| 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 |
|
| 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 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.
Structure
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
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):
External links
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Czech_Republic under GFDL
