The nationwide exercise HRADBA 2025 has entered its final phase and is testing the readiness of active reserve soldiers to protect key state facilities in southern Moravia. One of these is the Czech Post logistics center, which would play a crucial role in ensuring communication with the population in the event of a crisis. During the joint exercise, the army and the postal service are testing how they would fare if electronic systems failed and the state had to rely on physical delivery of information.

In the South Moravian Region, exercises are taking place at three key locations: at the Čepro fuel depot in Klobouky u Brna and at two facilities in Brno, the Czech Post logistics center and the CETIN telecommunications building. Active reserve soldiers are guarding the buildings 24/7 and responding to model incidents prepared by professional soldiers from the 74th Mechanized Battalion in Bučovice. The scenarios include attempts by unauthorized persons to enter the building, the presence of unauthorized vehicles, a drone attack, and a subsequent fire. The decision-making processes of soldiers at the main command post are crucial in these situations.

This year, the results of the work of experts from the Faculty of Informatics at Masaryk University, who have long been involved in the use of artificial intelligence in the protection of buildings, are again being utilized. It was this faculty that developed an application that, based on the data provided, itself proposes optimal methods of surveillance, including the best routes for patrols. The system has even been supplied to the US Army and is being tested in practice in cooperation with the Regional Military Command in Brno.

The aim of the HRADBA 2025 exercise is to test the entire system of procedures. From planning and organizing security to actual implementation and cooperation with emergency services and property owners. Emphasis is placed on communication, because security must continue even during the intervention of emergency services. For example, a simulated fire may be just a cover for a subsequent attempt to break into a building in another part of the complex.

The selection of specific buildings was not random. It responds to the security situation and incidents abroad. In the case of the Czech Post, its crucial role in informing the public in crisis situations is also taken into account. "The law stipulates the methods of delivery—by data box or letter—so the post office is crucial for me," says Colonel Alois Matýzka, director of the Regional Military Command in Brno.

It is at the Czech Post logistics center in Brno that soldiers are testing procedures for protecting the facility, which would be of crucial importance in the event of a crisis. Czech Post (ČP) spokesperson Matyáš Vitík confirms to CZ DEFENCE that the company's role is irreplaceable in times of crisis. "Czech Post is part of the state's critical infrastructure. This is not apparent during normal operations, but if, God forbid, a crisis situation were to arise, our logistics network would ensure basic communication for the state," explains Vitík, continuing: "If electronic communication were to fail, we would once again be reliant on information leaflets and other printed materials. And it would be the task of the Czech Post to distribute these to the population." Although the company has undergone extensive restructuring, the Czech Post spokesperson emphasizes that its crisis tasks remain unchanged: "This is based on the law. If a crisis were to occur again, we would be able to fulfill what is expected of us as part of critical infrastructure." So why is joint training with the army important for the postal service? "Let's hope that we will never need the knowledge gained during this exercise in practice. However, because we are part of critical infrastructure, it is important for the army to test the exercise on our premises. And for us, it is an opportunity to find out how we would have to operate in times of crisis," says Matyáš Vitík.

Even before guarding the facilities, soldiers from the 241st Territorial Defense Battalion practiced another of the main tasks of the territorial forces, namely securing the transport of military equipment by rail. Host nation support (HNS), together with the protection of critical infrastructure, is a key capability of the territorial forces. "In the event of an armed conflict, the Czech Republic would become an important transit corridor, both towards Poland and the Baltic States, as well as towards the Black Sea in the southeast," Matýzka points out, adding: "Ensuring safe army movements and the stability of critical infrastructure would be absolutely essential."

A total of 130 soldiers from the active reserve of the Brno Regional Military Command took part in the HRADBA 2025 exercise, which ends today. Similar exercises are a key element in the preparedness of the armed forces and cooperating institutions, including the Czech Post, which could play one of the most important roles in communication between the state and its citizens in times of crisis.