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Vladimír Marek

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A family that shook the world

The Novgorod engraver Sverdlov and his wife gave the world not only the leader of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, but also a French general and an American banker.

🕔︎ 01.03.2015 👁︎ 27.592

A knight who did not find freedom

It is harder to maintain the balance of freedom than it is to endure the weight of tyranny. Simón Bolívar

🕔︎ 28.02.2015 👁︎ 19.264

A man of nine professions

Ensign Pavel Stehlík completed a pyrotechnic and medical course and training focused on air and artillery guidance before joining the mission.
For a soldier who is leaving for foreign missions, a submachine gun, good shoes and a large backpack are no longer enough. The current contingents consist of an increasing number of different specialized professions. There are often even more of them than there are members in smaller units. Therefore, there is nothing left, as in the case of special forces, to engage in several military professions in parallel. And this is exactly the case with pprap. Pavel Stehlík.

🕔︎ 03.11.2012 👁︎ 19.537

A scramble for the Carpathian ridges

After World War I, there were fierce battles for Subcarpathian Russia. The fact that they did not always shoot during them does not change anything.

🕔︎ 03.10.2012 👁︎ 33.709

A soldier on several fronts

Jaroslav Selner fought not only in North Africa and the Carpathians, but also worked for reporters during the war
Jaroslav Selner was a healer during his varied life. He worked as a pusher, dispatcher, founded a drugstore school in Křivoklát, worked as a secretary of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. Above all, he was a soldier…

🕔︎ 25.09.2012 👁︎ 22.143

ASV 150 - Robust and undemanding

The four-wheeled ASV 150 transporter was originally developed and manufactured by Textron from Louisiana for the needs of the US Military Police. The four-wheeled armored vehicle with a turret is also adapted for this. The first armor was delivered to the army in 1999. They underwent a fire test in Kosovo. Until the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq in 2003, the Military Police had about fifty of them available.

🕔︎ 10.11.2012 👁︎ 21.377

Bandits patrol in Logar

Kabul had just woken up in the morning. A small but even more robust military convoy was leaving the Allied base at the international airport. It consisted of four eight-wheeled Panduras with the designations of the Army of the Czech Republic.

🕔︎ 08.03.2013 👁︎ 16.061

Battles of the bravest

Special operations have attracted the attention of the general public for many decades. This is due not only to the uniqueness and strict secrecy of the units that provide them. More importantly, in these cases, the use of tactical means usually succeeds in achieving strategic objectives. In other words, thanks to the surprise coin and also, of course, the concentration of elite individuals in the right place at the right time, it is possible to achieve results that in standard operations correspond to much larger units and much longer-term efforts.

🕔︎ 13.02.2015 👁︎ 32.067

Bullet for the emperor

The brother of the Austrian emperor, Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg, was brought to the execution site by his adventurous nature.

🕔︎ 28.02.2015 👁︎ 17.634

Bullseye!

The protective ramparts of Shank Base remained behind us. We head south on the Utah Road. The unusually long column of Humvee, Dingo and Iveco armored vehicles suggests that this time it is not a patrol or an escort of civilians. Soldiers of the 5th Contingent of the Provincial Reconstruction Team ( PRT ) in Logar are waiting for gunfire.

🕔︎ 24.11.2011 👁︎ 21.841

Crazy brave pilot

Milan Rastislav Štefánik is known as an astronomer, politician, Czechoslovak Minister of War, general and tireless fighter for the freedom of Czechoslovakia. However, the profession of military pilot also played an important role in his life. Above all, air operations over the Serbian front. As a fighter pilot, he experienced firsthand the collapse of the Serbian front and part of the tragic retreat anabasis through Albania.

🕔︎ 19.02.2015 👁︎ 22.575

Czech money on fire

It was Friday, August 12, 1881, the evening was approaching. The weather did not suggest that summer should culminate at this time. Every now and then clouds came, and rain fell from the leaden clouds. A soldier on duty at the Vyšehrad citadel saw smoke rising from the roof of the just completed National Theater. The same picture was seen about an hour later by the workers of one of the Smíchov factories. Despite all the efforts of the firefighters, the work of destruction was completed after several hours of futile fighting. The roof of the National Theater collapsed, leaving only the perimeter masonry. Even that was in many places cracked by fierce heat.

