month to go, the cour-se got full very quickly, SWO vadlena smiles.In my view, senior NCO academic training sys-tem is best developed in the Netherlands and in

Belgium. I am relying on senior NCOs mostlyfrom those countries, as they help me organisethe courses.

Feeding back The spirit of complete academic freedom

prevails here. Students may not offend anybody, but otherwise they can show any opinions. Theyhave the option of evaluating the courses in theconclusion, for which they use a prepared formfor them to ll in. That mostly involves subject-matter comments, but there is space for thesense of humour as well. For example, one of the students complained he was accommodateddowntown Oberammergau close to the churchand did not have much sleep as the bells werechiming all the night. This feedback representsan important input to what we do. The evalua-tion informs me whether I prepared the coursewell or not. I am condent that satised stu-dents will do good promotion in their countriesnot only for my course but indeed to the whole NATO School, LTC Havel explains.

But it is not about the contents of individualcourses only. Military professionals also bene tfrom the international environment as peopleshare their observations and lessons. They ex-

pand their awareness of how business is doneelsewhere. Our contribution also has its repre-sentative value. Other countries appreciate thatthe Czech Republic is making such a substantialcontribution. Indeed, we have also held so-cal-led country briengs for the NSO staff to learninteresting facts about the Czech Republic andthe Czech Armed Forces, LTC Ji Havel adds.

Lectures at the school are scheduled fromeight in the morning tillve in the afternoon,followed by self-study in some cases. The courseincludes a joint dinner for all students and a visitto the Neuschwanstein fairytale castle locatednearby, which Ludwig II of Bavaria had builtin the second half of the nineteenth century. Incase there is some free time left for students intheir busy schedule, they may opt for going intothe mountains as the environs offer innumerablehiking opportunities.

by Vladimr Marekphotos by Vladimr Marek and the NATO School

Guest

What is your appraisal of the Czech Armed For-ces foreign operational deployments in the last year?

The Czech Republic took part inve foreignoperations in 2011 with deployments in Kosovo,Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Uni-

ted Kingdom and Egypt. Nearly 3,000 personnelserved tours in those missions.

To what extent was your assessment affected by the fact that two servicemembers were lost in Afghanistan?

Indeed, we lost two warriors in 2011, whosuffered fatal injuries in combat operations. It isan immense loss for their families, fellow sol-diers and for the Czech Armed Forces. In spiteof that, I regard our endeavour in Afghanistanand in other foreign operations successful, pri-marily in terms of mission performance and de-livering on our commitments.

After eleven years, we have accomplished ourendeavour in the Balkans, but the security situ-ation in Kosovo has recently deteriorated again.Was it not a bit premature?

I do not think it was premature. After elevenyears, the mission has come to an end for theCzech Republic. The Czech Armed Forces did

their best in Kosovo to contribute to a safe andsecure future of Kosovo and its democratic de-velopment. Kosovo must learn to stand on ownfeet and be able to tackle problems the environ-ment of nascent democracies brings about. Themission in Kosovo was a success story for us.

For eleven years, we were involved practical-ly in everything that historically took place asa part of the process of stabilising the country.But in the very last years, we were not providingany signicant value added in purely militaryterms.

Was it challenging for us to leave the country after so long?

It claimed a considerable effort. The last dep-loyment with commanding of cer Major Nejed-l was tasked to withdraw all materiel back intoCzech Republic and make sure the area we had been stationed in for eleven years was revitali-sed. They put everything back into the originalcondition, i.e. the way the place had looked like before we arrived Kosovo. Those nearly hun-dred personnel involved successfully readiedsix full trains carrying eighteen thousand tonsof materiel for redeployment. One hundred andten vehicles were transported, roughly the samenumber of containers, seventy portacabins and

loads of other materiel. In addition, the deploy-ment dispatched two road convoys and some air transfers. Moving such an amount of materielover a long distance was denitely not easy atall. Moreover, everything went without any problems and without any major damage or loss. It

was an exemplary proof of a well-functioninglogistic support system and overall coordinationin the Czech Armed Forces on national and in-ternational level.

Kosovo was better accessible than Afghanistan.Considering our somewhat limited strategicairlift capabilities, is it not more challengingfor us to sustain that effort in terms of logisticsupport?

That is not accurate. I regard claims that wehave minor strategic airlift capability as a per-sistent clich, which is no longer correct. Wehave been in Afghanistan since 2002. We havelearnt many lessons over those ten years. Butour Armed Forces has changed in a major waytoo. Both in terms of equipment, mindset, experience and the way they approach mission performance. The logistic support in Afgha-nistan has also grown completely different.When we were starting up in Afghanistan, wehad not owned aircraft capable of transporting

Facing newFacing newchallengeschallenges

The year 2011 saw the Armed Forces of the CzechRepublic sustaining its largestdeployments ever with unitsoperating in Kosovo and Afghanistan, as well as many other locations.Deputy Chief of GeneralStaff Director MoD Joint Operations Centre,

Major-General Ale Opata,elaborates.


