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The article examines the possibilities of developing the competencies of the Czech Armed Forces (CAF) officers in the field of operations planning within the framework of career training. The main learning competencies for operations planning at the operational level are formulated based on a comparison of curricula of professional military education programmes and interviews with experts. These are together with the proposed assessment methods, validated in a real learning process. Different approaches to assessing learning outcomes are discussed in comparison with the current approaches applied in Czech career education, which highlights the need for an innovative approach to assessment. Based on the research results, the paper presents a proposal for an assessment standard, including methods for learning outcomes evaluation.

The Active Reserve currently represents, in effect, the only organized reserve force of the Czech Armed Forces. Given this, it is necessary to ensure that members of the Active Reserve have both the opportunity and motivation to train sufficiently often. Financial compensation is, of course, among the key motivational factors—both for joining the (voluntary) reserves and for active participation in training. Our text analyzes the current remuneration system for members of the Active Reserve and highlights several problematic aspects that may reduce the willingness of reservists to train for more than 14–21 days per year. Based on this analysis, we propose an alternative compensation system that would address the shortcomings of the current one.

Pre-hospital medical reporting is critical for MEDEVAC activation and Medical C2. However, NATO exercises frequently reveal data inconsistencies and information loss. This study evaluates information flow within a Czech Army mechanized battalion and verifies a new Pre-Hospital Care (PHC) concept designed to address these friction points.
A Table-Top Exercise (TTX) involving forty participants was conducted to test the concept. Results revealed significant deviations from NATO standards (9-liner, MIST), with critical information loss occurring between company and battalion levels. Conversely, the PHC concept demonstrated improved structure, clarity, and time discipline. The study concludes that the PHC concept effectively addresses systemic shortcomings, offering a user-friendly tool to enhance Medical C2. It recommends further validation in field exercises (LIVEX) and gradual integration into national training and doctrine.

The article deals with the mental strain, as subjectively perceived by Czech soldiers and their families in the course of and after return from international missions. The research part was processed based on nine in-depth interviews with soldiers with different experiences from foreign missions. The data were processed with the help of grounded theory. The results showed that the involvement in missions is mainly positively assessed, primarily thanks to professional development. The operations bring specific stressors; additionally to critical situations, there is primarily the stress related to separation from the family and the cabin fever. The soldiers cope with the stressors thanks to the contact with their families, thanks to a good team, leisure time activities and support from the chaplain or the psychologist. The duration of the adaptation stage after the mission varies very much. It includes problems with restoring contact with the children and adapting to routine life, as well as the envy of surrounding people, considered by the soldiers a "Czech particularity", caused by low positive publicity of the Czech army.

The paper concerns the crisis in Yemen which escalated once again in the beginning of 2015 and considers legality of Operation Decisive Storm launched in March 2015 by military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

Operation Serval (French: Opération Serval) is an ongoing French military operation in the Republic of Mali, West Africa. The aim of the operation is to oust Islamic militants in the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the centre of Mali. Operation Serval follows the Security Council Resolution 2085 of 20 December 2012. The operation is named after the medium-sized African wildcat species Serval. The author analyzes historic and geopolitical context, including activities of AQMI terrorists. The Serval Operation is of dissymmetric character. At the rear of advancing French troops some groups of rebels and terrorist stayed to make acts of sabotage. According to the author it is necessary to prevent from long-term involving into the conflict, among others, as French territory or territories of other countries might become a target of terrorist attacks.

This article deals with PMSCs as a relatively new phenomenon in warfare areas. It is open to discussion whether private military companies and the private contractors that they employ, should be treated just like any other transnational industry, or whether they should be treated like mercenaries under international law. As it happened in many countries, private companies and private contractors operate in a legal vacuum. From a strictly legal point of view individuals employed by private military companies are not to be considered as mercenaries. The private military industry offers a wide range of services. Procurement of military services by individuals and private firms has developed in a direction that had probably not been anticipated in previous years. Some military analysts say that the exclusive role of the state in the domain of defence and security is outdated and should be re-examined.

