Military Responses to Unintentional Threats
Unintentional and natural threats to security (BSSb1194)
14/03/2023
Jan Kleiner
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Source: idnes.cz
Source: natoaktual.cz

INTRO video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-8YpkQTs5w&ab_channel=tvarmycz
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Outline-ish
•Civil Defence.
•Czech Army – COVID-19; floods, strategic documents, legal framework.
•CIMIC.
•Miltaries in (international) humanitarian relief.
•COVID-19 and militaries + positive, negative impacts.
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Relief supplies bound for Nabouwalu on the island of Vanua Levu, Fiji in January 2021 (Department
of Defence)
Source: lowyinstitute

Warm-up
•What are unintentional threats?
little girl wut - Best images all time - page 7 | Meme Generator

Unintentional threats definitions
30 Minutes for the Future. Spent 20 minutes and watch the video: | by Arbiz Platform | Medium


Where does the military stand in the crisis management?
(Alexander, 2002 as cited in Coppola, 2011, p. 10)
Winkler´s (1997) equation of risk as cited in Zeman (2002, p. 63)

On Campaign Plan Phasing: Six-Phase or Unconstrained? U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Alex Hurtado and
Gunnery Sgt. Damian Henry, a heavy equipment operator and the engineer chief with Special Purpose
Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Southern Command, deployed in support of Joint Task Force Matthew,
off load supplies for locals affected by Hurricane Matthew at Jeremie, Haiti, Oct. 9, 2016. PLA,
U.S. troops find 'common bond' in weeklong disaster response drill
Source: iRozhlas.cz
Source: Defense Logistic Agency
Source: ecns.cn
Source: War on the Rocks

Civil Defence (Protection)
Civil defense - Wikipedia
Internationally recognized symbol of the CD units; rooted in the IHL.
•(Carpet) bombing runs in WWI (zeppelins) and WWII.
•Focus on WMDs during the Cold War era.

•After the CW thought to be outdated…
…but terrorism, pandemics, climate crisis, rogue states and Russia said nope à increased demand for
survival and resilience (Cronqvist, Farbøl and Sylvest, 2022).
•Shift: intentional threats only à incl. unintentional ones.
•

Czech Civil Defence (SH ČMS, n.d.)
•1951-1993 (civilní obrana)
•1993 - ´Civil Protection´ (civilní ochrana)
•2001 – moved from the DoD to DoI (zákon č. 239/2000 Sb. – Integrated Rescue System) – fire dept
(ochrana obyvatelstva)
•From original 5 military rescue batalions only 2 companies (under the 15th engineer regiment).
Tatra 815 8×8 VVN ZÚ Hlučín | POŽÁRY.cz - ohnisko žhavých zpráv | hasiči aktuálně
Source: Požáry.cz

military unit
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica


15th Czech Army´s Engineer Regiment
Source: AČR
•3 battalions – 2 in Bechyně, 1 in Olomouc
•(non)combat engineer support for the Czech Army, suppresing enemy´s activity,  rescue activities,
support of the IRS, humanitarian tasks
•

https://rib.msb.se/filer/pdf/28706.pdf
Sweden - 2018


Are countries without the CD irresponsible towards their citizens?



Case 1: Irish Civil Defence during COVID-19
Source: Civildefence.ie


Case 2: Czech Army during COVID-19 (AČR, 2021)
•Around 15,000 personnel deployed à the largest Czech military op.
•Over 13 ops – border patrols deployment, IRS support, logistics (incl. ´Condor flights´),
deployment in homes for the elderly, clever quarantine, Litovel area lockdown, mixed police-army
patrols etc.
Source: AČR, 2021

Czech Army floods mitigation efforts
•2009 – aftermath liquidation with 8020 deployed personnel and 2047 vehicles.
•
Povodně napáchaly v zemědělství škody za dvě stě milionů korun | Vláda ČR OBRAZEM: Povodně na
Moravě z ptačí perspektivy i ze země - iDNES.cz
Source: vláda.cz
Source: AČR, 2021
Source: idnes.cz

Relevant Czech legal framework
•The Armed Forces Law (zákon č. 219/1999 Sb.)
•Main task for the AF defined as the defence against external threats.
•Rescue and humanitarian international missions.
•AČR can be tasked with helping the police, with a response to a natural disasters and other
serious events that can result in significant public health risks or property damage.
•BTW - What do the Czech Armed Forces consist of?
•
•Marginal mention in the z. č. 240/2000 Sb. (430/2010 Sb.).
30 Minutes for the Future. Spent 20 minutes and watch the video: | by Arbiz Platform | Medium

