Czech Air Force
On 1 January 1993, the Czech Republic was established. During the period 1989 to 2000 the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic underwent some downsizing and re-posturing. In March of 1999, the Czech Republic became a member of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). During the period February to April 2001, a Strategic Defense Review was developed by the Ministry of Defense. Concurrently, the Vision 2010 – 2015 was being developed by the General Staff. On May 14, 2001 the Government made the decision to establish the Commission for Preparation of the Reform of the Armed Forces and to place that Commission directly under the Minister of Defense. The Commission published the Principles and Aims of the Reform and that document was approved on August 29, 2001. On April 29, 2002 the Concept of Professionalization and Mobilization was submitted to the government.
Structuring the Armed Forces in a Joint, Air Ground team approach to provide for the defense of the sovereignty of the Czech Republic is appropriately the first priority. The Concept of Reform depicts a streamlined force that is capabilities based. The objective force structure is 34 - 36,000 military personnel and less than 10,000 civilians with a total wartime strength 1.8 times the peacetime strength. This force provides balanced air- ground and specialization capabilities.
The concept for this structure includes a stratified readiness approach that provides a logical basis for being a complementary part of the NATO structure. Reducing the number of headquarters while making the force a small, sustainable and responsive force is an appropriate way to achieve balance between national and Alliance responsibilities. Using the NATO Non-Article 5 CRO (high intensity) as the basis for sizing the Czech program force is an appropriate metric. This provides for the rotational readiness packaging of the force to assure that its deployability and sustainability can be planned for properly while providing adequate opportunity for collective training and readiness.
