From 10 to 14 June 2024, the 10th edition of the international and interdepartmental competition of the Chief of the General Staff called the St. Wenceslas Cup. During 4 days and 3 nights, more than 40 teams competed there and were exposed to extreme physical and mental stress, sleep deprivation and stress. More about this year's event was told by Master Warrant Officer Michal Baka, race director, who summarized the whole race for himself in the report below. 

Video: St. Wenceslas Cup again exposed the competitors to extreme physical and mental stress, sleep deprivation and stress / CZ DEFENCE

In addition to teams from the Czech Army and the Police of the Czech Republic, a total of 6 teams from the French Armed Forces took part in this year's race.

The individual stations very faithfully simulated the real situations that a soldier, police officer or other member of the armed forces may find themselves in during their service. The competitors thus fired from different platforms, from a moving boat, from a vehicle, underground in tunnels, etc., in different shooting positions, often very challenging.

After the results were announced, we had the opportunity to ask two French representatives about their overall feelings about this year's competition (see video report). 

From the comments of the race director and the foreign participants it is clearly visible that this year's 10th edition of this prestigious competition was once again at a high level, which is confirmed, among other things, by the personal participation of the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, Lieutenant General Karel Řehka, who arrived at the announcement of the results and handed over the prizes to the winners.

The origin of St. Wenceslas Cup dates back to 2014, when the first year of the Cup was held at the garrison shooting range of PS Dražice near Tábor. At that time, the birth of the event was led by a pair of instructors of the combat training group of the 42nd Mechanised Battalion, now Chief Warrant Officer of the 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade, Master Warrant Officer Michal Baka and the senior instructor of the Rifle School of the Military Academy Training Command, Warrant Officer Tomáš Růžička.

The St. Wenceslas Cup is, thanks to its challenge and uniqueness, a sought-after shooting competition for domestic and foreign members of the armed forces, who often push their limits again through the competition, but also take away from the competition very valuable practical experience that they can then apply in their service.

This is one of the main goals of the competition - to show that it can be done in other ways and to introduce some elements from the competition into standard military or police training.