COMPETENCE AND POLITICAL RELIABILITY OF CZECHOSLOVAK ARMY OFFICERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R012200210005-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2002
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: May 26, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

CLASSIFICATION SECRET
SECURITY INFORMATION
FEB1952 as " -
proved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP82-00457RO12200210005-2
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT NO.
CD NO.
COUNTRY Czechoslovakia
SUBJECT Competence and Political Reliability
of Czechoslovak Army officers
DATE OF 25X1 A
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
t~11~AX~
25X1X
25X1A
DATE DISTR. 26 May 1952
NO. OF PAGES 2
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
1. In assessi.ng the competence and. political reliability of Czechoslovak Army
officers, the officer corps can be divided into three groups.
a. Pre-war regular army officers. This group, consisting of officers
trained prior to the war;, comprises about 40 percent of the entire
officer corps. Well trained, some of these officers have had combat
experience.. For the most part this experience was obtained on the
eastern front. Most of the officers who saw service in the west have
been purged. it is estimated that,of this group approximately 25 per-
cent are supporters of the Communist regime and 75 percent are against
the regime-,
b.. Post-war graduates of officer training schools, The competence of
officers trained after the war varies with the amount of training received,
Graduates of two-year training courses are qualified to command platoons:
Additional. traini.rrg, which at present is not being given, would be
necessary before they could competently command larger units. However,
because of the shortage of regular army officers, many such officers
are company commanders. Graduates of one-year courses are very inade-
quately trained, They arse hardly qualified to command platoons. Because
their training is given in such a hasty manner,, it is doubtful that
much of it is retained. Post-war graduates comprise fro-m.40 to 50 per-
cent of the officer corps. It is estimated that approximately 75 per-
cent of this group are supporters of the regime. and 25 percent are
against the regime.
c. Reserve officers recalled to active. duty. This group comprises from
10 to 20 percent of the officer corps and is composed of officers'activated
from the reserves and given regular army commissions not because of their
professional qualifications, but usually because of their political
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activities on behalf of the regime. These officers are favored by cadre
sections, and usually are quickly promoted and put into command. In
many cases their performance is so poor that they have to be relieved
of their commands and assigned to less responsible positions. This
entire group of officers can be regarded as loyal to the regime.
Few officers in the Czechoslovak Army have been trained in. Soviet military
schools. It is estimated that not more than twenty are currently being sent
to the Soviet Union annually for training. These men receive an intensive
three-month training course in Prague prior to their departure, during which
they receive thorough. preparatory training in politics and the Russian
language. While in the Soviet Union they are kept in strict seclusion and
are not allowed to make friends with their Russian colleagues. The majority
return thoroughly indoctrinated with Soviet military doctrine and training
methods and are usually assigned to positions connected with combat training.
3. There exists, on a small scale, an exchange of officers between the Czecho'*
slovak and Polish armies. Officers returning from Poland maintain that under
the Polish. Minister of National Defense, Marshal Konstantin Eokossowski
the Polish army has adapted its organization and training to the Soviet
pattern far more than is the case in Czechoslovakia. These officers stated
that some Polish units are actually commanded by Soviet officers.
Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP82-00457R012200210005-2