When he left in April this year for a month and a half to train active reserves of the Army of the Czech Republic, the reactions were mixed, from admiration and recognition to surprise to doubts. The director of an important institution takes up the position of a soldier? Will he make it? ... In June, Private Martin Mata, director of the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region, receives a special award from the army at a ceremony after completing basic training. For the persistence and determination with which he completed the course despite physical exhaustion. A challenging experience in terms of physical and mental aspects cannot be tolerated today, he would recommend it to everyone and would also like to help the promotion of the army.

The interview with Martin Mata was not a classic interview. We actually only photographed the visit of Captain Roman Kutílek from the Ústí nad Labem Regional Military Command, who came with Martin to do an interview for the army media. It's actually an overheard conversation, in which we don't ask anything, we just pricked up our ears and listened to someone else's conversation.

Do I need this?

Martin is sitting on the terrace of the ICUK in military uniform, with one stone in his epaulettes, i.e. with the rank of private, and he is talking relaxedly and with a distance to the higher batch - Captain Roman Kutílk - about his experience:

"When you're forty and you've reached a certain position in your life, it's hard to believe that you're suddenly a private Mata, a scout to be yelled at. I asked myself, do I need this?' But the test of the ego is not the only thing, in addition to being separated from family and loved ones, the training is not easy even from a physical point of view.

"It was physically demanding, and more than I expected. I'm not an athlete, nor am I the youngest. I thought that the month of strengthening before starting was enough for me, but of course I was wrong," says Martin amused. "There were also older people, people in their fifties, marathon runners who went jogging in addition to training, there were athletes with a good physique for whom it was not such a burden. But I'm a diabetic, I have type 2 (second degree), I give myself an injection once a week, which I didn't really emphasize and didn't say about a candy bar, for example."

War is not easy

The fact that out of 130 people who started active reserve training, 96 completed it. Many were injured, some postponed completion, or simply gave up.

"But it must be said that many women completed the basic course, and I am sorry for them, because they had absolutely no concessions, they had to go through the same thing as men", adds Martin.

The difficulty of the basic training of active reserves is definitely not an end in itself. "Soldiers in active reserve are an important part of our country's defense and  full-fledged partners of professionals, during training and deployment. Territorial forces units (infantry companies at regional military headquarters) se they primarily deploy for the protection and defense of critical infrastructure objects and help during natural disasters," our knowledge is supplemented by Captain Roman Kutílek, senior senior command officer of the Regional Military Command in Ústí nad Labem.

"The basic course lasts six weeks, and during that time it is necessary to turn people who have not been kissed by war into units that can handle the demanding tasks of defense. As an active reservist, I now have two to three weeks of additional training twice a year," explains Martin Mata further.

Interest is ten times higher

Just to give you an idea - the army of the Czech Republic has approximately 26-28,000 professional soldiers, while the active reserves currently comprise approximately 3,700 people, of which over 390 are women. That's not much, is it. And what is the interest in the service in active reserves?

"Compared to last year, it has increased substantially, only in the Ústí Region in 2022 it is ten times as much as last year. The crucial moment here is, of course, the war in Ukraine, which helped people to realize the importance of the army and the defense of the homeland", says captain Roman Kutílek.

However, the journey from submitting an application to the active reserves to starting basic training is quite long; during it, up to two thirds of interested parties are lost - they do not provide the necessary medical reports, extract from the register or other documents, or they simply change their minds when they find out what the training entails.

"For me, the crucial moment was not the situation in Ukraine," Martin Mata continues again, "I decided to join the active reserves earlier, in August 2021, but it took me a long time to mature. At the same time, I never had anything to do with soldiers. I lost my mandatory military service, it was canceled before I finished college. But I missed the experience, despite the fact that it felt like the right decision."

It is a responsible and important thing

"In the active reserves, a really varied composition of people, both in terms of professions and ages, will come together - a driver, a lawyer, an executive director, a salesman... they all have to get along, cooperate, help each other, listen to their superiors and follow the rules, regardless of age or level of achievement career", Captain Kutílek describes the specifics of the military environment.

"I would like to see service in the military, whether in the active reserves or the professionals, regain its prestige. I understandably hope that my story will motivate others to take a similar step. The training itself is not free at all, it is mentally and physically demanding, but it enriches a person," says Martin Mata at the end of the interview, adding: "I managed it, others can too - in a similar position or similar physique. By the way, I lost 12 kilos and my blood sugar dropped from around 14 to 8. Of course, you can't approach this naively, idealistically, it's a responsible and important thing."

The interview ends, we take a few photos while watching, Captain Kutílek says goodbye. Finally, we are still thinking about how and whether it would be possible to connect the world of business and the armed forces. Compliance with rules, drills, cooperation in a team, but also humility and the need to suppress one's ego is a great school for managers. What do you think?

You can read the article, which originated from Martin Mata's interview with Captain Roman Kutílek here.