IInternationalnternational EExercisexercise iinn RRetrospectetrospect 6 2/2014 Historical success for the Czech Republic and the Czech Armed Forces 10 General Petr Pavel was elected the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee as the fi rst CHOD from new NATO nations Guarding the Volcanic Island 34 TTwowo NewNew JJaguarsaguars pp.. 222-232-23 contents In October 2014, another group of NATO civilian employees went through training in survival and in how to behave in crisis situations Restraint not on the agenda 2 A Tribute to General Tomáš Sedláček 5 International Exercise in Retrospect 6 Survival course for NATO Historical success for the Czech Republic and the Czech Armed Forces 10 The Military Committee’s role in the NATO structure 12 civilian employees Operation MERCURY 14 Display pilots from Čáslav Airbase 18 Instructors from Training Command – Military Academy in explosions and smoke, as well as psychological Two New Jaguars 22 Vyškov train NATO civilian employees who are going to be pressure, stress and fear. deployed in high-risk areas. The special course puts an emphasis Team 1 (red) drives on a mine with a ve- Aerobatics in ground proximity 24 hicle and the damage prevents the crew from Even explosions leave evidence 26 on coping with potentially dangerous situations as well as going on. The explosion causes a leg injury to possible natural disasters. Those who have undergone the course one of the soldiers, who is put out of action. Like driving a Mercedes-Benz 30 are ready to face threats and to provide fi rst aid to themselves With the help of covering fi re performed by fel- Exercise Sharp Lynx 14 32 and their colleagues. low fi ghters, the injured is taken to a safe place and given fi rst aid. The injury is covered with Guarding the Volcanic Island 34 It was the fi nal (fourth) course this year with Raising the Iron Sword 36 the participation of twelve civilian employees, who all successfully completed the training. Duel of Willpower 38 Ever since the fi rst courses which took place In the spirit of Article 5 42 seven years ago, several hundreds of civilian employees have been trained. Only the Best 46 “It is a general course, which does not con- centrate on a particular location such as Afgha- Water in reward 48 nistan. What we teach is universally valid and The Brain of the Military 49 can be used in any crisis situation even one which is not primarily caused by the human fac- For the Brdy mountains to be safer 50 tor, e.g. natural disasters such as earthquakes, fi res or landslides. The participants complete Replaced by Resolute Support 52 the course enriched by valuable skills and com- The siege of a water fortress 56 petences, which will guarantee that they will manage life-threatening situations that they Fighters with silent death 58 might face. They are particularly ready to face Longest redeployment ever 60 the danger in the form of traps brought about by illegal checkpoints, improvised explosive de- When drafts reigned 62 vices or ambushes. The aim is to master poten- The physical and psychological preparation is tially dangerous situations with honour, i.e. save crucial, but the aspects of work when on mis- Bled to the last drop 64 one’s own life and the lives of colleagues,” says sion require a more complex approach. That is How Czechoslovak Legionaries Lived 65 LTC Pavel Šebesta, servicemember of Training why the training also comprises international Command – Military Academy. humanitarian law in relation to peacekeeping His words confi rm what we saw during the operations and missions as well as topography fi nal phase of the course, which takes place on and engineer training. The participants are also Published by MoD Czech Republic Communication and Promotion Department location and lasts two days. Teams fulfi l diffi - expected to be able to drive a vehicle in diffi cult Tychonova 1, 160 01 Praha 6, Czech Republic cult tasks which verify their understanding of terrain, communicate with the media or inhabi- www.army.cz theoretical knowledge in practice in carefully tants and, naturally, also to negotiate. Identifi cation number: 60162694 imitated realistic situations. There is shooting, Some participants are more effi cient, others less. Those who have served in the military turn Address: Rooseveltova 23, 161 05 Praha 6, Czech Republic a compression bandage and the leg is immobili- out to be more skilled. The physical and men- Phone: +420 973 215 648, +420 973 215 786 factsheet zed. It is done in a professional, qualifi ed man- tal strain is enormous, everybody touches the Editor-in-chief: Vladimír Marek ner and very quickly. Team 2 (blue) is moving ground. The realistic