Czech Military Review, 2010 (vol. 91), issue 4

NATO's Strategic Concept: An Important Step Towards Military and Political Qualification of AllianceReviewed

Kpt. Mgr. et Mgr. Karel Zetocha, Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 3-14  

The main Alliance mission is to "safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries" and to "deter and defend against any threat of aggression against any of them". Those general tasks are tailored today to changed international security surroundings. In May this year, a report by the experts group was released, forming the basis for further negotiations over the new strategical concept of NATO. The experts produced a document of first-rate quality identifying main tasks NATO is facing today. At the same time this document redefines prospective directions the Alliance should follow in the years to come. Without a broad popular support NATO's...

The Report by Madeleine Albright's Team and Its Wide-ranging Contexts ("Council of Wise Men" and Drawing up the Alliance's New Strategic Concept)Reviewed

PhDr. Antonín Rašek

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 15-30  

This concept has been preparing since the early 2009. In short, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation must be increasingly prepared to intervene far beyond its borders. In the coming decade, NATO will have four central inter-related military missions. The first requirement is to "deter, prevent and defend" against aggression, so as to ensure the political independence and territorial integrity of NATO member states. The report insists on the need to send out military missions beyond the treaty area "when required to prevent an attack on the treaty area or to protect the legal rights and other vital interests of Alliance members". Any expeditionary...

Czech White Paper of Defence: Shall We Learn from History?Nonreviewed

Ing. Vlastimil Galatík, CSc., Mgr. Richard Stojar, Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 31-37  

At the beginning of August, Defence Minister Alexander Vondra announced his intention to give rise to the White Report of Defence as a document constituting clear vision of country's defence. The Paper will constitute a major overhaul of Czech defence and security policy and will set out the path to more modern, compact and reactive security and defence forces. By cutting the overall number of defence personnel, restructuring the defence estate will achieve cost reductions allowing to address more effectively the challenges and threats of the globalized world. It will allocate a substantial budget for defence, in line with the priorities and choices...

Changes of U.S. National Security at the Beginning of 21st CenturyMilitary art

Doc. PhDr. Jan Eichler, CSc.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 38-48  

The new American doctrinal document called National Security Strategy (NSS 2010) was released in May 2010. Generally, NSS documents outline major national security concerns and plans. The NSS 2010 lays out a strategic approach for advancing American interests, including the security of the American people, growing U.S. economy, and international order that can address 21st century challenges. President Obama is stressing global leadership, dependent on strong and responsible American leadership directing it to ensure other nations follow. He urged Americans to revitalize their own economic, moral and innovative strength to continue to lead the world....

Analytical Thinking and Team Leadership in Intelligence AnalysisMilitary art

Doc. Ing. Oldřich Horák, CSc.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 49-54  

This paper deals with aspects of intelligence analysis that very often influence the quality of intelligence information utilized by end users. Such analysis requires not only analytical thinking, but also specific experiences of all personnel exploiting collected information. The same body of information may result in multiple analytic products, with different security classifications, time scales, and level of detail. The result of this process is an analytical product - evaluation without any idle speculation and pseudo prophecy. Evaluation and interpretation must describe up-to-date conditions and demonstrate the clusters of future images with...

Al Qai'da Hybridisation in North Africa and its Implication for EuropeMilitary art

Bc. Martin Janků

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 55-70  

The article is focused on issue of hybridisation of Al Qai'da in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in North Africa, and its implications for European countries. The process of hybridisation is being conceived as growing nexus and convergence between violent non-state actors, while these processes could be in this case identified mainly in issues of use of kidnappings and secondary also reported involvement of AQIM in regional smuggling, mainly drugs, activities through Sahel and Saharan region to Europe. Regarding GSPC background, AQIM could be in long term theoretically able to re-establish its financial and supporting networks in Europe via cooperation with...

The Professionalization of Armed Forces of the Czech Republic as an Open Project and InnovationOpinions, controversy

Podplukovník Ing. Bohuslav Pernica, Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 71-80  

The shift from vocational military service to all-volunteer force (AVF) could be regarded and treated as any other scholarly assignment of project management, so we can get a better look at its bugs and risks. The author applied the Valentas classification of innovation upon this AVF project in the Czech Republic and demonstrates what are main risks for its sustainability. He sees the first cause and effect in the reality that this shift lacks sufficient support by social sciences and humanities. Since 2003, only six per cent of scientists/scholars employed by the Czech Ministry of Defence have been supporting this great change. It is not enough and...

