An infantry fighting vehicle quickly enters a curve lining the edge of the forest. At the same moment, the instructor commands the two students, who had been hiding in the woods, to creep as quickly as possible into the trenches in the middle of the road cleared by the armored vehicle tracks. "Quick, quick, it's only a short distance," the instructor urges the students to take up the necessary position in the trench in time.

For some students, the stressful situation ties their hands and feet, and it shows in their movement. The noise of the approaching vehicle increases, as does the vibration of the ground. "Put your gun underneath you and keep your head down!" is the instructor's last instruction before he signals the driver to pass the pair at high speed. Before the dust stirred up by the vehicle can settle, the instructor "shoos" the students from their temporary refuge back into the shelter of the forest.

"It was courage training; it was meant to push our mental limits higher to simulate what it feels like in combat," said Private Tuan Dat Pham, summing up the purpose of the exercise. His fellow private, Lucie Cerna, described how she felt under tons of moving metal: "I thought it would be worse, but as our heads were down, we couldn't see anything."

The continuous training brought a major change in the lives of its participants – discomfort involving lack of sleep and considerable physical exertion that tested their prior preparation. "I tried to run and exercise, but I think I underestimated running with the weight," says Private Tereza Shánělová, who cites shooting and climbing obstacle courses as her favorite training activities. Private Pham, on the other hand, has no problems with physical exertion at all, and he rates his prior training as somewhat insufficient: "I overestimated it."

A total of 339 prospective students of the University of Defence began the continuous five-week Basic Training Course at the beginning of August, and in the middle of the month, they were joined by 37 current students of the Moravská Třebová MoD secondary school. During the final seven days of the course, there will be a comprehensive training session during which students will demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired. Only successful completion of the training will open the door to study at the only military university in the Czech Republic, the University of Defence.