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As the military's current fight against terrorists and insurgents does not follow the templates of the past, it requires innovative, adaptive thinking. This article summarises the main ideas of the essay "We the People are not the Center of Gravity in an Insurgency" by Maj. Mark P. Krieger, published in Military Review No. 4, 2007. A COG could be characterized as a source of power from which a military force derives its freedom of action, physical strength, will to act. The definition is important namely when military planners try to identify enemy COGs. There is a single COG at the operational level; the tactical level of war has decisive points. COGs organize and direct critical capabilities, physical or psychological. An insurgency's case is its strategic COG, its organization is operational COG, and the people are a decisive point at the tactical level. The population is important in an insurgency, because the people are a tangible to target, but it is not a COG. Attacking an insurgency?s organization will weaken the strategic COG that becomes vulnerable to attack and destruction.

ACR Logistics: the 2nd Phase of Reform by Prof. Ing. Petr Hajna, CSc. In its opening part, the article enumerates a short summary of tasks that were met in 2007, in the period of the first phase of ACR reform. At the same time the author marks out the tasks for its second phase in 2008. Logistics involves obtaining, maintaining, and transporting military personnel, supplies, and equipment. Now, we lay emphasis on the preparation of a new logistics concept in frame of outsourcing system (concentrated on optimalization of the employment of civilian companies for appointed goods and services); development and reconstruction of Maintaining Material Base Štěpánov (depends on allocated financial sources); purchases of T-810 vehicles; unifying control activities in the field of material economy and the founding of Office for Economy Management, subordinated to Logistics Department of Defence Ministry.

At present, we are going through army transformation, represented among others by lowering military expenditures. One of many questions accompanying this process is a purposeful and functional spending money for military purchases. The authoress, the former teacher at Defence University Brno, explains her method of multicriteria decisionmaking during shaping the algorithmic program eliminating non-optimal behaviour, suitable for all, military and state, officials, who are in contact with external providers (suppliers). Introduced method is transparent one and could be used namely for small public orders, explicitly during concluding contracts without legally fixed terms. The proposed method is demonstrated upon a concrete example of realized contract.

The author of this article considers the prospective changes in the development, character, missions and tasks of the Army of the Czech Republic, Those changes are deduced from the changing security environment and long-term development trends. To meet new demands, we must continue in building interoperability and compatibility. The battlefield operations will be planned and controlled by the systems of "Network Centric Warfare" and "Reach Back Operations". It will not be necessary for a commander to be in physical contact with operational theatre. Electronical high speed intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance will enable the high pace of military operations (together with common analyses, integration of collected data, evaluation of enemy's intents and activities). This will enable to build a credible defence, in the frame of collective security system, hand in hand with other NATO allies.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the role of conceptional documents as guideposts supporting decision-making process of ministerial top-management. The key role belongs to visions. They reflect various political targets, whereas prognoses represent the prospective image of goals of department in question. The author offers several matrices of assorted components serving for the creation of predicted variants of normative and nonnormative scenarios. This leads to forming concepts, followed by plans and methods of their implementation. It is necessary to respect this outlined principle, so that titles of individual documents would match their real contents. This highly theoretical article is based upon the Research Project MSM002162084 "The Development of the Czech Republic within the EU: Challenges and Risks", Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University Prague.

The very modern trends in the forces of advanced countries are hiring private civilian companies, private enterprises, in everyday performance of armed forces. As this phenomenon is very frequent, the authors decided to go into its roots, to find a common cause of this fact. In the past, armies were closed societies, self-sufficient, independent from states. Today, gradually, soldiers became more concentrated on key military tasks and supporting functions are transferred to private companies. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) takes over mechanics used in private sector: it integrates economy dimension. Above all, it is transparency of bookkeeping, which ought to give evidence on savings in everyday life of forces. The Bundeswehr uses the so-called Market Testing, as a means of practical cooperation for engaging private capital. All those fact are cited as thoughprovoking.

This article covers the EUFOR RD Congo operation preparation phase and provides information on Military Strategic Planning Process, Military Operational Planning, Collaborative Planning, EU OHQ Potsdam activation and Force Generation Process. It describes planning period to highlight a pivotal role of training and education. Operation EUFOR RD CONGO was the EU second military intervention in the RDC, following Operation Artemis in 2003. The EUFOR RD CONGO mission was to support MONUC during running election process, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1671, authorizing the temporary deployment of an EU force in the RDC. The views expressed in this assessment are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of EU Military Structure or the Czech MoD. All information and data for this paper were drawn from unclassified sources.

