Karel Řehka
Chief of Defence of the Czech Republic
Lieutenant General Karel Řehka currently serves as the Chief of Defence of the Czech Republic. In 1989, he finished his studies at the Military High School of Jan Zizka in Opava, then Military College of Land Forces in Vyškov (reconnaissance department), and followed with Commissioning Course at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK. Thereafter, he completed an elite RANGER course, a course for forward air control, and then back in the Czech Republic, he underwent a Brigade Staff Course focused on crisis management, and General Staff course. Gen Řehka's military career is closely tied to the Rapid Deployment Brigade, where he worked his way up from a Special Reconnaissance Commander, a Forward Air Controllers Team Leader, to a Commander of the Special Designation Centre of the 601st Special Forces Group (2010-14). In 2011, he became commander of the Task Force of the ISAF Special Forces in Afghanistan. Subsequently, he became the Director of the Special Forces Directorate of the Ministry of Defence and later appointed a general. Most recently, he was Deputy Commander of the Multinational Division North East, under which fall the allied Rapid Reaction Forces advanced in Poland and the Baltic States.
Updated: April 12, 2023