The paper evaluates the level of cooperation between the Ministry of Defence and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) in the field of procurement of military equipment. In the practical part, the results of the research on the level of participation of Czech-based suppliers in NSPA activities between 2018 and 2022 are presented. Pareto analysis comparing the participation of the Czech and international companies in contracts implemented by NSPA in terms of their subject, quantity and financial value is used. Qualitative case studies from three different areas illustrate in which NSPA projects the Czech Republic has already been involved in and which benefits and risks are associated with this cooperation for the MoD. Positives and drawbacks in the process of acquiring military equipment in-house and opportunities and threats that may arise from the acquisition of military equipment through the NSPA are summarised in the form of the SWOT analysis. Finally, recommendations are presented on how to improve the cooperation between the MoD and the NSPA in the field of acquisition.

The language training within the Ministry of Defence [MoD] of the Czech Republic is primarily focused on English. However, in accordance with the Concept of Personnel Training for the Needs of the MoD, the MoD provides language training in other foreign languages as well. The language teaching is the responsibility of the Language Centre of the University of Defence Brno [CJV UO] and includes English, French, German and Russian. The aim of this article is to compare the activities of the CJV UO with similar language centres in the defence departments of Germany, Austria and France and to present the teaching of French, German and Russian within the MoD through examples of good practice. In the context of the current geopolitical situation, the teaching of French, German and Russian becomes more important, and the CJV UO responds flexibly to the demands of the MoD regarding the provision of the teaching of these languages including professional language and electronic teaching support.

The article deals with the system of joint doctrine development in the Czech Armed Forces (CAF) focused on the operational level of command and control, including the implementation of the NATO doctrines into national conditions. Among others, it was found that the structure and content of the Czech doctrines are not systematically set. Allied doctrines are introduced either by rewriting them into the Czech version or by introducing them in the full English version. In both cases, it might cause inconsistency in military terminology. The Coordinating Committee as the only supervisory body does not have the authority to streamline the process of producing military publications. The most important paper recommendations include alignment of the Czech doctrinal framework with the NATO architecture, adoption of Allied doctrines in the English version including the national specifics, or redistribution of competencies within the processing group. Notwithstanding, the above-mentioned proposals, which indicated high impact, require crucial steps to be taken to implement them.

This study deconstructs the concept of active measures through the prism of information influence. It understands it as sophisticated methods of influencing public opinion and political decisions, originally used by the Soviet Union and now adapted to cyberspace by the Russian Federation. In the analysis, the concept is contrasted with the general abstraction of information influence. This helps to better understand the proximity of active measures to similar concepts. We conclude that abstractions of information influence are also valid for conceptual understanding and practical examples of contemporary Russian active measures. Active measures are subsidiary to information influence, serving as tactical means to achieve the latter's strategic goals. Furthermore, the author states that the information environment is the operational theatre for active operations, cyber operations can be its manifestation, information operations support as a key component of a broader information operations strategy, and psychological operations are its critical element.

The war game is a respected tool for commanders' decision-making. Its preparation, execution, and evaluation of results require precise organization and a considerable time commitment. However, the time aspect is a limiting factor in the current dynamic era to a rather objectified evaluation of the variants of operation execution. The article does not describe the process of wargame preparation, it focuses on the execution phase, where it presents the use of a particular simulation system in wargames and under which theoretical conditions the results of combat simulation can be considered valid. It also evaluates the time efficiency of its use in a wargame. It has been experimentally verified that the tested simulation system can be used for a wargame especially in the accelerated simulation mode. The configuration of the computing system was also verified, which allowed a substantial acceleration of the simulation run of the wargame scenario.

The article describes the basic foundations and significance of the manipulative technique called Deepfake, which in the environment of technological and informational expansion is also becoming a widely used tool for spreading propaganda. This advanced manipulation complements a wider spectrum of forms of disinformation and is increasingly being used as a means of conducting information operations, often as part of wider hybrid warfare. Effectively combating this kind of manipulation places high demands on consumers of information, both on the part of the detection tools used and on the part of the cognitive human approach based on critical thinking. The expansion and sophistication of similar manipulative techniques will continue, in connection with the development of modern technologies and the interconnectedness of the information environment. Although the Deepfake technique is not only associated with security-military aspects, its influence on information operations and hybrid warfare cannot be neglected.

