Czech holds largest active reserve troops exercise in its history

The largest active reserve troop exercise in Czech history ends on Friday in the Libava military training grounds of Olomouc, said Czech defence minister Martin Stropnicky on Wednesday.

The exercise, which began at the beginning of March, involved 835 reserve and 260 professional soldiers.

According to Jaroslav Hrabce who was in charge of the field exercise, Hradba, 16 active reserve units rotated in Libava in March and April.

He previously said the readiness of active reserve troops to be deployed in missions was one of the priorities of the Czech military.

The reserve troops trained long-term patrolling of compounds, joint action with police units and guarding the borders, crucial objects or columns with important people.

The active reserves with about 1,250 members are comprised of people of all kind of professions, including teachers and miners. The military commanders hope the number of active reserve members will reach 5,000 by 2025 under the new legislation, thus becoming a "second army."

The theme of the training is to deal with a potential terrorist threat posed by the radicalization of extremist groups operating in the Czech Republic or the infiltration of extremists among migrants fleeing conflicts or cross-border smuggling. Endit