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Guest

essential materiel into that country. We had torely on our Allied for that capability. It chan-

ged in the fundamental way in 2007. We beganoperating the Czech Air Force Airbus A-319aircraft, focused our efforts on the ground intoa single area of operations in 2008, created anintegrated task force system with National Sup- port Element (NSE) providing direct support.The whole system got more stable as the CzechArmed Forces engagement grew in Afghani-stan. Currently we do not face any major issuesresupplying our deployments using the CzechAir Force assets. The Airbus aircraft completed608 ight hours having transported 4,751 per-sonnel and 162 tons of materiel between Pra-gue and Afghanistan just in 2012. In addition,we have prepaid the SALIS program ights for strategic air ift. We have been rmly integra-ted in the system, but we have also reservedadditional coalition ights, and we have builtan operational STRATEVAC system.

We are insourcing airlift to resupply our deployments in Afghanistan for around eighty percent, which is denitely not a marginal -gure. Logistic support in Operation ISAF hasgrown into a completely new dimension as wework with all coalition actors in the theatre andhave additional links in place for effective cooperation as part of operational logistic support.We have learned to use both national and Alli-ed assets. We have also tried out the so-called Northern Rail Route earlier this year. So far weonly sent two containers with materiel that wayinto Afghanistan in a test. This option also pro-ved viable, but not asexible as the air; it takesroughly two months for the materiel to pass allthe instances.

The Czech heli unit completed their deploymentin Afghanistan last year. Did they perform theway you expected them?

Our helicopter unit accomplished a two-year deployment that I am condent was highly suc-cessful. The helicopters had deployed downran-ge right after their modernisation and operatedthere for two years without any major issues andshowing full reliability. That the modernisationwas performed to excellent standards was pro-ven by its operational use in Afghanistan. Thehelicopter unit performed over ve thousand ights during their tour and spent 2,750 hoursairborne. They transported over nine thousand personnel and over 330 tons of materiel. Thoseare impressivegures.

It was therst time for a Czech helicopter unitto deploy for such type of operation. Helicopter pilots and gunners, as well as technical and support personnel proved to be trained to very highstandards. We can manage even in the extremeenvironment of Afghanistan. We did not havea single casualty, single hit by opposing forcesor any serious problem over those twenty-four months our helicopters were deployed for. Theunit nevertheless did not operate only in moresecure places but also in high-risk areas, inclu-ding the province of Wardak, where it was oftenthe last resort for our OMLT to have air mobili-ty into or out of the area of combat operations.I believe this mission has brought our helicopter service among the leading nations that have suchcapability deployed in Afghanistan, including because our coalition partners have recently be-gun to adopt the tactics the Czech pilots chosefor Afghanistan.

The helicopter units mission was previously said to be only suspended for twelve months toresume in 2013. Does it still hold true, the fore-seen budgetary restrictions notwithstanding?

We are in the process of developing the man-date for the unit for 2013-14. We had to suspendthe mission; we are not a military with hundredsof helicopters and pilots. Our helicopter capabilities are limited, as are those of the like-si-zed countries. Both personnel and helicoptersdemand a sort of break to renew their combatreadiness. Rotary-wing aircraft are absolutelycrucial for supporting Czech land deploymentsin Afghanistan. Helicopters provide up to eighty percent of personnel movements on operations. Nations having deployed the machines down-range primarily use them in support of their landunits. The withdrawal of the heli unit has com- plicated our mobility to an extent. We have torely on coalition helicopter effort.

We have deployed the newest equipment in Afghanistan, including Dingo, Iveco and Pan-dur armoured personnel carriers; plus now theCZ 805 Bren assault ries have been deliveredthere as well. How much does the equipmentprove well in the demanding conditions in Afghanistan?

The forces that went from the Czech Repub-lic to perform their assignments to Afghanistan back in 2002 were what I would call a predo-minantly Russian type of military riding UAZtrucks and BMP-2s, equipped with Russian, or indeed Soviet made equipment. From 2007-2011, our forces were completely rearmed withweapons and materiel compatible with NATOnations armed forces. The last piece of the puz-zle was the handguns. Not only were our forcesrearmed in such a short time interval, but it wasmoreover done literally on the move and directlyin operation, naturally with all associated risks.The effort exerted by those involved in introdu-cing the materiel, adjusting it to specic conditi-ons of operations in Afghanistan and naturally inforce training can hardly be appreciated. It wasall performed at such a speed that we really didnot notice our weapons and equipment in Opera-tion ISAF changed radically. I must admit it wasnot always easy, but I feel very strong about thatwe are self-sustainable and not reliant on our partners in terms of delivering our operational

