CZECHOSLOVAK ARMY ORGANIZATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R002500540001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 5, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 28, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

COUNTRY Czechoslovakia
CLASSIFICATION - =-
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I F I TIOu REPORT CD NO. - 25X1A
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CONFIDENTIAL DATE DISTR. 28 Mar 1949
:SUBJECT Czechoslovak Arm Organization
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General Ob,erva Uo
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STATE E NAVY hS2i3 -- - DISTRIBUTION
NO. OF PAGES 51
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
The now organizational setup of the Czechoslovak Army is basically different
from the 1939 model and follows the lines of the Soviet Armor. The cavalry
has been broken up into four half-regiments and no longer stands as a separate
branch; its place has been taken by the-snored force. ATa.or units (divisionsp
shock divisions, and brigades) are numbered consecutively without regard to
their special nature0 It appears that even tank brigades are numbered along
with other units.
o alOmar:ization
an The entire Czechoslovak Ar-r is divided among four territorial conrnands
known as "OVast" (OblastnI velitelstvi). Their headquarters are located
in the following cities: C$V 1, Prague; CN 2, TAbor; OV 3, Brn6; 07 4,
Bratislava,
bo The eoimnding general of OV 3 is General Uovak, He emerged from World
War I as a colonel at the age of 26. He has comrmnded only artillery
units and does not have a particularly broad military knowledge, especially
in the direction of major units,
c. The connanding general of OV 4 is General Sirica, who is a Here figurehead
and totally incapable of leading an arrq. Assigned to him for this reason
is a very capable deputy, General Tallavarya,
d. Every 07 has one or two armor corps under its direction. These are popu-
larly known as "SV'S" (shoro?e velitelstvi). The territorial distribution
of these corps is as follows:
1)
(N_ Js
57 I , headquarters at Litor~iorice
57 II, headquarters at Brads. Kralove
2)
V 2:
SR III, headquarters at P1zoa
3)
073:
SP IV, headquarters at Brno
This document is hereby regraded to
N-DErNTIAL in accordance with the
CO
letter of 16 October 1978 from the
Director of Central Intelligence to the
Archivist of the United States.
Next Review Date: 2008
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4) : SV V., headquarters at Trenofn
e. In peacetime these corps do not have headquarters staffs in the ordinary
sense of the word, but have amorphous groups of officers attached to
them. No exact information is available on the organization of Czech
Army corps.
IyisioMj Diet bntion
The divisions and brigades listed below are known to have their headquarters
at the following places:
let Infantry Div. (r. si divise) Ceske` Budejovice
2nd-Infantry Brigade (p66i bri da) Pisek,
3rd Shock Div. rychla divine) romeriz or Olomouc
4th ro ? ro n Mina
5th n n r > Prague
6th Infantry Div. (p si 4$.vise) Brno
7th Infantry Brigade (pgsi brig(da) Navy Jic$n
8th Shock Div. (rychid diviso) Kolin
9th Infantry Div. (p&si divise) Ni1ra
loth ro ro n " Kosice
11th ro ro n n Plzen
12th ro ro ~+ Litomai;ice
Y3th r ro n u Mlada Boleslav (?)
14th ro ro n n Karlovy Vary
Or M-1zati of Infant Shg gk Dfyisign Hem auarte
a. Comrlanding General : velitel divise
Deputy CG : zdstupce velitele divise
Chief of Staff t nscelnik stabs divine
Staff sections : odddlent 6tabu
Inspectorate (actually office of the political commissar) :
Rear echelon : velitelstvi ttlu
spr va osvety
b. Division headquarters are divided into the following sections:
Staff Section 1
Staff Section 2
Staff Section 3
Staff Section 4
Staff Section 5
Operations (op? raeni odd`e'lenI)
Intelligence (z ravoda5skei" odd. )
Communications (spojovadi oddken1), which may not
exist in peacetime
Organization. and mobilization (orianisa odd"elen~
a mobdlisasni odd.)
Counter-intelligence (bezpecnostni zpravoda7stvi - OBZ)
c. The rear echelon consists of the divisional service branches (sllaiby divise),
which include: the medical section (edravotni sluzba), the administrative
section (intendancni), the veterinary section (veterinar`ski sluiba), the
ordnance section (technozbro5ni sluzba), the motor maintenance section
(automob0 slu'iba), and the chaplaim' section (duchovni sluzba). The divi-
sion also has a special services office (pomocng~mfrYad) and a supp1 r, ' section
(hospoddrska sprava).
t}.x~ani~ation of 1nf~Div4~~r+n
A Czech infantry division consists of three infantry regiments (pea( pluk),
an artillery regiment (d'glostxeleci pluk), and a motor zed anti-tank artillery
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regiment (delostreleck r pluk), and a motorized anti-tank artillery battalion
(motorisovany protitankovy' delostfelecky oddil) with 72 mm. puns. An in-
fantry division consists of no other units in peacetime. Service branches,
tank units, etc. are maintained by the territorial conzpanda (OVee) or corps
(aVae).
6- Service Branches
a.. The army engineers (zenijn vojsko) consist of four brigades (zenijn.
brigi, one to a territorial cornand. The first brigade is located
in Litom:Oice: the location of the second brigade is unknown; the third
is in Kromeriz; the fourth is distributed bett,een Bratislava and Komarno.