The philosophers describing the growth of humane society outline concepts that are not yet verified but if true, they would explain certain facts or phenomena. As those concepts are supported by various traditions, different criteria, different hypotheses are drawn from them. Among others, most influential political thinkers are Samuel P. Huntington, Francis Fukuyama, or Mr. and Mrs. Tofflers. Every level of civilisation corresponds to respective technology, knowledge of warfare. Current trends reflect the development of security situation, to which our state responds by respective army development. Although the current "Concept of Mobilization of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic" reacts to the newest trends of general development, the raise in military spending is anticipated only time of danger. The author warns against such idea. The forces must be constantly prepared, ready not to be struck by unexpected state of affairs; e.g. similar to that of the US in 1917.

Professional, or Professionalized NCO Corps by CSM Dušan Rovenský. This article covers the process of transition from conscript army to entirely professional, allvolunteer force (AVF). It deals with the role and responsibilities of NCOs generally, rank and grade structure, career rules, NCOs' training and education. The author identifies the problems of a rapid professionalization, discusses the possibilities for improvement and finally suggests the possible solutions to those problems. Among others, there is some sort of misunderstanding as far as Other Ranks/Enlisted corps is concerned. The Czech translations of those ranks do not always correspond to their general positions, ranks, responsibilities, command authority, the length of service of individual non-commissioned officers (NCOs), sergeants, or warrant officers (WOs). The author, Command Sergeant Major, Support and Training Forces Command (a graduate of U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Fort Bliss) puts forward several proposals to make those translations more precise.

Supported by several historical examples, this article covers the past and contemporary development of both role and organizational structure of the infantry fire teams and squads. Fire team (or fireteam in British English) is an infantry grouping of four or less men (half of a section, GB); or one third of a squad (US). The fire team concept of the U.S. and British Army is shown as an example how to more effectively employ infantry in the all-volunteer military force. The author also shortly mentions Infantry Squad

This operation was led by Germany, and made up of elements contributed by twenty EU nations; as well as Turkey and Switzerland. The EU deployed FHQ in Kinshasa and simultaneously kept the over-the-horizon force in Gabon, in order to ensure a deterrent capacity and to avoid unnecessary heavy military presence in Kinshasa. After Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EUFOR RD Congo was a second EU largest military operation, involving a total of almost 3,000 soldiers and officers). The co-operation with MONUC was decisive in containing the potential spread of violence at a particularly sensitive moment in the election process. The operation demonstrated the EU ability to successfully conduct medium scale autonomous multinational operations within a planned time frame under the UN mandate. The views expressed in this assessment are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of EU Military Structure or the Czech Ministry of Defence. All information and data for this paper were drawn from unclassified sources.

This paper discusses the methods of integrated risk management during evaluating the risk rates of military activities. Risk management is an important tool for effective implementation of secure surroundings. And vice versa, the level of security determines requirements concerning the transformation of armed forces, because this security level plays one of key roles in its implementation. The authors depict individual phases of integrated risk management that ought to be applied not only at the level of military units and groupings, but also during the whole process of security evaluation of acquisitions for missions or regions. The acceptation of subsidiarity principle means that this sort of risk management is a starting base for safeguarding global security. At the end the authors enumerate fundamental principles to be fulfilled first.

The University of Defence Brno belongs to non-philological schools of technical nature that not only offers training for military specialists, but also puts stress on foreign languages. Unlike many civilian technical graduate schools, it takes over the responsibility for language preparations and therefore studying languages is obligatory both for bachelor and graduate degrees. But in this article the authors are more concentrated on bachelor's programmes. They summarize students' answers to various questions collected at the Faculty of Military Technologies (English language, 300 teaching units), and the Faculty of Economy and Management (two foreign languages, 180 teaching units for every language). There are many elements influencing the efficiency of teaching, the authors analyze some of them and make several recommendations how to improve the space for individual language drills.

English is one of official NATO languages, therefore at the Defence University belongs among very important subjects. The Centre of Language Preparation took over ELT (English Language Teaching) in all faculties of Defence University, so did at FEM (Faculty of Economics and Management). This paper is dealing with students' proficiency monitoring in ELT and the factors that could influence their results during their language preparation. The authoresses have been monitoring bachelor programme students from the very beginning to the final university terminology exam in English language. The teachers' teams from particular faculties of the University of Defence observe in their research the students' progress for which the questionnaires data were used. The recommendations provide guidance for improving and making more uniform procedures for screening and entrance testing prospective students of the Defence University

This article deals with the EU command and control functions and provides basic information on the structure and capabilities of the EU CCS in Battle Group EU operations. The author describes political and strategical levels CCS (COREPER, GAERC, COPS, CivCom, EUMC, EUMS, BDE HQ, prospective EU FHQ). Only US, EU and E3 (Britain, France, Germany) are capable to realize integrated expeditional operations. The ACR can work only with cooperation with them. The Czech Republic as a small EU member state is actively engaged in the building of the Battle Group EU. The Czech Army is going to increase its expeditionary capabilities as demanded and be prepared for a broader range of conflicts and crises in the vital area of the EU concerns. At present, the ACR is able to carry out a self-supported, integrated expedition operation only on the edge of all its strength. The political leaders must bear this fact in mind, as the army mustn't be overburdened, otherwise it might lose its credibility. All information and data for this paper were drawn from unclassified sources.