assignment, and that wenally stopped operatingin the we-give-you-the-manpower-you-give us-the-equipment-we-will-already-eat-on-our-ownstyle at last. But back to your question: Afgha-nistan is an extreme environment, in which eve-ry type of equipment has its pros and cons, butalso its limits. Having monitored serviceabilityof equipment and weapon systems over a lon-ger specic period of time, we may fairly say itnever fell under ninety percent benchmark. Thatdenitely attests to some quality. I am condentthat we are better off in this respect than some of our partners are. The quality of our equipmentand the speed at which our servicemembers lear-ned to operate it have largely contributed to thefact that our losses in Afghanistan have been mi-nimal. In addition, what we achieved is that our commanders in Afghanistan have available quitea broad spectrum of land equipment, so that theyare able to select vehicles matching the terrain

pro

le and mission to be performed.I was surprised in Afghanistan how quickly ourservice personnel were able to learn to opera-te the borrowed U.S. hardware, such as MRAP vehicles. Is it truly our national advantage thatwe are able to quickly settle with circumstancesand improvise?

It is not a bene t of improvisation, but rather an outcome of the effort by our commandersand individual soldiers alike. They are very welltrained and, thanks to skills they gained both athome and in Afghanistan, they are able to acc-limate themselves and stand up to new challen-ges. But what it builds on is a high-quality tra-ining and preparation on tactical subunit level.Improvising does not substitute quality trainingand preparation, although the art of improvisinghas been intrinsic to Czechs for decades.

factsheet

Perhaps least is known about the Czech SpecialForces mission in Jalalabad. What is their rolethere?

Our Special Forces have been integrated intothe ISAF special forces chain of command asa standalone task force. I would hate to specu-late about what strand their operations pursue.Their mandate denes for them to perform mis-sions in the full spectrum of special operations,which I believe is telling enough. In addition,the special forces task force is involved in men-toring a special unit of the Afghani National Po-lice (the PRC Provincial Response Company).In the Czech Republic, the PRC compares to theregional police SWAT units.

The Czech 601st Special Forces Group inProst jov have traditionally performed to excel-lent standards and that is reected in their asse-ssment by the Allies.

We are told the year 2014 will be decisive inthe context of terminating operations in Afgha-nistan. Coalition forces are to withdraw in thattimeframe. To what extent will that apply to the

Czech Armed Forces?2014 is really meant to be the turning point inthe operation. But it would be naive to think thatOperation ISAF would close down completelyin 2014 and everybody would go out of Afgha-nistan. The process began last year of transitio-ning responsibility into the hands of the Afghanigovernment and the Afghani National SecurityForces. President Karzai has a very selective procedure in place to identify provinces, townsand areas to transition into direct Afghan re-sponsibility. As a part of the process, operations by coalition forces are being restricted in selec-ted areas. This transition is to come to head so-metime around 2014, but I do not think all areaswould already be under Afghan administrationin that timeframe, particularly in security terms.The developments down the road however re-main to be seen. I would rather regard 2014 asa time of a sort of operational climax. But thatdoes not mean we would leave Afghanistan for good. We are likely to remain engaged in that

country in terms of mentoring, partnerships andsecurity consultancy.

Presently we have our foreign deploymentsalmost exclusively under NATO command. Is itconceivable for you that sometime in the futurewe would operate as part EU military structuresor UN forces?

I do not think the European Union wouldmean something new, something ground-brea-king for us. We assigned a CZE/SVK EuropeanUnion Battle Group for standby in the past, andwe have preparations now underway for another one. So, we have a good degree of familiaritywith the European Union system. Moreover, the

EU forces usually deploy for lower intensitycon icts than those under NATO command. Inthe role of observers, we also operate as a part of UN missions. Likewise, we have been throughdeployment of whole units under UN command.We took part in operation UNPROFOR in the1990s. Something like that cannot be ruled outdown the line, but no requirement of the kindhas been voiced. However, should anything likethat happen, it is certainly the kind of effort wewould manage to deliver. The peak of Czechforces operational activity is at the level of NA-TO-led operations.

