Military unit
The 4th (Czech) Rapid Deployment Brigade (4. brigáda rychlého nasazení) is a brigade of the Army of the Czech Republic. It is assigned to the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. Units from the brigade have deployed as part of KFOR, ISAF and EUTM Mali. Elemets of the brigade were deployed in support of the emergency services during the floods in 1997, 2002 and 2013.[2] The brigade consists of three battalions and is considered as spearhead of the Army of the Czech Republic. It builds the core of the 4th Brigade Task Force. Soldiers of the brigade wore red berets for 29 years as elements of the brigade were trained as paratroopers until the end of June 2023 when the whole brigade changed to the new khaki berets as the rest of the ground forces.[3]
History
The brigade HQ was created on 1 January 1994 in Havlíčkův Brod with the activation of the whole brigade on 1 July 1994. The first commander was then Colonel Jiří Šedivý[4] who later became chief of the general staff. At the time of creation, it was combined arms brigade with 2 mechanized infantry battalions (41st and 42nd), mechanized airborne battalion (43rd), recon battalion, artillery group as well as engineering, signal and logistic battalions, NBC protection company and medical group. It was in direct command of chief of general staff as national Immediate Response Force. It was equipped with BVP-2 IFV at the time.
In 1997 it was transferred under command of the Land Forces. In that year units of the brigade were deployed to help with cleaning efforts after floods in Moravia. After joining NATO it became part of the NATO Rapid Reaction Force.
On 8 May 1999, brigade received honorary name "Obrany Národa" from president Václav Havel.[5]
In 2003, it was reduced in size as part of reorganisation of the Czech Army. From the original 10 battalions, only three mechanized ones remained, one of them airborne.[6] One year after that reorganisaton, the HQ together with the 41st mechanized battalion were moved to Žatec.
In 2008, the strength of the unit was increased with newly formed 44th motorised light infantry battalion at Jindřichův Hradec that replaced 153rd rescue battalion that was disbanded.
In 2010, the 41st and 42nd mechanized battalions exchanged their old tracked BVP-2 IFV for wheeled Pandur II vehicles.[7] In 2016, a new battalion was expected to be formed – the 45th mechanized infantry bn. at Rakovník. That decision however changed, and after transferring its organisational core to 15th engineering regiment, it eventually became the Host Nation Support Battalion.[8]
In 2017, the brigade was affiliated to 10th Tank Division of Bundeswehr.[9]
In 2020, the 43rd airborne battalion was transferred to direct command of Land Forces and was reorganised into 43rd Airborne Regiment as a third ground maneuver element of the Czech Army.[10] With that the brigade lost almost all its airborne units.
In 2022 and 2023, units from 41st and 42nd mechanized battalions served as part of the newly created NATO eFP Slovakia battlegroup at Lešť military training center that is commanded by Czechia.[11]
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IFV Pandur II of 42nd Mech.Inf Bat.
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Soldiers of the 4th Rapid Deploynment Brigade
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Iveco LMV of the 44th Motorised Infantry Battalion
Czech Republic
Czech Land Forces.jpg)
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