As of the 1 January 2011, a new rank structure was applied in the Czech military. This new structure is supposed to be equivalent to those in most NATO countries. I am not in favor of this change.
Firstly, only the rank structure of the lower levels was changed. To the best of my knowledge, the ranks of officers and generals are the same, and are based on the same principle as all countries around the world. The same responsibility is given to the captain in the Czech army or in the US Army. So, it makes all imaginable situations easier that you know the rank of the person you are speaking to or working with.
Secondly, when Czech Army became fully professional, there were no enlisted men and we only had the sergeants and warrant officers. The lowest rank in the Czech Army was the Staff-Sergeant. It was not logical to have the lowest rank in the Czech military on the same equivalent level which in other countries was fifth in their rank structure. From my point of view, the new rank structure is a logical final step of changing our army from a conscript army to a professional one.
Moreover, I have heard many stories about situations based on misusing the Czech rank system by foreigners, and vice-versa. Sometimes it was funny, sometimes it made problems with a communication as foreign forces believe that our soldiers were in fact officers and saluted them.
Generally speaking, the changing of the rank system was the logical step in the development of our army. It could have been implemented over a longer time period, without the big change of “rank down” (for many soldiers). Taking everything into account, it had to be done and we can only discuss the way how it was realized.
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