U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Lynn Thanks Czech Republic for Afghan Help

PRAGUE, June 15, 2011

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn, left, and Czech Minister of Defense Alexandr Vondra conduct a joint press conference.

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn, right, meets with U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen.

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III met on June 15, 2011 with Czech Republic officials, thanking them for stepping up their role in Afghanistan and discussing the way ahead in a growing military-to-military relationship between their countries.

After meeting with U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen and members of the U.S. country team here, Lynn met for a half hour with Czech Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra, and later in the day he met with Czech Chief of Defense Gen. Vlastimil Picek.

During a news conference with Vondra after their meeting, Lynn said they discussed current operations in Afghanistan and the progress being made toward the transition to Afghan security control by the end of 2014, noting that the Czech contingent in Afghanistan will rise to more than 700 members this year.

Read the remarks of William Lynn, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Alexandr Vondra, Czech Minister of Defense (PDF, 216 kB)

“Additional Czech trainers and mentors will improve the capabilities of Afghan security forces and the Afghan military as we prepare them for this important transition,” Lynn said. “This contribution is vital.”

The deputy secretary added that he conveyed his gratitude to the Czech armed forces for their contributions to the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, as well as in Kosovo and Iraq.

“The professionalism of Czech troops and civilian specialists in Afghanistan is highly valued by allied command and staff,” including ISAF Commander Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, Lynn said. He expressed condolences on behalf of the American people for the recent loss of a Czech soldier in Afghanistan.

“As someone who has met with many families of fallen warriors in my own country,” he said, “I can tell you that there is no more sobering reminder of the costs of establishing peace and security.”

In addition, Lynn said, he and Vondra discussed the Czech Republic’s White Book on Defense, a plan for improving and reforming the country’s military and its defense procurement system.

“The United States applauds these efforts,” he said, “because they make a good and capable ally an even better and stronger one.”

The deputy secretary noted that the United States is going through a similar effort, as all countries face difficult choices in seeking to spend their scarce resources wisely.

“A transparent and efficient procurement process ensures that taxpayers’ money is properly spent, that service members are well equipped, and that we as NATO allies are making the necessary contributions for our collective security and defense,” he said. “These improvements will lead to even more opportunities for defense cooperation.”

The United States has been able to provide the Czech armed forces with significant assistance in terms of training, communications modernization and air crew equipment, Lynn said.

“These opportunities to train together and to fight our adversaries using common tools are among the many mutual benefits of our strategic relationship,” he added.

Lynn noted that U.S.-Czech cooperation in helicopter operations and training is a particular area that is yielding important results.

“Not only is the Czech Republic preparing Afghan pilots as part of our NATO mission,” he said, “we also are working together on several current and future projects that will expand both U.S. and Czech capabilities to support a range of potential missions.”

Lynn also cited the National Guard’s State Partnership Program as an important area of cooperation between U.S. and Czech forces. Citizen-soldiers and –airmen from Texas and Nebraska have worked with the Czech armed forces toward mutual improvement of their disaster-relief and mass-casualty operations.

“As you can see, our strategic defense relationship is a broad one,” he said. “Minister Vondra and I are both committed to continuing and expanding our partnership.

“Together,” he added, “I am confident we can meet the critical security challenges of the 21st century.”

Lynn: ‘Unbreakable Bond’ Joins U.S., Czech Militaries

The long-standing and growing military relationship between the United States and the Czech Republic has forged “an unbreakable bond,” Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said in Prague, June 15, 2011.

At a news conference following a 30-minute meeting with Czech Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra which Lynn described as “important and useful,” the deputy secretary said the growing U.S.-Czech strategic relationship has multiple strands and extensive contacts.

“As the minister mentioned, we have a relationship in the research and development area through the Office of Naval Research,” Lynn said. “We have strong relationships in terms of special operations forces [and] in terms of peacekeeping.”

In addition, he said, the two nations are working together on mutual improvement of their chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense capabilities.

“And I think one of the particular points in this meeting that we think we can build on is cooperation in terms of helicopter training, operations and maintenance,” Lynn said. “There is currently a Czech team in the United States that’s bringing some new ideas on that front forward, and we’re looking forward to evaluating those and looking at that as a basis for further cooperation.”

The multiple areas of military cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic are strong individually, the deputy secretary said, and they collectively build an unbreakable bond between the two nations that will continue to grow, especially as the Czech military implements the approach outlined in its White Book on Defense, a plan for improving and reforming the country’s military and its defense procurement system.

“The area that’s most current in terms of exploration is the helicopter training, maintenance and operations,” Lynn said. “In that area, we greatly admire the Czech expertise, which is being very vividly demonstrated in Afghanistan, and we think that the ideas that are in the White Book, focusing on core competencies in these difficult fiscal times is exactly the right approach. And clearly, helicopter operations, training and maintenance is a core competency of the Czech Republic."

The deputy secretary dispelled the notion that the United States withdrew an offer to have two computer terminals installed at Czech military facilities so that the Czech Republic could have near-real-time access to information about ballistic missile launches detected by U.S. early warning sensors. He noted that in his remarks at the news conference, Vondra pointed out that the offer the United States had made was overtaken by events, as NATO changed its approach to missile defense when its heads of state and government met in Lisbon, Portugal, in November.

“The Lisbon summit has, I think, changed the nature of the missile defense framework that we’re operating in,” Lynn said, “and the offer -- while an interesting one and a good one -- I think no longer fits either the missile defense framework or the Czech needs.”