Training Command – Military Academy

The British Deputy Minister of Defence in Vyškov

The British delegation led by Rt Hon Baroness Ann Taylor, British Minister for International Defence and Security at the MoD, together with Mark Selfridge, Peter Cooper and Colonel James Athil, Attaché of Great Britain in the Czech Republic, visited Vyškov Garrison on 21 January 2010.

The main aim of their visit was to get acquainted with the British Military Advisory and Training Team – BMATT and its activities, to meet its personnel, students and also the chief representatives of Training Command – Military Academy (TC – MA) which, as an international training centre, provides the BMATT with logistics support.

The BMATT, which is currently a part of the Institute of Development, TC – MA, was founded in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the MoD of the Czech Republic and the MoD of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2000. The main task of the BMATT team is to assist in the development of the professional armies of the Partner countries, professional CW-2 and W-3 corps in particular. The BMATT provide conditions for training NCOs and WOs coming from Central and Eastern Europe within the Partnership for Peace and Membership Action Plan, including courses for the top management of these armed forces. Last year 240 military personnel from 23 countries passed the BMATT training successfully. The BMATT team co-operate closely with British military advisors, attachés and Armed Forces of the Partner countries. They also deploy a small team providing advisory service and assistance during pre-deployment units` training to several Partner countries on a yearly basis.

Presentation of the BMATT team attended by Colonel GS Zbyněk Janečka, TC – MA Deputy Commander, and Colonel Robert Rusell, BMATT Commander, was followed by a discussion and meeting BMATT students.

At the end of their visit our foreign guests met BG Miroslav Žižka, First Deputy Chief of GS of the AF CR, during their lunch which was also attended by the chief TC – MA leaders and other guests.
The Memorandum, which was extended in 2007 for the following three years, expires in October 2010. For this reason British counterparts are working on a new strategy for a future character of the BMATT for five years to come.

Text: Capt. Monika Nováková, TC – MA Deputy Press and Information Officer, Vyškov
Photo: Olga Karaffová