🕔︎ 01.03.2015 👁︎ 16.923

Deadly "Storm"

A literally bloody sun appeared in the east. A new day began on August 5, 1995. A mortar grenade, which landed on the observation post of Czech soldiers Tango 23, arrived like lightning from clear skies. Literally a whirlwind of shards immediately took its toll. Two Czech soldiers paid for it with their lives, three others were wounded. The line of Croatian fighters, as if nothing had happened at all, moved on. Operation " Storm " against troops of the Republika Srpska Krajina was drawing to a close. But let's look at this tragic moment in the history of the Army of the Czech Republic in more detail.

🕔︎ 27.10.2012 👁︎ 41.034

Drying in live transmission

A column of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team is leaving the Shank base in Logar, Afghanistan. Yesterday they measured 28 degrees in the shade. There are fifteen more people in the sun and ten more in the car. Following one of the main roads, which the Allies called Utah, we head north. The soldiers are tasked with escorting Alena Lišková, who is responsible for water management in the civilian part of the provincial reconstruction team, to the administrative center of the Mohammad Agha district.

🕔︎ 21.11.2011 👁︎ 14.429

Dum spiro spero

The 601st Special Forces Group returned to its first area of operation in Afghanistan after seven years near the legendary Tora Bora fortress cave complex.

🕔︎ 15.02.2015 👁︎ 19.839

Exorcists possessed by the devil

There was literally a witches' orgy on the Peter's Stones under Praděd. There was eating, drinking, dancing and most of all partying. Dean Lautner crowned Maria Sattler from Šumperk and later Mrs. Meixner from Olomouc as witch queen. In addition, he baptized children in the name of Satan. He brought holy hosts to the St. Peter's Stones, and the participants in the witches' meetings trampled on them and danced. These were the words used by witnesses, mostly during torture, to describe one of the largest witchcraft cases in our territory, which occurred in the second half of the 17th century in Velké Losiny and Šumperk.

🕔︎ 28.02.2015 👁︎ 28.977

Father Palec

The founder of the Czechoslovak airborne army gen. Karel Paleček tried to ensure that his units were destined primarily for special operations.

🕔︎ 15.02.2015 👁︎ 29.903

Fight on many fronts

French General Maurice Pellé was at the birth of the Czechoslovak army, claiming that he felt to be Czech.

🕔︎ 31.01.2015 👁︎ 21.659

First-line stamps - The Czechoslovak Field Post will soon celebrate one hundred years of its existence

The military field post is almost as old as the civilian. Its roots date back to the early 17th century. August 15, 1799, is considered the day of the official establishment of the British Army's field post office.

🕔︎ 13.02.2015 👁︎ 27.675

Flying on a velvet night

The helicopter spun contentedly, sharply cut mountain peaks towering around. The shooter in the door rested, the stock of the machine gun on his shoulder, and tried to concentrate as much as possible. Suddenly he turned the barrel sharply out of nowhere. He saw movement down in the valley. Maybe it was just a caravan of nomads, but it could also have been an opponent who was just about to attack…

🕔︎ 16.11.2011 👁︎ 18.209

Focused on security projects

A large part of the activities of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team in Logar, Afghanistan, is focused on security projects.

🕔︎ 02.10.2012 👁︎ 11.861

Game with a tiger

A year ago, the Army of the Czech Republic began the systematic training of soldiers isolated on enemy territory.

🕔︎ 31.01.2015 👁︎ 21.434

Gourmet in the first line

Vladimír Přikryl was not one of the youngest officers of our foreign army at the time of the outbreak of World War II - he was already 44 years old. In addition, his health gradually deteriorated. However, the dramatic moments he went through not only during the turmoil of war could be envied by many of his much younger colleagues. Especially after he had voluntarily transferred to the Eastern Front.

🕔︎ 10.02.2015 👁︎ 19.519

Hammer on pirates

While light boats with commandos were cutting through the sea waves at maximum speed, a Lynx helicopter unexpectedly appeared in the sky. Armed to the teeth, soldiers penetrated aboard the Korean merchant ship Sambo Jewelry from water and air. The fierce and precisely aimed fire literally nailed the kidnapper to the ground. The battle for the hijacked ship was decided within minutes. Twenty-one men of the crew were liberated. Only the captain of the hijacked ship suffered injuries. But not deadly. The kidnappers shot him in the stomach area.

🕔︎ 05.11.2012 👁︎ 20.391

He survived malaria and spewing volcanoes

The current commander of the 4th OMLT unit in Wardak, Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Martin Botík has completed a number of missions: he has worked in the Georgian Caucasus, Afghanistan and the African Congo.

