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Manning Czech armed forces in peace, in time of danger or war, are backed by law regulations and DoD internal normative acts. In fact, Czech legislature is still insufficient, so the author advises its revision. Laws concerning defence ought to be timeless, further amendments beg the questions concerning their correctness. When the institute of ?Conscientious Objector? was established in 1990, the figures of soldiers in their compulsory service were reduced by 15-20 % of planned numbers. The membership in an established sect, background as an active pacifist was not required for an objector to be eligible for exemption from military service. Greece (the Hellenic Republic) is one of a few European countries still preserving the compulsory military service for all Greek young men even in time of peace. As conscientious objectors are not regarded those who served in armed forces in the past, who are legally entitled to own a deadly weapon, or were prosecuted or sentenced for an offence tied with arms. The author suggests adopting similar arrangements like in Greece.

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.

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.

This article deals with the birth of a new concept in the field of the warfare-FORCE XXI, the long-terms vision that influenced all advanced militaries, among others the author introduces a list with names of programmes: USA (Land Warrior), Great Britain (FIST - Future Integrated Soldier Technology), Canada (ISSP - Integrated Soldier System Platform), Germany (IdZ - Infanterist der Zukunft), France (FELIN - Fantssin a Equipement et Liaison Intégrés), the Netherlands (SMP - Soldier Modernisation Programme), Norway (NORMANS - Norwegian Modular Artic Network Soldier), Denmark (Danish Soldier Modernisation), Belgium (BEST - Belgium Soldier Technology), Italy (Soldato Futuro), Portugal (Sodado do Futuro), Slovakia (PIBS - advanced combat individual system) Poland (Tytan). The author underlines fundamental changes within this course of study, both technical-implementation of new technologies and weaponry-and doctrinal. He also describes current situation within the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic.

The so-called Provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) are a relatively new concept and element in coalition operations. Those teams have been operating in Afghanistan since the end of the year 2002. The evaluation and assessment of their work is very complicated and sometimes quite unambiguous. The main purpose of this article is to show to widest military community tasks and problems of PRTs; secondly to introduce main principles of work of PRTs under different conditions. Moreover, this article refers to fundamental problems that guide their PRTs development and work in countries that have some experiences with building and activities of PRTs. The author also describes the activities of 40 Czech military personnel PRT in Afghanistan (in the frame of German PRT, Badakshan Province, Fayzabad).

In NATO, here are many common items in welfare benefits, and there are different ones. Authoress depicts military social welfare in the CR, Slovakia, Germany, France, Poland, Hungary. The final part of this article compares systems of military benefits of mentioned countries. The authoress enumerates various conditions to be fulfilled, so that soldiers were entitled for welfare or retirement benefits. In nearly all countries, veteran?s pensions are regarded as the substitute for deferred, postponed pay. Retirement pays have its source in the last soldier?s salary. In the Czech Republic, retirement pays are based upon serviceman?s average best income in a calendar year, before he leaves the army, the time he served in the army, and its real income. Czech veteran?s social security scheme is separated from general (civil) social security system, as there some special military benefits that can?t be taken over by civil authorities.

This essay is based upon the article by Lt.Col. Peter Zillmer, German military journal Europäische Sicherheit, No. 8/2007. The point is as follows: anti-air defence faces qualitative new tasks, this new qualitative level is constituted by the fact that anti-air defence has only few second to prepare all elements for direct firing against attacks of undirected rockets, mortar mines, launched by asymmetric enemies. It is the question of reconnaissance, and early warning, command and control of fire. NATO's programme Defence Against Terrorism results were demonstrated at air firing range in spring 2007. Coalition forces in Iraq are exposed to permanent mass rocket attacks from the part of insurgents, so they use system Phalanx LPWS, originally developed for direct ship defence. The article further enumerates other systems in use: German FüWES, Swiss Skyshield, and so on.

The subject of this comprehensive study: the main features of global risk society can be embodied by ecology crises, global financial crises, threat of terrorism. The article is presented as a report to military community and audience, with the underlying focus on terrorism. The author is mapping the global future in the first two decades of this century. As a small country we must pay attention to the developments in the worlds leading powers: the U.S., China, Russia, last but not least, within the EU. Those themes also present individual headings of this study. He treats energy, demography, peace, security, good neighbourly relations, cooperation between states that are most desirable goals we want to reach. In a way, as the main actor of worlds security situation till 2020 is identified Islamist terrorism (radical Islamists, Al Qaeda). At the end Mr. Balabán recalls the former "Security Policy of the Czech Republic" released ten years ago, reminding us the necessity to be prepared for the worst scenarios.

This essay is practically the first public essay concerning the system of financial standards within the scope of the Czech Ministry of Defence. The author describes current system of financial standards in short-term a medium-term planning. He clarifies their creation, points at some absences and outlines areas suitable for further research. The document is based upon data collected in the specific research project SV05-VVŠ-K02-10-ING. The article is accompanied by several tablets of financial items and cost sheets for individual financial standards.

Mr. Koutný belonged among those who went through the fire of World War II and lately became victims of despotism of the so-called "class laws". In fact, Col. Koutný was not a soldier, but the journalist. At the beginning of war, Mr. Koutný was sent to Poland to inform about Polish practices to return Czechoslovak refugees back to the "Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia". At Poland he joined the Czechoslovak Military Group; lately he experienced Soviet labour camps. In a small city of Buzuluk, where the first Czechoslovak Field Battalion was formed, he became the chief of recruiting commission. There he met people returning from the NKVD's camps (i.e. Soviet Secret Police's detention camps). Many his reports to the Chief of Czechoslovak Military Mission Heliodor Pika were preserved in archives. Nowadays they bear witness on those fearful camps. As a press officer he laid down the foundation of the Czech army daily "Our Army in the USSR". He worked at the Czechoslovak Headquarters in Russia, as a liaison officer at the Command of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps in the USSR, as a political and military advisor to the commander of armour brigade Lt.Col. Janko. In his liberated country he helped to establish the military publishing house Our Army (Naše vojsko). Shortly after the communist coup d'etat, in 1949, he was imprisoned. He died in a communist jail in 1960.