What A Commander Needs from System of Education? (Response to an article by Brig.Gen. Zůna and Lt.Col. Pernica in Military Review No. 3, 2010)Opinions, controversy

Podplukovník gšt. prof. MUDr. Jan Österreicher, Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 80-81  

The author, director of military hospital base, reacts favourably to the article mentioned above. He would like to add something from the practical point of military commander. In his unit, there is a deficiency of attested graduated surgeons, whereas there are a lot of graduated nurses, rescue workers, because of a wide offer of civil colleges and universities. They study in their leisure time and thus gain higher educational background. In consequence, his unit does not need graduates from Defence University in Brno. He comes to the conclusion that necessary commissioned officers could be recruited from among ranks of non-commissioned officers or...

New Military Grades and Rank CorpsOpinions, controversy

Mgr. Havlín Miloslav Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 82-88  

In April and May this year, several articles or essays appeared in civilian media, introducing misleading information that in the near future, the ranks of ordinary servicemen (privates, corporals, sergeants) are coming back, as they were abolished after introducing professional forces. Such proclamations are not quite true, because ranks of private, corporal and sergeant, were earmarked by legal rules above all for soldiers in their compulsory or compensatory military services, i.e. they were not abolished after 2004. There are a lot of similar uncleanlinesses as far rank corps are concerned and therefore the main attention of this article is concentrated...

NATO and Russia at the End of First Decade of 21st Century: Mistrust, Common Interests, Co-operation?Informational pages

PhDr. Miloš Balabán, Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 89-99  

Relations between NATO and the Russian Federation are one of key factors influencing overall policy of the whole North Atlantic Alliance. They are complicated and sophisticated questions still predisposed by the heritage of the Cold War.But there are mutual fears, common security problems they both have to counter. NATO policy must be established upon present-day reality. It is self-evident that there are common fields of common interests in which mutual balance must be reached. There are among others: armament, preventing arms proliferation, halting proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical agents, antimissiles defence, counter-terrorism,...

Afghanistan: True RealityInformational pages

Podpraporčík Jan Smetana

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 100-107  

The deteriorating situation in the Afghanistan region poses a security threat not just to the United States, but to every single nation. It was from that remote area of the world that Al Qai'da plotted 9/11 and subsequent attacks in Europe and elsewhere. Reading news about Afghanistan today gives rise to the question why the situation in this country is such as now really is. Ordinary mass media depict the country often in a confusing manner: Afghanistan as "a country, full of terrorists and uneducated barbarians, longing to destroy western civilization and kill". The author describes bad security situation which presents problem for both coalition...

Military Keynesianism, Defence Expenditures and the Growth of Economy Militarization in Advanced Countries of WorldInformational pages

Ing. Vendula Hynková, Ph.D., doc. dr. Luboš Štancl, CSc.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 108-120  

Keynesian economics argues that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes and therefore advocates active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary policy actions and fiscal policy actions by the government to stabilize output over the business cycle. This paper defines the core of Keynesian economics in the mirror of defence expenditures and their influence on country's economy growth. The main attention is paid to the analysis of military-industrial complex and its pressure on armed forces, as one of most important factors introducing a danger of the so-called militarization of both state economy...

The Building of ACR Base in Missions AbroadMilitary professional

Mjr. Ing. Jiří Štoller, Ph.D., mjr. Ing. Eva Zezulová, Ph.D.,

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 121-131  

Since 1990, members of ACR forces have taken part in 29 foreign missions, some of them continue even today. A total of 24,171 soldiers have participated. The authors with regret state that in spite of the fact of 20 years of foreign missions, no military manual dealing with methodology of building military bases was approved. This article tries to bridge this gap. It depicts fundamental components of military base and enumerates six principal wholes of such base, further 23 basic types of elementary sections. The article was written within the limits of defence research project "Technology Support to Projection, Construction, Maintenance and Dismatling...

Facilities for Battalion Task Force Augmentation with Artillery Pieces, with the Use of Automated System of Artillery Support ControlMilitary professional

Prof. ing. Ladislav Potužák, CSc., pplk. Ing. Josef Vondrák, kpt. Ing. Michal Sobarňa, Ph.D.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 132-144  

The artillery of the Army of the CR is indispensable part of Czech armed forces. It will take part in operational activities, in the frame of EBAO concept (Effect Based Approach to Operations), acting in contact with various task forces. To meet those objectives, it must reach highest level of modulability. The article depicts all variants of effective augmentation by artillery firepower, artillery reconnaissance, and close artillery support. It enumerates all possible combinations of this reinforcement. Backed by those acquired specifics, the authors further extrapolate demands for automated control system of artillery fire support.