🕔︎ 19.02.2015 👁︎ 12.936

Hell and paradise of Africa

Captain Hynek Pavlačka looked into the barrel of a sharply charged Kalashnikov and wondered how seriously the blacks meant the words of the execution. Just don't rush anywhere, make no mistake. "Now I'll reach into my backpack and show you materials about who we really are and what we do, " he tried to tune in his voice as mildly as possible.

🕔︎ 25.11.2011 👁︎ 24.629

It's time to say goodbye

The broken gates of the hissing cemetery come out of the fog at the last minute. Without a guide, we would probably get lost. None of us would find this remote corner of Kosovo, one of the last untouched enclaves in the peace of Kosovo Serbs resting here.

🕔︎ 24.11.2011 👁︎ 21.209

K.O. to the Atomic Bomb

One of the biggest special actions of the Norwegian resistance fighters was the attack on the Vemork factory, which produced heavy water.

🕔︎ 01.02.2015 👁︎ 30.950

Knight not only of medical condition

Brig. gen. Josef Hercz, with his 194 cm of height, managed to avoid bullets on battlefields in North Africa, Syria and Dunkirk, and survived the shipwreck in the Mediterranean.

🕔︎ 12.02.2015 👁︎ 14.710

Little red devil

Josef Černota was not only one of the best soldiers in our foreign army, but also one of the founders of the Czechoslovak airborne army.

🕔︎ 31.01.2015 👁︎ 29.596

Loot in the name of the state

The Soviet trophy service was born during the war - but at the end it was already a very powerful component.

🕔︎ 03.02.2017 👁︎ 26.253

Masters of arms

The Army of the Czech Republic has been trying for several years to continue the First Republic tradition: the first 13 army divers received the badge of a class specialist of the Engineer Army III. class

🕔︎ 11.02.2015 👁︎ 28.922

Masters of life and death

The history of the death penalty, and with it the many secrets of the executioner's craft, is as old as humanity itself. Initially, it was an act of retribution, mostly performed by those closest to the victim. Gradually, with the advent of institutions, this punishment also became institutional. In ancient history, the death penalty was most often carried out by suffocation, slashing with a sword or ax, burning alive, walling up, hitting a stake or crucifixion.

🕔︎ 27.02.2015 👁︎ 47.006

Men from Lake Morar

Czechoslovak soldiers preparing to parachute drop above the Protectorate in the Scottish mountains underwent similar training methods as the legendary British Commandos .

🕔︎ 01.02.2015 👁︎ 17.894

Olympian George S. Patton

General George Smith Patton Jr. is definitely not an unknown person in our country. The commander of the US 3rd Army, the liberator of western Bohemia and Pilsen, became famous as a tough, energetic soldier who was born for offensive operations. As a young man, he served under General Pershing - taking part in his Mexican campaign against the rebels led by Pancho Villa. During World War I, he became one of the first members and later commander of the newly established tank units. He then promoted the tanks as an offensive strike weapon for the rest of his life. The image of this excellent shooter was formed by two revolvers Colt .45 and Smith & Wesson .375 Magnum, both lined with ivory.

🕔︎ 27.02.2015 👁︎ 14.922

Pull on "Carp"

At the beginning of October 1941, the Gestapo received guaranteed information: In Prague, in one of the Letna flats, a long-sought representative of our domestic resistance, prof. Vladimir Krajina is hiding. When they broke in, there was no sign of Krajina in the apartment, but they came across another important resistance fighter - Maj. Josef Jedlička. The Germans managed to prevent him from shooting himself, and they even forced him to testify. It was from him that they learned that he was to meet "Carp" the next day in Na Františku Street. This pseudonym did not hide anyone other than one of the most important representatives of the second set of the resistance organization Defense of the Nation, Colonel of General Staff Josef Churavý.

🕔︎ 08.03.2018 👁︎ 12.712

She shot and recieved Order of the Red Star

Marie Ljalková-Lastovecká was the star of all Czech and Czechoslovak snipers.

🕔︎ 20.02.2015 👁︎ 20.229

Shooter too fast

Ján Ambruš was not only an excellent aerial acrobat, but also the only pilot of Slovak nationality who took part in the air battle for France and subsequently also for England.