Despite the attempts of labeling hybrid warfare as a new form of warfare or even as a factor that is changing the nature of war, hybrid warfare is part of a war from the Antiquity to the present day. The essence of hybrid warfare is in parallel use of regular and irregular military forcesand different means of pressure by a power unwilling to openly attack a weaker opponent. Information dimension is analyzed in the cases of hybrid warfare against Croatia (1990-91) and Ukraine (2014). In both cases the key target of hybrid warfare was social cohesion of the attacked countries. In the Croatian case, despite a strong propaganda campaign followed by the direct and indirect use of military force, the attacking side was unable to break social cohesion of the majority of Croatia's population. In the Ukrainian case, the lack of social cohesion has prevented organization of the efficient response to hybrid warfare waged by the Russian Federation. Both cases also indicate the significance of national identity in preserving a society's social cohesion.

The paper deals with recent recodification of private law (background and sources of inspiration, general part of Civil Code, family and inheritance law) and particularly the special regulation related to the members of the armed forces (so-called military private law): 1) marriage under exceptional circumstances (§ 667 CC), and 2) military testament (§ 1545 CC). They reflected illustratively the ideological background of the recent recodification - links to national and European legal tradition, discontinuity with the previous regulation and the pursuit of complexity, and also indirectly the current relationship to the armed forces - respect, appreciation of their importance and taking account of their specifics.

The aim of the article is to present an up-to-date discussion on cyberspace as a new, fifth domain of warfare. The reader is provided with the concept of cyberspace, its current interpretation, primarily in American doctrines and military theory. The army mission is contextually mentioned as well, explicitly the limits of Czech forces capacity. The paper deals with the form of cyberspace and its characteristics in the context of military operations. It advocates the idea of cyberspace as a war domain, which is presented together with the criticism to such approach. The article concludes with the summary and evaluation of both sides' arguments, taking into account the specific role and abilities of armed forces.

This study aimed to explore the media’s perception of the military and militant activities, focusing on journalists’ professional conduct and their commitment to the national cause. In-depth interviews were conducted with Pakistani journalists reporting from conflict zones. The findings suggest that Pakistan is engaged in a war on terror and that the media plays a key role in glorifying the security forces in their fight against militants who challenge the authority of the state. Journalists expressed the view that the government and military should take realistic measures to combat this threat. While journalists described militants as terrorists, they also noted that their professionalism is often influenced by patriotism and a national duty to serve the country. However, objectivity remained a key element of their reporting. The media, considered the fourth pillar of the state, should have the necessary freedom to report on conflicts. At the same time, self-censorship was considered necessary to prevent content that could lead to radicalization.

Biosafety and biodefense (i.e. all countermeasures preventing the spread of biological agents in the environment and population) are on the regular agenda of states and their militaries. Somewhat aside are global catastrophic biological risks (GCBR), which can destroy human society as a biological species. Although a precise definition of what constitutes a global catastrophic biological risk is still being sought, it can be considered the impact of potential global catastrophic risks (GCR) on the social, economic and biological structure of human existence. This implies that GCBRs are a subset of GCRs. It is also open to discussion whether in the case of GCBRs the risk must necessarily be biological agents, from viruses to humans, or whether anthropogenic threats can also be accepted as risk factors, or what the impact must be for a risk to be included under the designation GCBR.

This article presents the first systematic analysis of cognitive resilience education within the Czech Ministry of Defence, which is growing in importance in the context of contemporary hybrid threats. Through methodological triangulation (document analysis, questionnaires, interviews), the research maps the coverage of relevant topics across all levels of formal military education. The SWOT analysis reveals both existing foundations for cognitive resilience development and the absence of a systematic approach to this issue. The results highlight three main challenges for transforming the educational system: systematisation of the approach, personnel resources, and infrastructure modernisation. The study establishes an empirical basis for strategic recommendations to strengthen military personnel resilience against information and psychological operations.

The article analyzes loitering munition as a distinct category separate from traditional UAVs and examines its role in recent armed conflicts. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative analysis, it finds that these systems have become a persistent feature of modern warfare, which is also reflected in the rapid expansion of acquisition efforts within NATO countries after years of stagnation. Building on these findings, the article introduces four functional criteria defining loitering munition and provides a targeted DOTMLPFI mapping that outlines the key requirements and indicative metrics needed to achieve full operational capability. The study shows that progress across all DOTMLPFI domains is essential for effective and sustainable integration, particularly in smaller armed forces.