In this article the author explores the potential roles for unmanned ground vehicles (tactical UGVs) in the modern battle space as pack mules, fighting scouts and perimeter sentries as new concepts of operation, designs and products emerge. Remote control vehicles could be also used in explosive ordnance disposal operations. Urban warfare looks set to become a particularly rich field for this sort of robots. The article discusses the challenges in developing and deploying cost-effective UGVs on the battlefield. There are still many problems, namely technological. The price for a UGV is comparable to price for four or five wheeled armoured vehicles. The article is based upon materials from RUSI Defence Systems (No. 2/2007), studies by Myron E. Mills, Kevin Ivison, James Masey. Ulf Stremmel; and Andy Simms: Robot Wars. Soldier, No. 12, 2007.

At the beginning, the authors introduce modern history of chemical weapons, starting with the deployment of chlorine on April 22, 1915. In the early 70s, the US opened the project BLWS (Binary Lethal Weapons Systems) with the aim to replace old chemical arsenal and eliminate risks tied with the storage of chemical weapons, so did the Russians. Today, new generation of chemical weapons come into being, with higher toxicity, prepared by very simple procedures and means, very heavily degraded. We are proud that the Army of the Czech Republic belongs to those few armies oriented to building chemical-warfare units, specialized and trained to detect the presence of chemical weapons and to decontaminate persons, equipment and vehicles which have been affected by weapons of mass destruction (NBC).

The article is focused on applications of the Reach-Back concept as a procedural help to the technical supervision of the investor during peacekeeping missions abroad. The fourth part of the article describes the technical supervision of the investor based on KFOR mission lesson learned. Private local construction companies perform the majority of constructional works during KFOR missions. In fact, with the use of Reach-Back concept, there is no difference between the contents of work of technical supervision of investor in peace time in the Czech Republic and during the mission in Kosovo. The Reach-Back concept has several applications, Lotus Sametime, Lotus Quickr iProject (CAD systems). All applications are opened to wide use via field engineering address, http://ipzv. unob.cz. Supervision in ACR Mission Abroad OPINIONS, CONTROVERSY

One of most important tasks of the Army of the Czech Republic is the preparation for country defence, be prepared to defend the republic against attacks from outside, with the use of Allied defence system. The core of manning in time of danger or war is recruitment of all people coming under compulsory conscription and those with the duty of extra service. Even though the compulsory military service (national service) was abolished in 2004 and the ACR became fully professionalized, Czech population is obliged to conscription/draft. All men/women over the age of 18 till 60 could be conscripted. The difference is that this legal obligation is realized only after the government has proclaimed the state of danger or declares war. This selection, namely the activities of recruiting boards, must be prepared well ahead, in time of peace, in cooperation with municipal authorities, state and regional administration. The author also deals with ?extra service?, which might come into existence in case we are short of conscripts.

The academic year 2006-2007 is an important milestone for the Defence University, as the freshmen are asked to have relatively high entry knowledge of English language. The concept of English entry tests had to be changed, i.e. entry tests are at the level STANAG 6001 SLP 2. For practical purposes, speaking and writing knowledge of all applicants can't by tested, therefore new test patterns cover only listening and reading (level SLP 2). This represents an extra burden for the staff of the Centre of Language Preparation, influencing language training and testing. The new curriculum was formed, accredited in UNIcert system. It has been implemented for students in the first grade of the Faculty of Military Technologies. This curriculum reflects speaking knowledge at the level STANAG 6001 SLP 3333 and opens the road to European Certificate of English Language.

Politicians Raise Support?) by Col. Ing. Tomáš Rak. The fact that nuclear weapons has not been employed for more over 60 years doesn't mean that they are of no use. On the contrary, they still serve as the most effective tool of determent. At present, we do not face some superpower, but a multitude of various small, namely Islamic groups. The nuclear threat has returned in the form of terrorists who, unlike Soviet Union leaders, would not hesitate to use such weapons. We face a very real possibility that the deadliest weapons ever invented could fall into dangerous hands. No treaty, no ban on such weapons, no international law will guarantee that they won't be used by the so-called "non-state actors," potential "rogue states", or messianic groups expecting the end of the world. The author recollects the case of A. Q. Khan, who sold his country's nuclear secrets, helping to increase the proliferation of nuclear technology on a wide scale.