The exact composition of the engineer brigade is unknown, but it probably
consists of three to four battalions (ieni jni prapory'f.
b. The Czech signal corps (spojovacf'vojsko) consists of five signal regi-
ments (spojovaci pluk) which are stationed in the following towns:
1st ;'3 ma1 Regiment Benesov
2nd Signal Regiment Ji fn
3rd Signal Regiment Brno
4th Signal Regiment Trencfn
5th. Sim].- Regiment Pardubice, Kutnd flora, and Ruzyne
c. The 5th Signal Regiment has a special function: the training and assign-
ment of personnel to various headquarters, especially the central head-
quarters with its message centers and outlying telegraph, telephone,
teletype, and radio stations. In time of war, the 5th Regiment would
organize the various signal units for the ntra1 headquarters and for
the divisions and brigades of the array. The teletype network of the aray
signal corps was in the main taken over fra`Qn the German Wehrmacht. Most
of the machines were manufactured by Siemens, but some Czech Tesla machines
are gradually being put into operation. Difficulties in the procurement
of natal from Austria have held up production.`(
7. The Cz2ah A F. ores (lets tv )
This Is a separate self-contained entity with its ova general staff, the
chief of which is Lieutenant General Vicherek. There are four air force
divisions (leteckd divine) with areas of responsibility corresponding to
those of the four array territorial cornniands (07's). The 1st Air Force
Division has its headquarters in Prague; the location of the headquarters
of the 2nd Division is unknown; the 3rd Division has its headquarters at
Brno; and the 4th Division is at Trencfn. Aside from these, there is a
depot (leteoky park) at Nitre and a replacement regiment (leteckc nahradni
pluk) at Vysoke'l to. The latter fills all the mobilization and replace-
ment needs of the regular units, so that these consist entirely of fight-
ing personnel to the limits of the tables of organization. There is a
lack, however, of fully-trained personnel, especially in the higher grades.
Materiel is also in short supply.
b. There are no ranking air force officers at the territorial command head-
quarters (OV?s); only one air force officer is attached to each OV in an
advisory or liaison capacity. Air force regional commands (leteck~ okruh)
have also been net up, but their function is not yet clear. It is known
that Air Force Regional Command 3 !Tetecl okruh 3) is established at
Bratislava and consists of administrative, meteorological, and motor main-
tenance sections. Command 3 may have some-connection with the 07 -4 head-
quarters at Bratislava, but if this is the case,' it i peculiar that it
should bear the designation "3" and not "4".
aieftTo-
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c. The construction of airfields is a function of the Ministry of Trans-
port, which works with the advice of an Air Force specialist.
d:. Each air force division consists of three air force regiments (letecli
pluk). The 4th Division,which is located at Trencin under the com-
mand of Colonel Lisick, has been detailed the following subordinates
let Regiment (at Zvolen), 2nd Regiment (at Pieetany), and a third regi-
ment with an unknown designation (at Vajnory).
e. A Czech air force regiment is divided into a number of squadrons (letka)
which are in turn divided into sub-units called "leteclV roj" and con-
sisting of perhaps five planes each. There are no formations correspond-
ing to the American wing in the Czech Air Force.
f. Airfields are located at the following places: Kbely, Ruzyr, Chrodim,
Pardubice, Havlf6kuv Brod, desks Budejovice, Plzen, M ori, Brno, Prerov,
Olomouc, ProetXjov, Malacky, Vajnory, Tri Dubi, and BozIdar.. The Air
Force headquarters at Prague have teletype connections with Kbely, Brno,
and Trencfn, and all airfields have teletype contact with one or another
of these three Message centers. All fields in Bohemia are linled up with
Kbely, in Moravia with Brno, and Slovakia with Trencin. The air, force
firing ranges are located in Malaely.
The Air Force Academy at Hradec Kralove gives a three-year training
course. Flight officers and non-commissioned officers are graduated
after two years. There is also a school for-pilots at Sternberg which
provides a tvx)-year course. Practical work during the second year is
undertaken at Olomouc airfield.
h. J'A radar station was put into operation at Kbely airfield on 1 January
1949. Similar stations will be set up at the other fields and will be
operated by women with Soviet Army training. The radars were set up by
the signal corps colonel, Engineer Tepiy, who studied radar electronics
in England during 1946. The apparatus is being built by Firma Tesla.
It has also been reported that a "radar train" is standing in a siding
at the Brno railway station. Its purpose ik, not known,.but it is used
for the testing of apparatus in various parts of the country
I. A paratroop battalion (padakovy prapor) consisting of infantry volunteers
is stationed at Mimon.
The Ca ch Armo Farms ftankod
72182--
This is)
consists of one tank corps, the headquarters of which is at Olomouc.
The corps is divided into four tank brigades. The headquarters of one bri-
gade is at Sternberg; anothor is at MoravskdTrobovaf; a third is at Turcansky
Sv. Martin; and a fourth may possibly be at Milovice. Armored force units
are stationed at !ilovice, Sternberg, Moravsku Trebova; Znojmo, Tura ansk Sv.
Martin, Hrsnice, Olomouc, and Vysokd"Mfto. Maneuver areas have been set up
Milovice, Sternberg, and TurcansleSv. Martin.
9. Cava (je ectvo)
This is no longer a,separate branch of the army; individual cavalry units
are subordinated to infantry commands. The element now consists of one bri-
gade with a headquarters at Pardubice. This brigade is divided into four
half-regiments, one of which is assigned to each territorial command (OV).
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Armed maneuvers play an Important part in the activities of the now Czech
Army, Every soldier spends at least four months of his conscription period
at one of the training grounds. These are, located at Milovice, Munoz,
Sangeberg, Boletice, Declice, Ff4bram, Lest, and Malac~go All training
grounds have teletype connections with the message center of the supreme
headquarters of the Al r in Prague XIX, President Benes Square, Building
"B", ground floor.
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