The Marshall Center has named Ambassador Petr Voznica of the Czech Republic as featured Graduate of the Month for October.
Ambassador Voznica, in addition to his noteworthy diplomatic service, is a retired major general of the Czech Armed Forces with a PhD in Operational Skills and Tactics. He first graduated with a degree in Military Chemistry from the Military College of Ground Forces in Vyškov na Moravě in 1977, followed by the completion of postgraduate degrees at the Military Academy in Brno in 1987. Other academic highlights of his career include the Strategy, International Policy and Relations Program at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London in 1996, Marshall Center course SES 98-2 and the Defense Resource Management Institute at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California in 1998. He has served in a full spectrum of command and staff appointments in the Czechoslovak and later Czech Armed Forces, including as Deputy Commander and later Commander, 2nd Army Corps, Olomouc and as Commander, Territorial Defence Forces, Tábor. From 2000-2001, he served as Director General, Defence Planning Division, Czech Ministry of Defence and as Representative of the Czech Republic to the Senior Resource Board at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
In mid- 2001, Ambassador Voznica retired from active military duty and immediately embarked on a new career as a diplomat in the Czech Foreign Service with a four-year appointment as Ambassador to Lithuania, serving one year as Head of the NATO Contact Point Embassy to the Republic of Lithuania. Ambassador Voznica learned Lithuanian and played a key role facilitating Lithuania’s accession to both NATO and the European Union in 2004. Upon the completion of his assignment in Lithuania, Ambassador Voznica embarked on a far more challenging assignment as Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2009, again playing a useful role in that nation’s transition from a state of near civil war to relative stability today. In September 2009, he embarked on his third major mission as Czech Ambassador to Slovenia.
Commenting on his memories of the Marshall Center and the role it serves, Ambassador Voznica wrote to us the following: “It was the only opportunity to meet other decision-makers and flag officers from different countries and truly share their experience. In particular, I have to mention the Case Study on Security Strategy [from the SES] that has helped while I was working with a team of experts to define the then Security and Defense Strategy of the Czech Republic [1999].”
Looking back on his experiences and reflecting on the challenges that Europe and the NATO Alliance face in the future, Ambassador Voznica wrote: “Europe and the European Union face the challenge to overcome the economic recession and to complete political and institutional reform. NATO and the EU will have to address a new security and defense challenges - Strategy for Afghanistan, reconciliation in post-conflict areas and nuclear proliferation.”
The Marshall Center congratulates Ambassador Voznica on his selection as Graduate of the Month for October 2009.