The essay summarizes several articles published in Vojenské rozhledy dealing with mass media and its activities during armed conflicts or peace-support operations. In fact, more attention to war information is paid by civilian press or books. The author, PhDr. Antonín Rašek (-ar-) cites e.g. English sociologist D. Hallin The 'The Uncensored War', D. Kellner The Persian Gulf TV War, and some books or reportages by Czech journalists and authors, K. Hvižďala, P. Procházková, V. Bělohradský, T. Halík, etc. The Vietnam War was the first televised war and it was largely uncensored. People saw the true horror of war on their television screens night after night, and that caused them to turn against the war. The media seems to be influencing the direction of government policy; the American military always claimed the media caused the war to be lost. But today, namely during the wars in Iraq, the media are blamed to be too subordinated to official policy, they present "a war of choice as a war of necessity". "Abedded" journalists and stringers sell war stories and information, their primary purpose is to make money. An example of the strict control of war information is Chechnya, closed for independent journalists and the only information available is released through official information's agencies, both Russian and opposing Chechen forces.

The return of Russia as a power that begins again to partake in political agenda of present-day world raises the necessity to reflect its inner developments in the background of its recent history. There are six key factors that substantionally influence the position of Russia in the world: large sources of raw materials (pipelines); outstanding military capacities (the world's second nuclear potential); high level of general education; wide scientific and research base; permanent membership in UN Security Council and in the Group of Eight (G-8); deciding influence in the near neighbourhood. The study comes to the conclusion that Russia-in the horizon of 2020-will belong among world's leading actors, together with the US, the EU, China, and Islamic world. Russia will be able to of enforce its foreign and security goals, both in post-Soviet areas and in key regions in Europe, Asia and in the Great Near East. As such, it will probably get into conflict with the US. The priority tasks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will rest on maintaining nuclear parity with the US and building capacities for asymmetrical operations.

The world is full of unsolvable problems. Every key problem has turned now into multinational one; in fact, this can be handled only if it becomes a transnational problem. Security development is multifaceted process tied with the whole globe. The author recapitulates several models or paradigms that influenced a lot our global strategical thinking. The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives by Zbigniew Brzezinski; The Choice: The Global Domination or Global Leadership of by the same author; The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington; Avin Toffler's The Third Wave; Kauffman's Fourth Law: Prolegomenon to General Biology (Investigations); Order Out of Chaos by I. Prigogine and I. Stengers. Dr. Volner says that the contemporary humankind has its last chance to push such a solution that might lead us out the world of dangers and threats to start building up a balanced and lasting security, but he warns against waging "small preventive wars", as the only way to safeguard the peace.

The author follows the mainstream economics, i.e. leading economics of defence policy, ranging from economics of defence in the nuclear age, via economics of Iraq conflict, to current fight against terrorism. New paradigm must be drawn, taking into account source management, the distribution of economics weight of individual national economies of all countries participating in the fight against global terrorism.

In the early 21st century defence research can be discussed in two ways: we can stay either within existing discipline "theory of state defence", or we can set up new academic specialization concentrating more on the notion "security" and its individual aspects, including their inner ties. In the former case, there are spheres in which civil and military experts can complement each other, whereas other spheres of studies ought to stay exclusively in the domain of military experts. Mutual cooperation between civilian and military experts can be concentrated on systematic studies of security threats, predictions of potential conflicts, analyses of security cooperation between the Czech Republic and NATO, the EU and the OSCE, economy support of state defence. On the contrary, military specialist ought to focus on e.g. major regional conflicts, low intensity conflicts, military operations other than war. As the term "security science" is not used in NATO nations, the author suggests, it would be more useful to preserve academic discipline "defence theory" to make full use of military experts.

Even after the Cold War, our world is full of local and international conflicts. There were dozens of wars, fringe clashes between local opposing groups in Africa, Asia and so on. Among them there were four wars of lager size, with more than thousands of deaths in each of them that could be characterized as international wars: Desert Storm 1991, Iraqi Freedom 2003, Allied Strength 1999, and Enduring Freedom 2001. Now we can look at them from a distance ...217 Problems tied with those large-scale wars have several levels: supranational (international) level and military level, being accompanied by paradoxes: international and political paradoxes and military ones. This influenced structures and methods of training and preparation of Australian, Britain and US forces. The lessons were embedded into their military concepts, rules and regulations, e.g. Complex Warfighting (Australia), Future Land Operating Concept (UK), Field Manual: Interim Counterinsurgency Operations (US). New roles of military forces, global and local implications, ought to be embedded also into the structures and concepts of the Army of the Czech Republic, concludes the author.