performance of the cour- Layout: Andrea Bělohlávková The survival course for NATO civilian on foot while minding mine fi elds. On the way, se, tough preparation and professional work of Translation: Jan Jindra, Jiří Mareš & Marti Kavínová employees began in 2007 on the initiative they come to a checkpoint which they have to instructors and teachers from Vyškov help the Cover photo: CMM 3ºREI of NATO Command International Staff and pass through. During the check, a gas mask is NATO civilian employees cope with their work in Distributed by MHI Prague, Production Section on its requirement for national support discovered in a backpack of one of the team missions and prepare them for possible serious in the domain of preparing international Rooseveltova 23, 161 05 Praha 6, Czech Republic members. The checkpoint commander gives an situations in which they fi nd themselves – unlike Oľga Endlová, tel. +420 973 215 563 civilian personnel for deployment in ope- order and the group fi nds themselves in an un- soldiers – unarmed. rations and missions approved by NATO Printed by: EUROPRINT, a. s. Council. The participants are prepared for comfortable situation. They have to lie on the ground and pose no resistance while their bag- ISSN 1804-9672 one week, in one of the four rounds, every Registration number: MK ČR E 18227 round consisting of max. forty students. gage is being inspected. They are facing wea- pons pointed at them. by Michal Voska Published December 2014 2 A review 2/2014 A review 2/2014 3 Chief of General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces General Petr Pavel on wartime force structure assignment of forces and assets for the operati- and everything related on that will follow. In this respect, we are not in position of a country that would have its decisi- on-making done on those issues. The mandate for our soldiers has not been authorised yet. It is assumed based on the discussions so far that it Restraint not on the agenda should only be endorsed after regional elections in Czech Republic, i.e. sometime in November. The events we have seen The Summit is also expected to shape NATO’s to take place in the Ukraine attitude on what is called the level of readiness. recently both shortened the It is the ability to respond to crisis referred to as hybrid ones. It is a threat that is not posed warning time, during which by a state, is not specifi cally military one and we would be alerted to the frequently uses paramilitary means impossible possible threat of war, and to confront by a direct military response. In that shifted our focus much more regard, there is a great room for NATO to do in both policy and practical terms. from peacetime force structure to the wartime one. General There have been extensive discussions recently Pavel elaborates. about the amendment of the Defence Act, and spe- cifi cally about introducing liability to conscription. Is that one of the measures that should help us in in that regard. The way it is set up, the whole easily and quickly purchased would be a huge The last two decades furnished a comfort to us of the years ahead? system is rather oriented on preference for con- burden for national economy. No country fol- no impending confl ict and we focused on peaceti- It is one of many measures the state should sumption. The values I speak about are today lows that path. Therefore, people seek solutions me force structure rather the wartime one; was it adopt in order to be able to respond to crisis rather regarded abstract ones and belonging to for mobilisation stocks only to comprise the ma- not a mistake? emerging in vicinity faster and more fl exib- the past as such. teriel enabling the initial build-up and all the rest It exactly corresponded to the spirit of the ti- ly. A more fl exible and timely reaction will be to be augmented as needed. It is completely mes. If we would take a look several years back, primarily enabled by changes in the law. That Do we have a clear idea of the size of our wartime clear with all the materiel subject to respiration, we all lived in hope and expectation that we pertains both to the Defence Act No. 585, but force structure and how many soldiers and airmen such as food, medicaments, fuel and other pro- faced only a period of peace, constructive coo- also the Act on Service of Reserve Soldiers, Act are needed to make up for losses in combat? ducts. It is always about striking the right balan- peration and mutual dialogue. If anybody would No. 225 on Ensuring Defence and some other Same as augmentation of the wartime structu- ce between necessary stocks and resources the say in the fi rst half of 1990s that there would be laws.