🕔︎ 03.02.2017 👁︎ 22.505

Small battles with the interrogator

Czech soldiers leaving for foreign missions are being prepared for the eventuality that they may be captured. In addition to the theoretical part, which contains a lot of important information, they have the opportunity to try such a situation on their own skin during practical training. Nevertheless, it is true that only reality will show to what extent they are able to handle such borderline situations.

🕔︎ 18.11.2011 👁︎ 21.197

Soldiers from heaven

The Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team, operating at the Shank base in Logar, Afghanistan, is part of the Bayonet Group. It is based on the US 173rd Brigade Combat Command. Our soldiers are in daily contact with its members. Czech and American troops go on joint patrols. The cooperation of pyrotechnicians, snipers and other specialists is also very close.

🕔︎ 28.10.2012 👁︎ 15.703

Teachers with finger on the trigger

A Czech training and liaison team operating in difficult conditions in the Afghan province of Wardak helped save several lives. The convoy of Czech soldiers returned to the Soltan Kheyl base after a week of tedious patrol. From somewhere in front, a sudden fire started. An Afghan army unit came under fire from the insurgents directly on the road. One of the Afghan soldiers was lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound. Two Czech soldiers immediately provided assistance to him under fire. They pulled the tourniquet and tried to stop the bleeding. The soldier lost over 2 liters of blood, but thanks to the timely intervention of members of the Czech mentoring team, he managed to save his life.

🕔︎ 25.09.2012 👁︎ 19.267

The bear was replaced by a lithe lynx

The Multinational Military Police Battalion was certified during the 2012 Sharp Lynx exercise in Wedrzyn, Poland, and is ready for deployment.

🕔︎ 25.02.2015 👁︎ 17.761

The founder of World War I special operations was British officer Thomas Edward Lawrence

Col. Clayton took another look at the thin, tall lieutenant and thought for a long time. They didn't know much about the Arab uprising yet. Intelligence found that Sheriff's princes Abdallah and Faisal raised a red banner in Mecca and declared the end of Turkish rule over the Arabs. Under their command, they managed to gather 10,000 men. They gradually occupied most of the cities and ports in Hijaz. But no one knew what the Turkish reaction was. For several times already, the inexperienced lieutenant came to him, saying that it was necessary to use this revolt for the interests of the British crown. It is said to be the most opportune moment - they should support the Arab tribes in their resistance. He himself declared that he would act as a liaison officer at the prince's court.

🕔︎ 15.02.2015 👁︎ 19.526

The heroic story of a woman of Slovak nationality in the British uniform of Chaviva Reiková during the Slovak National Uprising

There were only hours left until the end of the uprising. Banská Bystrica was reminiscent of a city in danger of extinction in the coming hours. An endless stream of people rolled out of the city. Terrible chaos reigned everywhere. Pubs literally drank alcohol for life. It was as if Judgment Day was approaching. The bank was looted. The guerrillas took all the money a long time ago.

🕔︎ 26.09.2012 👁︎ 20.785

The opponent is watched by the Raven

A convoy of armored vehicles lined up at Shank base in Logar, Afghanistan. The civilian part of the provincial reconstruction team was preparing for the village of Derwish under the protection of soldiers. They were to hand over the new school here. Earlier, the Raven ( Raven ) reconnaissance vehicle had risen above the horizon.

🕔︎ 26.09.2012 👁︎ 15.062

The rank is recognizable

From January 2011, we should meet soldiers of the Army of the Czech Republic with slightly different rank designations in the streets of towns and villages, in buses, trains and trams. In connection with the amendment to Act 221/1999 Coll. on professional soldiers, the current rank structure is being adjusted, among other things. The basis of the vast majority of NATO armies is the non-commissioned officer corps, while in our country these ranks have so far been reserved for soldiers in the basic service and reserve. We have literally become an army of batches. And that is why change is happening now. In this article, we would like not only to introduce you to the upcoming news in this area, but also to make a small excursion into the history of the rank designation.

🕔︎ 25.11.2011 👁︎ 108.206

The shot is the last

For two years now, army snipers have been improving in a special course organized for them by the Vyškov department of electronic warfare and reconnaissance.

🕔︎ 31.01.2015 👁︎ 23.811

They started at the 38th parallel

Although the history of the participation of Czechoslovak and Czech observers in UN missions after 1989 is very rich and varied, something similar cannot be said about the four decades of the former Czechoslovak People's Army. The total score in the form of three foreign missions had to be saved by the revolutionary year of 1989.

