Visit by Slovak MOD to British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) Vyskov, Czech Republic, 17 March 2009

On 17 March 2009 a Slovak delegation from the Ministry of Defence together with the Defence Attaché visited BMATT Vyskov in the Czech Republic in order to be briefed on BMATT’s mission, concept of training, principles and the multinational training courses on offer at Vyskov. 

BMATT provides military training courses, training assistance and advice to partner countries on how to further develop their professional armed forces and their capabilities in order to enable them to better participate in multinational peace support operations. The team consists of 7 officers and 18 senior non-commissioned officers, all of whom have recently returned from operations in Afghanistan or Iraq.  

BMATT offers 2 distinct training opportunities: Vyskov-Based Training (VBT) and In-Country Training (ICT). VBT offers 8 different courses which are run up to 3 times per year.  All instruction is delivered in English and typically there are 30 students per course from up to 18 countries.  Aside from the instruction, all students benefit from interaction with other nationals in improving their English language skills and working in multinational environment.  ICT offers bespoke courses run in the requesting nation’s country and can last anything up to 3 months.

The courses offered by BMATT are as follows:

Senior Officers’ briefing
Senior Sergeants’ Major Course (SSMC)
Junior Commanders’ Leadership Course (JCLC)
Instructor Training Course (ITC)
Multinational Peace Support Operations Instructor Training Course (MPSO ITC)
Multinational Peace Support Operations Planning Course (MPSO PC)
Design and Evaluation of Peace Support Operations Training Course (D& PSO TC)
Military Observer Training Course (MILOB)
In Country Training Team (ICTT)

 

Col. Milan Píka received Czech Ministry of Defence Order

Col. Milan Píka, an honoured member of the Western Front Veterans Group was presented with Czech Ministry of Defence order "Golden lime" during a ceremony at the Czech Embassy in Bratislava on 10th February.  Ambassador Michael Roberts, Defence Attaché Maj. Jonny Dart and Ministry of Defence representatives were also present.  Col. Píka also accepted "Cross for state defence" in memoriam for his father Army General Heliodor Píka.  Both orders were presented by Czech MoD State Secretary František Padelek.