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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.

In essence, the world is organizing itself in a series of interconnected networks. The information revolution will cause shifts, both in how societies may come into conflict and how their armed forces may wage war. Cyber war is coming. Its concept refers to information-related conflict both at a grand level, between nations or societies, and at low levels of international subgroups, e.g. terrorists of any kind, e.g. Al Qaeda, etc. The concept may involve public diplomacy measures, political and cultural subversion, deception or interference with local media, infiltration of computer networks and databases, and efforts to promote dissident or opposition movements across computer networks. Terrorists may build mutual connections, shape opinions in target groups, and conduct intense propaganda and psychological operations campaigns. Guerrilla warfare in cyberspace can use those networks to maximize their political, economic, and social power while minimizing the military aspects until the final offensive. The source: T. Hammes, Jane's Defence Weekly, 5/2005 (nas).

Briefing is a covering term for orders, instructions, detailed explanations or summaries given on the current situation, namely to subordinates, reporters, etc. Actually, there are four basic types of military briefing, varying according their purpose. They must define problem, summarise facts, from which you may draw conclusions. Next you draw up variations and analyse them. Finally you put proposals, identify consent and dissent. At the end you will solve arising discrepancies; you will newly evaluate originated variants. Always keep in mind that you have to be short, concise, careful, factual, and relevant. Proposals must be clear, unequivocal. There must be enough time for questions from the audience.

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.

Building up a picture of adversaries in complicated operations other than war (OOTW) requires fresh thinking on the collection and analysis of intelligence material, writes Dr Dave Sloggett in Jane's Defence Weekly No 48/2005. Operations undertaken in present-day theatres include the need to arrest war criminals, defeat insurgency operations and disrupt the activities from those engaged in criminal activities that do not respect national boundaries (trafficking, drugs smuggling and the proliferation of weapons of mass effect). OOTW pose problems for the development of what is now referred to as effects-based operations, where the use of kinetic devices to destroy a target is one way to achieve an outcome. One important element of a solution is to build common definitions of terms that enable a discipline to be brought to the underlying freedom of authors compiling contact reports. Projects such as Dabinett, a multifaceted system of systems programme, can link together information contained in existing systems. Commanders able to exploit this capability, against the complex background in which OOTW are conducted, will truly take superior decisions.

The article presents the results of pedagogical experiment in shooting from smallarms at training on shooting trainers, as indispensable instruments for the preparation of military professionals in indoor and outdoor shooting. Computer-generated simulators enable to experience the practice of shooting both for beginners training, as well as for marksmen, and sharpshooters. The trainers we we've developed in our army are as follows: shooting trainer EVJ-91 (optical, infrared), EVJ-94 (advanced, computer aided), EVJ-94/M (five targets), UNIST-94 (screen 2x3 m, VCR, UNIST-97/L
(laser emitter, live shooting), optical shooting range OS-1, OS-3 (small arms practice, up to 50 m, computer-aided,
laser emitter), optical target range TOS-1 (combat fire arms practice, computer-aided evaluation), optical range POS-1 (target devices are replaced by a film screen, VCR), Minitos Duo (tested), combat video-system Dicrosec PSC (interactive), or SOT-1 (rotary targets). Even though those trainers save time and money, we must still bear in mind that live shooting can't be replaced by any trainer.

As the EU is conducting its third military operation, the EUMS has become a key player in the development of the European Security and Defence Policy. In order to provide political control and strategic direction in a crisis, the European Council (Nice, December 2000) decided to establish new permanent political and military structures within the Council of the European Union: PSC-Political and Security Committee, EUMC-European Union Military Committee, EUMS-European Union Military Staff. The EUMS is responsible for peacekeeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management (including peacemaking), and further tasks identified in the European Security Strategy, such as joint disarmament operations, support for third countries in combating terrorism and security sector reform. As the only permanent integrated military structure of the EU, the EUMS has become the military linchpin of the EU. (Truppendienst, Bundesheer,

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.

One of key attributes of the military professional is fitness. This article would like to open a discussion over women' physical potential. Are physical qualities of man and women equal? Is it possible to set those norms in military rules and tables? What about the risks factors for training-related injuries among men and women in combat training? Can we compare muscular strength of man and women? Does women's strength/power affect the occupational performance? The Committee on Women in NATO Forces (CWINF) asks to create the equal conditions for occupational performance both for men and women. The same was introduced by the Order of the Czech Minister of Defence No 29/2002, MoD Bulletin; similar annotations can be found also in US Army Field Manual 21-18. For us, it is necessary to specify unbiased profiles, entrance tests for woman soldiers, taking into account physical capacities but disregarding gender.