Crossing Ability of VehiclesMilitary professional

Doc. Ing. Šárka Sobotková, CSc.

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 145-149  

Problems of crossing abilities are most often defined as the ability of wheeled and tracked vehicles to move on damaged, unrepaired communications or terrain. This ability is determined by the construction of vehicle, terrain qualities, and their classes. Less known are problems of reverse driving. In this case, we do not examine crossing ability, but investigate the capacity of terrain to decompose an overall load of moving vehicle. It is a part of tasks performed by engineer reconnaissance for force movements, as troops make use not only neat communications, but also rough terrains, off main routes. Diagnoses of this kind are performed by the Department...

Organizational Culture within Armed ForcesMilitary sociology

Mgr. Nataša Ballová

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 150-162  

The article summarizes the results of sociological research into organizational culture in the ACR. It should create the picture of military organization, perhaps point at potential dysfunctions and thus to help to their correction. Respondents's opinions on remunerations were detected, in respondents places of work, in combination with their expectancy, anticipations what military service might bring to them. Two thirds professional soldiers have positive attitudes towards interpersonal relations at their working places. The worst position on the scale had the chance to work with the latest technologies and to start a professional career, i.e. to...

Extremism from the Point of Views of Soldiers (Analysis of Sociological Investigation into Extremism in the Czech Armed Forces)Military sociology

Doc. JUDr. PhDr. Miroslav Mareš, PhD., PhDr. Josef Smolík, PhD., Mgr. Petra Vejvodová

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 163-173  

The paper deals with the relation between political extremism and regular soldiers of the Czech armed forces (from the point of view of military staff). The threat of presence of extremists in the army is conceptualized in this paper. After that there are presented methodology, outcomes and interpretations of research sociological investigation, which was realized in February and March 2009 at Czech armed forces. As a risk should be assessed mostly information about contacts with extremists in the army and information about very different attitudes in relation to the importance of the issue "extremism in the army".

Long-Term Monitoring of Actual Health Status Parameters of Czech Population with Emphasis on ACR ServicemenMilitary sociology

Mgr. Libor Soumar, Ph.D., PhDr. Čestmír Oberman

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 174-189  

This article presents trends in actual physical status of Czech population with emphasis to the military population. The battery of standard tests was used to monitor the basic health related parameters. This test battery was applied to large sample demographic groups. The results verify expected trends. Anthropometrical data show that the population reaches critical level of overweight at age of 40. Blood pressure tends to increase more rapidly after age of 45. Strength and cardiovascular fitness peaks at age of 25, followed by steady decline. Although it was predicted that military personnel should reach higher physical fitness level and lower risk...

The Shadow of Nuclear War over Europe (1945-1968)Book review

PhDr. Antonín Rašek

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 190-196  

The Shadow of Nucler War over Europe (19451968). In spite of general expectations, even after the end of the Cold War the world can't get rid of atomic threat. Interest in nuclear problems has increased in the last few years. Among new books dealing with this problem belongs also the monograph by Josef Fučík "The Shadow of Nucler War over Europe: The Strategy of Military Blocks, Operational Plans and the Role of the Czechoslovak People's Army in Central European Theatre in 1945-1968". In the 60's, the last century, the danger of nuclear confrontation was extremely high. The Soviet Union accumulated large atomic potential, the fact that disabled American...

Homage to Eightieth Birthday of Miroslav PurkrábekPersonal data

PhDr. Antonín Rašek

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 4/2010: 197-201  

Had PhDr. Miroslav Purkrábek, CSc. was still alive today, he would be 80 years old. It was on September 8, 2005, that Miroslav Purkrábek, suffered a stroke. This year it has been fi ve years since he died. He was a person who contributed to social sciences on three distinctive fi elds: military sociology, sociology of military health, and sociology of public policy. As a gifted scholar he expected that alongside with disarmament talks and preparing collective defence, especially after the fall of world?s socialist system, that task of the army would shift towards preventive, threatening role. But he even lived to see the moments when military professionals...