On Monday, it will be exactly one week since 127 high school students joined the Žatec (4th Rapid Deployment Brigade) and Hranice na Moravě (7th Mechanised Brigade), who are taking part in a pilot project of voluntary military exercises organized by the Czech Army during the holiday season. The month-long exercise takes place at the Hradiště and Libavá Military Training Areas, where the participants will learn, for example, small arms shooting, grenade throwing, order, tactical, topographic and engineer training, first aid, etc.

The DVC project (Voluntary Military Training Programme) offers young people a unique opportunity to engage in intensive military training and gain valuable experience that they can then use in both civilian and professional military life. The exercise will have all the requirements of training in Vyškov. The volunteers will thus undergo small arms firing or grenade throwing, rank and file, tactical, topographical and engineer training, a first aid course, and physical training in the form of traditional morning warm-ups, but also field movements over a longer distance. The training will be completed with two days of survival in the field. The organizers have also added to the programme a visit to the units, where the participants will learn about the history and tradition of the units providing the training. The instructors are experienced soldiers who have completed several overseas operations and are training soldiers at their home brigades and subordinate battalions. Instructors from the Training Command - Military Academy Vyškov also participate in the exercises.

"The pilot project is intended to reach the youngest generation and introduce them to the army in a non-traditional way. The public can meet the army all year round at various presentation events, randomly during its movements between bases and training facilities or on social networks. The experience with the army for the younger generation has thus far been lacking," says Brigadier General Pavel Lipka, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces.

As General Řehka said in mid-June during the first presentation of the new project, this is the first time the army is actively reaching out to the young generation in this way. Army representatives expect the event to spread a positive perception of the army while improving awareness of military service. "But there are also side benefits. By increasing the resilience of society, we are expanding the reserves. But really the overriding goal is to actively reach out to the younger generation and make them aware of military service," the Chief of General Staff said.

If a student-graduate then finds this course of voluntary military exercises appealing and wants to continue serving in the army, he is offered the opportunity to further his education through a system of scholarship programmes. "If he is a third-year student and studies a field of study that is applicable to the army and is appointed under the scholarship programme, then of course there is no problem," said Lieutenant Colonel Michaela Trněná, deputy chief of the personnel replenishment department of the Czech Armed Forces Personnel Agency, adding that the army is interested in students of industrial schools with a focus on IT or transport and public administration. "These are both apprenticeship fields and graduation fields. And now we are currently working on expanding the programme. We are working with the demand the army has," Trněná said.

"If this is managed well, I think it will have huge social benefits as well. We will have people who have tried something, learned something and are more resilient. They've tried teamwork, some form of discipline, they're more prepared for maybe a crisis situation, they're taking health science, topography or moving around in the field. I think this has the potential and positive effect on society. My own positive experience, which I share with my surroundings, is the best reference," said in June for CZ DEFENCE General Řehka.

During the four weeks of intensive training, students will learn basic military skills and learn to work in a team under the guidance of experienced instructors. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will become reservists. This certification provides them with a significant advantage – if they choose professional military service or the active reserve, they will not have to complete a basic training course.

The experience from this year's zero year of the course will then serve the army to prepare the next exercise for next year, which should be organized in more units of the Czech Armed Forces.

The exercise aims not only to broaden the positive perception of the army, improve awareness of military service or gain valuable experience, but also has a potential recruitment effect. For the army, recruitment is a key parameter for the fulfillment of the concept of building the army, where the strategic goal is to have 30,000 professional soldiers and 10,000 members of the active reserve by 2030. At present, the army has less than 24,000 members.