🕔︎ 28.02.2013 👁︎ 25.694

They supported guerrilla warfare

One of the soldiers of our foreign army in Great Britain and a member of the Wolfram Group, Brig. gen. (Ret.) Robert Matula, would live to be 95 in January.

🕔︎ 25.02.2015 👁︎ 25.276

Those who feel danger

The Czech pyrotechnic team also includes dog handlers with dogs focused on searching for explosives.

🕔︎ 30.09.2012 👁︎ 13.412

Through the crosshairs

A team of snipers is also available to the provincial reconstruction team in Logar, Afghanistan. Not all commanders of the Army of the Czech Republic know how to deal with snipers who are assigned to them.

🕔︎ 25.02.2013 👁︎ 21.253

Too bloody baron

Ungern von Sternberg conquered Mongolia with several hundred Cossacks and for a time believed that he was a modern Russian Genghis Khan.
The Baron's Tibetan mountaineers, disguised as monks, penetrated the streets of Urga ( Ulaanbaatar ) teeming with Chinese troops. They conquered the high rocks, on top of which stretched the Winter Palace, the seat of the ruler of Outer Mongolia - the Dalai Lama, Bogdy Chan. The blind man, who was being held under house arrest by Chinese soldiers here, was waiting for his release. It only took a moment to kill the guards. Even before the alarm was sounded, the Tibetans descended down the steep rock with the spiritual leader on their backs. The last two were repelled by machine gun fire on Chinese soldiers.

🕔︎ 25.09.2012 👁︎ 36.049

Too enlightened successor

The suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Habsburg and his mistress Baroness Mary Vetser still offers a number of mysteries.

🕔︎ 27.02.2015 👁︎ 19.584

Too insidious death

The mixed American-Czech column drove slowly along an unpaved road. Nothing out of the ordinary in the Afghan province of Logar. Two heavy armored trucks passed the incriminated site without any problems, until a third was thrown by a massive explosion. Almost immediately, batches of Kalashnikovs began to comb the air. The attackers tried to hide behind the civilians standing along the way and get as close as possible.

🕔︎ 23.02.2013 👁︎ 20.076

Too suspicious an assassination

A man of smaller stature, reaching to the top of his head, had just spoken. He overlooked the crowd once more, put on his coat, and headed out of the building. Less than ten meters from the door, a car with a driver was waiting for him. There were a lot of people all around. One of the women turned to him and asked for help. Several other hands opened the car door so he could get in. Then three shots exploded. The highest party representative of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, collapsed to the ground.

🕔︎ 01.03.2015 👁︎ 33.602

Two faces of an extraordinary soldier

Fate full of somersaults and reversals has brought Maj. Jaromír Nechanský in June 1950 under the Pankrác gallows.
On the building of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic in Prague-Dejvice, there is an inconspicuous plaque with the names of soldiers who were affected by the communist regime. And just about her, resp. for one name on it, a furious media struggle broke out some time ago: Some individuals demanded that Jaromír Nechanský be removed from this bronze plaque. Gen. P9ka is said to have to turn in his grave when he found himself in the company of this man so many years after the war. But there is nothing in life but black or white. People are not just brave or cowardly. Each being is mixed with a thousand ingredients, and it is often very difficult to tell whether the more positive or the less positive predominate. The same was true of Maj. Jaromír Nechanský. And that is why it is good to recall his life story in more detail.

🕔︎ 21.02.2015 👁︎ 25.755

uropean battle groups

Since the beginning of July this year, Czech soldiers have joined the second Battle Group of the European Union.

🕔︎ 21.02.2015 👁︎ 19.163

War on the railways

The first chapters of the history of Czechoslovak railway troops and armoured trains began to be written shortly after the formation of Czechoslovak legions.

 

🕔︎ 11.02.2015 👁︎ 43.538

When the field covered with silk

The landing during the Vltava 66 exercise was the largest deployment of Czechoslovak paratroopers since World War II.

🕔︎ 19.09.2017 👁︎ 17.824

When training becomes a game

Instructors from the Military Police of the Czech Republic have been participating in the training of members of the Afghan National Police in Logar for a long time.

🕔︎ 01.02.2015 👁︎ 11.520

With the instinct of stray dogs

The engine spins at full speed, on a steep climb it gets really busy. " You downgraded too late, now you'll have problems, " comments our driver driving a " rummaging " armored Iveco in front of us. At the same time, he has no fear that he will have to back down in a narrow canyon.

🕔︎ 04.03.2013 👁︎ 12.979