Language instruction is an integral part of the training of military professionals and various experts of the Czech Ministry of Defence. An important contributor to this is the Defence Language Institute (DLI) in Vyškov. This article describes the principles of work being applied, at the present time, in the activities of the fundamental components of the DLI, the language instruction section and the methodics and testing section and the scope of this activity. It presents the volume and the results of language training in the ACR from 2003 to 2006, as well as new commitments that the DLI in Vyškov has for 2007. It acknowledges the significant growth in the number of the students in the language courses, and the specialization of the various courses according to the needs and tasking of the ACR.

Michal Sorbaňa, Ph.D. The article deals with contemporary conditions of automated Fire Control System called ASPRO which was introduced into the ACR in the late 90s. It is a classical computer network of enforced computers with commercial operational system Windows 95, with special applications for command, control, communication, intelligence at the level of artillery regiment. It is the so-called C3I system that is divided into three program modifications designated for individual components ASPRO system: Artillery Tactical Computer, FO Tactical Computer, Gun Tactical Computer, and Meteo Tactical Computer. The connections and ties among individual elements of system are depicted on several detailed charts and schemes. The issue was discussed at the Artillery Conference in January 2007; the visions of ASPRO support to mechanized units were presented by the Chief of Joint Force Artillery. This essay covers only the main elements (procedures) of above mentioned problems.

The problem of allocation of defence sources and their effective spending during recruiting is analyzed by means of modelling and simulation of economic indicators to support of decisional processes of defence planning and arising effectiveness of defence sources in Czech environment. The authors present an example that illustrates the monitoring costs in recruiting. At present, we have no accomplished internally tied system of economic indicators, the article therefore proposes such indicators which could describe continuance in recruiting process, by means of which we shall be able to calculate its financial costs.

Mr. Nitsch-Nyč belongs also among those who were sentenced to jail in the 50s. Nevertheless, as a member of the notorious Military Counterintelligence, headed by ill-famed Gen. Reicin, he belongs among persons who participated in the so-called "unlawfulness", that is to say: provocation, disposal of "unsuitable" officers from the army, in a close cooperation with Soviet intelligence officers. He started his military career in old AustroHungarian monarchy, than he was enlisted as a volunteer in the pre-war Czechoslovak Army. During WWII he was arrested and sentenced to the concentration camp. In May 1945 he became a member of the Communist Party. After that he was appointed as an intelligence officer. He was arrested in 1952, accused and sentenced for deeds he did not commit. He was rehabilitated in the 60s, whereas people that were sentenced in political trials he helped to prepare were still in jails.

His professional career was amazing. After the WWI, as a former legionnaire with war experiences, he fought in Slovakia against invading Hungarian forces. Then he decided to reenlist, he was a company commander, regiment aide, and after graduating from War College (High War School) he was appointed as the head of intelligence department of the 2nd Division Plzeň, the chief of intelligence department of Prague District Military Command, and finally the deputy chief of intelligence department of the Main Staff. At that time, the Czech Military Intelligence hired a member of German Abwehr, Paul Thummel, the famous agent A-54. After the German occupation, he and his eleven colleagues flew to Britain, with the most important documents. There he organized intelligence operations in occupied Czech and Moravian lands, in 1944 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier. Soon after the end of WWII, the Communist Party started to prepare coup d'etat. The first step was to take over defence intelligence. Brigadier Moravec was accused of many offences before the war, and although they were not proved, he was released from the army. In 1948 he fled abroad and began to run intelligence activities under American patronage. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989 he was rehabilitated and posthumously decorated by the Order of M. R. Stefanik, one of the highest Czechoslovak orders.

The author summarizes and consequently generalizes security histories of war, peace, military, based upon the events of the last century. Recent moves towards a common European defence and security policy and European defence capabilities have sparked off considerable debate. Concerns have been voiced that this could lead to a decoupling of Europe's security from that of its other NATO allies, or a duplication of effort or capabilities. Above all, there is an urgent need for Europe to boost its capabilities, if it is not to be confined in future to a useful, but limited, reactive defence and security role. It is expected that the US, in a medium-term outlook, to say in the 2020 horizont, will be in a position of the only world's superpower; the People's China will remain only a regional power. All prognostic considerations must be therefore deduced from the position of the United States in the world. The American policy of multilateralism has proved to be most successful in history. As far as the position of our republic is concerned, to improve our defence capabilities we must use the EU as a framework ...242

Both in our country and the world the wider concept of security is on its way. It influences wide variety of various subjects and objects that create national and coalition strategies. There are many academic branches dealing with various individual aspects of security, but the present day calls for more complex and sophisticated access to security problems. The author proposes to establish a new academy discipline, the so-called security science or securitology, to respond adequately to current security challenges. It would be an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, problems oriented "meta-science", associating history, philosophy, social sciences, international politics, axiology, the Arts, law studies, psychology (namely military psychology), demographics, criminology, ethics, environmentalism, geography and so on. To tell the truth, in practice, complex security system is accepted. The author enumerated all relevant institutions in our society, civilian or armed, bodies, authorities, legislative and executive powers that are being involved in predictions, analyses, assessments and responses to possible threats, dangers or perils.

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.