Zdeněk Petráš, PhD. (colonel retired) after graduation from the Military University in Vyškov, specialisation logistic support services, in 1989, has served in various logistic support staff positions within air defence missile units and subsequently at the General Staff, Logistic Support Division. From 2003 to 2006, he was appointed as a military advisor at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU. During the Czech Presidency of the EU, in 2009, he was appointed as a deputy chairman of the EU Military Committee Working Group responsible for dealing with military capabilities issues. Afterwards he was appointed at the General Staff, Force Planning Division, where the principal scope of his activity included implementation of outcomes from the NATO and EU capability development planning into the national capability planning procedures. Since 2012, he works at the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies, where he also topped off in 2019 his professional military career. His professional military education includes the Joint Defence Staff College, Paris, France. He also holds a MA degree in international relations and armaments strategies from the Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France and Ph.D. degree in economics and management from the University of Defence, Brno.