The study focuses on the methodologies and strategic implications of restoring industrial complexes in post-conflict environments. Drawing on empirical evidence from the war in Eastern Europe, it links NATO engineering doctrine with approaches to damage assessment and stability classification. It proposes damage categorisation and prioritisation of reconstruction based on structural degradation and external system dependencies. Key strategies include mobile engineering teams, improvised materials, and limited documentation. The study also highlights the need to protect sensitive information generated during recovery. A combined approach ensures efficient reconstruction and national defence resilience.

This study provides a summary overview of the creation and the activities of the international security architecture in the form of their two main pillars, i.e. the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the Near and Middle East region. Within the framework of international security relations, this is a very unstable and conflictual region, where this instability has lasted practically since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The global UN, its overall activity and importance, especially humanitarian and peace-building activities not only for the Near and Middle East region, is very beneficial, through out the Cold War period up to the present day. As a security organization, NATO is among the most important global actors influencing current international security relations. Through their activities, both of these organizations represent a essential means of ensuring world peace and security.

No military operation is conceivable without logistics. It is widely known, however, the origin of the term logistics is not unambiguously stated in publications and sometimes refers to ancient Greek. There is no doubt that the term "logistique" was first used by the general of Napoleonic army Antoine-Henri Jomini and Lieutenant Colonel George C. Thorpe, U. S. Marines, anglicized Jomini's term to "logistics". Among many distinguished authors that paved the way to the current theory of military logistics cannot be omitted Rear Admiral Henry Eccles. It is also worth to mention Austrian-American economist Oskar Morgenstern and his attempt to outline a consistent language between military and business logistics and to formulate a general theory of logistics.

The work deals with the issue of engineer information, which is necessary for the planning of water crossing, and which can facilitate and speed up the proces of operation planning with the assistance of the staff members of engineer specialization. At present (2019) there is no application software development of engineer support tasks (hereinafter APV ŽEN) within the engineer command and control subsystem AČR, which would take into account the problem of water crossing by troops. The aim of the article is: to analyze the gathering of engineer information for water crossing and to describe it on a specific example of the Morava river, to identify the possibilities of water crossing by forces of AČR, to propose a map base for APV ŽEN, which will be supplemented by engineer information from Povodí s.p. and Motorway and Highway Directorate (hereinafter ŘSD) and to define measures that will support the availability of engineer information in water crossing.

This article aims to highlight the most important changes within the transatlantic defense relations. The central argument is that NATO is gaining a conditional nature, transforming collective defense into a form of transactional defense. The study utilizes Paul Kennedy's notion of "imperial overstretch" to explain the strategic context of the transatlantic defense relations. After this, the analysis highlights how the transatlantic defense relations gained a transactional character that is resonating to this American "imperial overstretch". The second part of the study focuses on the latest developments concerning the US military presence in Europe and highlights their transactional character, thus enabling the emergence of transactional defense within NATO.

The article continues explanation basic operational terms, familiarizes readers with true theoretical fundamentals of the key element of operational design - the decisive point. Basic doctrinal interpretations are described and explained. Its introduction and utilization is visible during the operational planning process and elaboration of operational design. The concept of decisive point has a close connection to the other concepts, namely lines of operations, the centre of gravity and the end state. The concept is further evolved via example of peace support military operation planning process. Key words: decisive points, decisive conditions, lines of operations, centre of gravity, effect, kinetic, nonkinetic operations, doctrine.

All-inclusive attitude of NATO forces assumes that conflict can't be solved only by military means. This shift from purely soldierly level to political brought around numbers of Alliance activities at Strategical and Operational Commands. The common denominator was the philosophy of complex approach in operational thinking, planning, and implementing NATO activities. As a result the operational SACEUR's directive GOP was substituted by its revised successor-the so-called Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive (COPD). It is going to be introduced in 2011 and will influence groups and military persons at all levels of warfare, dealing with operational planning and operational art for art's sake. The article familiarizes readers with this directive (COPD) as a tool for comprehensive approach to operations. The COPD offers more deliberate and inclusive planning procedures that allow for both military and non-military actors broader understanding of operational environment and better cooperation in their common effort.