by Vladimr Marekphotos by Vladimr Marek and MoD JOC

Forces and assets of the Czech Ministry of Defence to bedeployed for foreign operations in 2013-14The plan of deploying Czech MoD forces and assets for foreign operations in 20132014 with

outlook to 2015 keeps ISAF as the highest operational priority.The Government of the Czech Republic mandates the deployment of up to 539 Czech military professionals in Afghanistan in 2013, and maximum 340 personnel in the following year. In2015, with Afghan authorities already fully responsible for security in the country, the Czech for-ces operating there will predominantly have the assignment to perform missions associated withtraining, mentoring and assistance to the Afghan National Security Forces, with total authorisedstrength of 150 personnel. Up to twenty special forces operators will be assigned to providesecurity to the Czech Embassy in Kabul.In 2013-14, up to ten Czech military professionals will serve tours in KFOR in Kosovo. Ma-ximum three service personnel will be assigned for the EU Operation ALTHEA in Bosnia andHerzegovina. The Czech Republic will also continue its involvement in the counter-piracy EUOperation ATALANTA up to three personnel, and the same number will be involved in theMultinational Force and Observers mission in Sinai.The plan also includes deployment of a Czech air component for the Icelandic Air Policing missi-on in 2014. The Czech Republic will continue to assign forces and assets to the NATO ResponseForce (NRF) and the UN Standby A rrangement System (UNSAS). Approximately twenty ve thousand Czech Armed Forces service personnel have served toursabroad since 1990s. Over eight thousand served in Kosovo, roughly three thousand were foroperations in Iraq. Since 2002, close to eight thousand Czech men and women in uniform havedeployed for operations in Afghanistan.


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Training

The 5th Air Adviser Team (AAT) led by Lieu-tenant-Colonel Petr Kratochvl took over itsoperational assignment on 4 December 2011.For most of the AAT personnel, this has not beentheir rst deployment. The unit is deployed at theKabul International Airport (KAIA) and compri-ses two expert groups. Therst team focuses ontraining for Mi-17 Hip air mobility helicoptersand includes two instructor pilots, a systemsengineer-instructor, a gunner and three mainte-nance specialists. Except for the gunner, all theair force personnel are members of the 24th Air Force Base Prague-Kbely. The mission of thesecond team is to train Afghans on Mi-24/35gunships. The Hind team also comprises two in-structor pilots, two system engineers and sevenmaintenance specialists. In addition, the AATalso includes a senior of cer-assistant comman-der. The Mi-24/35 teams permanent station isthe 22nd Air Force Base Nm nad Oslavou.

Flying in non-standardconditions

Every day is different and specic at the sametime in the mission in Kabul, although the AATalso has to develop monthly and weekly plans.The squadron however is tasked to respond toinstant requirements of the Afghan NationalArmy (ANA) or to the needs of coalition for-ces. When forces deployed at forward operating bases or combat outposts high in mountains can-not be resupplied otherwise than by air, trainingis rescheduled or cancelled.

As a matter of fact, helicopter ights are per-formed over hostile territory. They are engagedquite often because the slow-moving and low-ying helicopters represent an easier target asopposed toghters or commercial airliners thaty faster and at much higher altitudes. All he-licopter crewmembers are aware of the threat,and adjust the ight tactics to the mission andthe area they areying or indeed to the locationthey are going to land in. Fear of being shot atmust remain outside the cockpit. The pilot andother aircrew members only dedicate their effortand thinking to ight performance. Fear muststay outside the cockpit, Czech helicopter per-sonnel concur.

There are many factors directly inuencing ight performance, such as high elevation and ight altitudes, maximum take-off weight, sharp

changes of the weather, unpredictable turbulentstreams over mountain ridges, brown-out or white-out landings. The current training schemecomprises four to six-week blocks, when a pair of helicopter with two advisers and four stu-dents perform the training and transportationmissions outside KAIA. Whenying into areaswith possible hostilities, a pair of Mi-17 Hips isescorted by pair of fully armed Mi-35 gunships.

The aircrew of these helicopters comprisesa Czech adviser-pilot, Afghan trainee pilot andCzech systems engineer. In one of these jointmissions performed to resupply an ANA forwardoperating base in Ajristan, a helicopter formati-on had toy over a mountain range reachingroughly 3,900 metres above sea level. Pilotingat such altitudes is already quite demanding. Theinterval between maximum and minimum ightspeed is narrow. The maximum ight speed de-creases due to altitude, air density and payload.That makes calculating the maximum take-off weight critical, systems engineer Warrant Of -cer Vlastimil K. concludes. A team of Czech Mi-35 advisers escorted Afghan Mi-17 machineson a resupplying mission into the Kunar Valley,regarded one of the most dangerous places inAfghanistan.

The Czechs have been involved in providingground training to Afghani pilots, includinga ight simulator, where the U.S. command of the Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron sentthem based on their achievements in mentoringmembers of the Afghan National Army Air For-ce, to practical ight training. The training in-volves piloting techniques ights and inspection ights transporting materiel and personnel intolocations hardly accessible by land and with veryrestricted size of mountain landing zones. The5th AAT personnel are also responsible for pro-viding assistance on mission planning as well ason after- ight debriengs. As

czech armed forces review 1-2012

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