Relevant Czech strategic security documents
•Conception of Civil Protection until 2025 (up to 2030) – HZS ČR.
•Does not mention Czech AF.
•Previous version (…until 2020): AČR as a potential part of the rescue system and as liquidator
(its role is regulated by a framework agreement between the DoD and DoI).
•Czech Army Doctrine 2004 - ´Support ops´ - humanitarian relief to the citizens, civil
administration and organizations.
•
Ženisté v Bechyni převzali od Američanů materiál a vybavení za téměř 30 milionů korun | Armáda ČR
Source: army.cz

Relevant Czech strategic security documents
•Long-term Prospect for Defence 2035 – emphasis also on civil support during states of crisis and
support for the IRS (especially the engineer corps).
•The POKOS programme (and its conception 2014-2024).
•
•
Ženisté v Bechyni převzali od Američanů materiál a vybavení za téměř 30 milionů korun | Armáda ČR
Source: army.cz

Militaries and (international) humanitarian relief
Joint Humanitarian Operations: How to Bring US Humanitarian Assistance into the 21st Century |
Center For Global Development
Source: cgdev.org

INTRO VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6GwMC3-GqU&ab_channel=RoyalAustralianNavy  -
EXCERCISE of the RAN

•Humanitarian assistance as identified as MOOTW (mil. ops other than war).
•Contribution to humanitarian supply chains and logistics – main roles:
•security and protection;
•distribution;
•engineering. (Barber, 2012)
•Civil-military cooperation/coordination (103rd Centre CIMIC).
•
Joint Cooperation 2020 - the largest NATO CIMIC exercise takes place virtually - CIMIC-COE
Source: CIMIC-COE
103. centrum CIMIC/PSYOPS [2013-2019] : CIMIC
Source: válka.cz

U.S. Navy Seabees with NMCB 5's Detail Iwakuni Start a Landfill Capping Project in Support
of US Navy (USN) Seabees from the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 14, Jacksonville,
Florida (FL) prepare the frame of the foundation of a community center building during a
construction project at Al-Asad, Obsah obrázku text, exteriér, nákladní auto, vojenské vozidlo
Popis byl vytvořen automaticky
Source: seabeehf.org
Source: pacom.mil
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United States Naval Construction Battalions
Seabee - Wikipedia


A military definition of logistics (Barber, 2012)
•´The science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of forces… those aspects of
military operations that deal with the design and development, acquisition, storage, movement,
distribution, maintenance, evacuation and disposition of material; movement, evacuation, and
hospitalization of personnel; acquisition of construction, maintenance, operation and disposition
of facilities; and the acquisition of furnishing of services´ (p. 124).
•
•Rapid response (capabilities to distribute, shelter, sanitate, evacuate, construct, liquidate
etc.) à main characteristic ´capacity for preparedness´ (p. 128).
•Military logistics are mostly appreciated in the early stage of a crisis situation.
•2005 Hurricane Catrina – large military supply convoys for New Orleans.
•
Armáda poptává celkovou opravu 948 kusů vojenské techniky na podvozcích TATRA T-815 | CZDEFENCE -
czech army and defence magazine
Source: czdefence

CIMIC in Humanitarian Relief
•Not so smooth – differences among various militaries.
•Principles, doctrines, agendas, SOPs etc.).
•CIMIC humanitarian dimension not new - Napoleonic Wars, WWI/II (Marshall Plan), Berlin Airlift,
Yugoslavia, Rwanda etc.
•conceptual confusion - the ´C´ in CIMIC
•´Collaboration: working with others on a joint project.
•Coordination: integrating diverse elements in an harmonious operation.
•Cooperation: promoting assistance or awillingness to assist´ (OED, 2000 as cited in Heaslip, 2012,
p. 152).
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Humanitarian Aid Supply Network (Kovács and Spens, 2008, p. 223 as cited in Heaslip, 2012, p. 151)
(Too) many actors


Challenges (Heaslip, 2012)
1.Coordination with other actors.
•Parallel activites, and duplication avoidance, time-sensitive tasks, military sense of precedence
etc.--> planning and negotiation.
•à (non)UN cluster groups (e.g., Haiti earthquake aftermath):
•Water, sanitation and hygiene – chaired by UNICEF.
•Health cluster – chaired by WHO etc.
2.Culture – military and civilian especially.
3.Resource and capability gap – how to get relief resources to the disaster area?
•Elements of uncertainty and randomness of disasters.
•UNJLC – UN Joint Logistics Centre – logistics information services.
4.
•
What stresses out Army drill sergeants? CTG – Humanitarian Enablers | How To Become An
International Aid Worker
Source: ctg.org
Source: Army Times

1.Financial and human resources.
•Focus often on short-term funding.
•Donors negligent towards strenghtening organizational capacity and capability.
•à available aid, noone to deliver.
2.Infrastructure degradation.
3.Comms (e.g., incompatible radios).
4.Personality
•Success of collaboration depends on the field-level personnel rather than SOPs
•high rate of staff turnover, differences in cultures and chain of command, comms breakdown,
absence of communication procedures, refusal of military aid due to independence and impartiality,
threat of use of force by military.
•
Tactical Multiband Radios | L3Harris™ Fast. Forward.
Source: L3Harris

Viruses suspended on mid-air
COVID-19 and militaries + how did the pandemic impact the armed forces?


