Military of the Czech Republic

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Military of the Czech Republic
Military manpower
Military age	18 years of age
Availability	males age 15–49: 2,414,728 (2005 est.)
Fit for military service	males age 15–49: 1,996,631 (2005 est.)
Reaching military age annually	males: 66,583 (2005 est.)
Active troops	57,050
Military expenditures
Amount	$2.17 billion (2004)
Percent of GDP	1.81% (2005)

The Czech Armed Forces (Czech: Armáda České republiky) consists of Land and Air Forces and of specialized support units. Being a member of NATO since March 12, 1999, the Czech Republic completes a major overhaul of the extensive Czechoslovak armed forces which until 1989 formed one of the pillars of the Warsaw Pact military alliance. Czech forces have been gradually downsized from 200,000 to 35,000 and at the same time modernized and reoriented toward defensive posture. In year 2004 the army transformed into fully professional organization and compulsory military service has been ended.

1 Structure
2 Recent operations
3 Uniforms
4 External links

[edit] Structure

Prague Castle Guard

The structure of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic is as follows:

The Army
- Joint Forces
  - Joint Forces Command
  - Land Forces
  - Air Force
  - Joint Forces Support Units
- Support and Training Forces
The Military Office of President of the Republic
The Castle Guard

[edit] Recent operations

The Czech Republic is a member of the UN and OSCE and has contributed to numerous peacekeeping operations, including IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq.

Current deployments (as of 2005):

Kosovo: NATO Operation "Joint Enterprise" (KFOR) - 500 soldiers
Iraq: Coalition Operation of Multinational Forces - 96 soldiers
Bosnia and Herzegovina: European Union Operation (ALTHEA) - 65 soldiers
Afghanistan: NATO Operation (ISAF) - 17 soldiers in Kabul and 83 soldiers in Faizabad

Infantry weapons include: Sa 58 assault rifle, type 59 machine gun, Sa vz 61 (Škorpion) machine pistol, Dragunov Sniper Rifle (SVD), CZ 700 sniper rifle, CZ 75 pistol, CZ 97B pistol, CZ 100 pistol, RPG-7V anti-tank guided missile, FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile, and Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun