NATO Acknowledges Czech Contribution to the Training of Afghan Forces

April 10, 2011

Czech soldier trains member of the Afghan National Army.

U.S. General William B. Caldwell thanked General Vlastimil Picek for sending Czech police trainers to the National Police Training Center in Wardak province. This Center is the flagship training center for the Afghan National Police. "Your 15 trainers, with their French, Portuguese and Romanian colleges, will play a key role in developing the capability of Afghan National Police to train their own personnel across all of Afghanistan, this is a critical step toward irreversible transition," wrote U.S. General in the letter to Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic Vlastimil Picek.

Read the Letter (PDF. 218 Kb)

The Czech Republic has increased its help to Afghanistan by deploying a new training team called the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team. The 1st Czech OMLT unit is made up of 54 soldiers from 14 units of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. More than 60 percent of them are members of the 43rd Airborne Mechanised Battalion, having its home base at Chrudim.  The unit is complemented with specialists, for example artillery and air controllers, to meet specific tasks to be performed.

Find out more about Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team in Wardak 

The Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team participates in training Afghan soldiers also in Logar. Furthermore, the Czech military will comply with a NATO request and reinforce its detachment that trains helicopter pilots in Afghanistan.