Intro
(Michaud et al., 2019; Kleiner, 2022)


Ramifications



Positive impacts (Kleiner, 2022)
•Public opinion – PR campaigns (e.g., British – see Kennard and Glenton, 2020).
•Also after floods – public support of 33% (1997) à 74% (2019) (STEM, 2021).
•Kalkman (2020) – the worth of taxpayers´ money.
•

Wrap-up
UNIFIL carries out 400 patrols each day | UNIFIL
Source: UNFIL

References I
•AČR. (2021). Armáda české republiky v roce 2020. Ministerstvo obrany České republiky.
•Barber, E. (2012). Military Involvement in Humanitarian Supply Chains. In: Kovács, G. And Spens,
K. M. Relief Supply Chain for Disasters: Humanitarian, Aid and Emergency Logistics. Hershey:
Business Science Reference, pp. 123-146.
•Buzan, B., Weaver, O. and De Wilde, J. (1998). Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder,
Colo: Lynne Rienner Pub.
•Coppola, D. P. (2011). Introduction to International Disaster Management. Burlington:
Butterworth-Heinemann.
•Cronqvist M., Farbøl R., Sylvest C. (2022). Introduction: New Paths in Civil Defence History. In:
Cronqvist M., Farbøl R., Sylvest C. (eds) Cold War Civil Defence in Western Europe. Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84281-9_1
•Gupta, S., Kohli, K., Padmakumari, P., Dixit, P. K., Prasad, A. S., Chakravarthy, B. S., Shukla,
R., Ghana, P., Mahapatra, D., & Varadaraj, G. (2020). Psychological health among armed forces
doctors during COVID-19 pandemic in India. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(4),
374–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620934037
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•
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References II
•Heaslip, G. (2012). Challenges in Civil Military Cooperation / Coordination in Humanitarian
Relief. In: Kovács, G. And Spens, K. M. Relief Supply Chain for Disasters: Humanitarian, Aid and
Emergency Logistics. Hershey: Business Science Reference, pp. 147-172.
•Kalkman, J. P. (2020). Military crisis responses to COVID-19. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis
Management, September, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12328
•Kleiner, J. (2022). Battling Defense Austerity Cuts With the COVID-19 Crisis Response? The Czech
Army’s Online Public Perception. Armed Forces & Society, 0(0).
https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X221114654
•Kufčák, J. (2015). The V4 Countries and the Impacts of the Austerity Cuts on their Defence
Spending and Armed Forces. Obrana a Strategie (Defence and Strategy), 14(2), 35–48.
https://doi.org/10.3849/1802-7199.14.2014.02.035-048
•Lázaro-Pérez, C., Martínez-López, J. Á., Gómez-Galán, J., & Fernández-Martínez, M. D. M. (2020).
Covid-19 pandemic and death anxiety in security forces in spain. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217760
•

References III
•Michaud, J., Moss, K., Licina, D., Waldman, R., Kamradt-Scott, A., Bartee, M., Lim, M.,
Williamson, J., Burkle, F., Polyak, C. S., Thomson, N., Heymann, D. L., & Lillywhite, L. (2019).
Militaries and global health: peace, conflict, and disaster response. The Lancet, 393(10168),
276–286. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32838-1
•SH ČMS. (n.d.). Manuál pro přípravu techniků OO: Historie a současnost civilní obrany, civilní
ochrany a ochrany obyvatelstva.
https://www.vzdelavani-dh.cz/publicCourse?id=61&head=132&subhead=340
•STEM. (2021). Instituce | Stem.cz. https://www.stem.cz/category/instituce/
•Zandee, D., Duchateau-Polkerman, E., & Stoetman, A. (2020). Defence and Covid-19: Why budget cuts
should be off the table. Clingendael, April.
•Zeman, P. et al. (2002). Česká bezpečnostní terminologie. MO ČR: Ústav strategických studií
Vojenské akademie v Brně.
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Thank you for your attention. Questions?
•jkleiner@mail.muni.cz