LTG Drahoslav Ryba

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure that I can contribute to the successful Future Forces Forum again.  I believe that this upcoming year’s event will substantially foster and enhance defense and security cooperation on the international and national level, across private, governmental and academic sectors and between civil and military authorities.

There is a lot to be learned by the Fire and Rescue Brigade of the Czech Republic in the broad defense and security area but also a lot it can share. The principal strength of our service is a combination of versatility and specialization. Firefighters daily intervene to save people’s lives and property. We are also prepared for less common yet possibly more severe events threatening our communities. We are the most prepared service of security system tasked to respond to CBRN events. Recent accidents have taught us to operate in the most adverse conditions. In cooperation with domestic companies, we have acquired specially protected vehicles TITAN and TRITON for our heavy rescue unit. In order to keep up with today’s trends we will continue to cooperate with both national as well as foreign suppliers of high-quality intervention gear, equipment, and vehicles.

The Future Forces Forum provides participating parties from the defense and security area with the opportunity to share valuable experience and invaluable inspiration for their work. I believe that particularly thanks to projects like the Future Forces Forum we can strife today and more so tomorrow to maximize the effectivity of our efforts to reduce the impacts of rising number of natural and human-made disasters and events. I am convinced that this year’s event will facilitate exchange of the most modern and innovative knowledge and successfully build on the tradition from previous events.

LTG Drahoslav RYBA
Director General of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic