This diploma thesis deals with the change of the landscape cover and the use of the landscape of the former Ralsko military training area after 1990. The former VVP Ralsko is located on the area of 250 km2 between Česká Lípa, Stráží pod Ralskem and Mnichovo Hradištěm. Most of its territory lies in the Liberec region and only its southern part reaches the Central Bohemian region. After the departure of the Soviet troops in 1991, the military training area was abolished and on 1 January 1992 the village of Ralsko, which currently has 171 km2 , was formed by merging nine municipalities in its former territory. The town of Ralsko is thus an area with the largest area in the Czech Republic. Between 1993 and 2004, the former military area was decontaminated, during which more than 120,000 pieces of ammunition were found and destroyed. Decontamination of contaminated soils and groundwater is ongoing. Some former military buildings are currently commercially used as warehouses for raw materials. The Military Airport at Hradčany is partly used for sports purposes, and a range of rare game species has been set up in the area of the Židlov tank space, of which the most interesting is the European Tooth (Bison bonasus). In the first part of the thesis there is a search of specialized literature dealing with...

Most sport coaches are under the impression that if their athletes have 20/20 vision, nothing more is needed to be done in the visual arena. This is a common misconception in youth sport and professional sport. Every sport involves the visual system in one way or another, yet very few coaches or athletes spend any time training the visual system to perform optimally during competition. To perform at the highest level of competition, athletes have to be in tune with their visual motor and visual perceptual system. Participants consisted of 200 male and female recruits enrolled for Basic Military Training (BMT) at the training academy in Ellisras, South Africa. Only recruits who completed the informed consent and adhere to the inclusion exclusion criteria participated in the study. The primary purpose of this study was to see how the recruits improve their visual skills after intense training which included cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular strength (upper body and abdominal), muscular endurance, speed, power, agility and flexibility. The training intensity of the sessions exceeded 6 metabolic equivalents (METs). Data sampling was completed over a period of one week during weeks 1, 12 and 20. The proposed schedule for the data gathering is suggested to ensure the special requirements demanded by the different tests and to see at what rate their visual skill improve. Results in this study suggests that a Basic Military Training (BMT) programme, focusing on intense physical training, enhances hand-eye co-ordination, visual response speed, accuracy, anticipation, visual concentration and short term visual memory. The improvement of various visual skills observed in this research provides evidence that physical exercise, along with an enhanced state of physical fitness, does have a positive effect on visual proficiency. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Physiology / unrestricted

This dissertation provides an account of the contributions of Canadian universities to the Second World War. It examines the deliberations and negotiations of university, government, and military officials on how best to utilize and direct the resources of Canadian institutions of higher learning towards the prosecution of the war and postwar reconstruction. During the Second World War, university leaders worked with the Dominion Government and high-ranking military officials to establish comprehensive training programs on campuses across the country. These programs were designed to produce service personnel, provide skilled labour for essential war and civilian industries, impart specialized and technical knowledge to enlisted service members, and educate returning veterans. University administrators actively participated in the formation and expansion of these training initiatives and lobbied the government for adequate funding to ensure the success of their efforts. This study shows that university heads, deans, and prominent faculty members eagerly collaborated with both the government and the military to ensure that their institutions’ material and human resources were best directed in support of the war effort and that, in contrast to the First World War, skilled graduates would not be heedlessly wasted. At the center of these negotiations was the National Conference of Canadian Universities, a body consisting of heads of universities and colleges from across the country. This organization maintained an active presence in all major deliberations and exercised substantial influence over the policies affecting the mobilization of university resources.

During the Second World War, training was the Canadian Army’s longest sustained activity. Aside from isolated engagements at Hong Kong and Dieppe, the Canadians did not fight in a protracted campaign until the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The years that Canadian infantry units spent training in the United Kingdom were formative in the history of the Canadian Army. Despite what much of the historical literature has suggested, training succeeded in making the Canadian infantry capable of succeeding in battle against German forces. Canadian infantry training showed a definite progression towards professionalism and away from a pervasive prewar mentality that the infantry was a largely unskilled arm and that training infantrymen did not require special expertise. From 1939 to 1941, Canadian infantry training suffered from problems ranging from equipment shortages to poor senior leadership. In late 1941, the Canadians were introduced to a new method of training called “battle drill,” which broke tactical manoeuvres into simple movements, encouraged initiative among junior leaders, and greatly boosted the men’s morale. The Canadians participated in numerous military exercises of varying sizes that exposed problems with their senior leadership. The replacement of unsuitable officers greatly enhanced the fighting potential of Canadian units and formations. As time went on, infantry training became more rigorous and realistic, and tactical concepts became increasingly sophisticated. By the time of the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, infantry training was intense, suited to units’ assigned tasks, and highly technical, which belied the false prewar assumption that the infantry was an unskilled arm. By the time Canadian divisions entered battle, they were as prepared as they would ever be. The exception to this was the training of the overseas reinforcement units, which reached an acceptable standard only in the last months of the war. This study ultimately represents a substantial contribution to understanding the history of the Canadian Army and its role in the Second World War.

The thesis aims for relationship between military-caused disturbance intensity and species richness, conservation value and composition of arthropods communities in the Brdy Mts. In the Brdy abandoned military area (MTA), a highly heterogeneous habitat mosaic developed by the long-term influence of military disturbances on two shooting areas of Jordán and Tok. The habitats range from strongly disturbed sites with sparse vegetation, through heterogeneous growths of Erica and Vaccinium in moderately disturbed sites, to sparse woodlands in the least disturbed sites. Based on the shooting areas history reconstruction, 24 study plots of 4 categories of different disturbance intensity were selected in both shooting areas together. Standardized sampling of seven groups of arthropods was performed in summer 2017 by pitfall traps, yellow pan traps, and light traps. More intensive disturbances positively influenced species richness of Aculeates and conservation value of spiders and beetles, but negatively affected species richness of moths. Simultaneously, the intensity of disturbances affected community composition of spiders, moths, beetles, Aculeates and Orthopteroids. Endangered species mostly affiliated to the more intensively disturbed plots. This results should be helpful in understanding of influence...

Military areas are extraordinary biodiversity-rich due to limited economic activities and a specific way of using the areas for military training. Previous research has also revealed their positive influence on bird species diversity, this applies to endangered species in particular. However, the exact biotope characteristics attracting birds are insufficiently known. In this regard, I expected an important role of heterogeneity of the environment. The aim of the thesis was therefore: (I) to find out the difference of environmental heterogeneity between a military area (MA) and the surrounding landscape, both in a forest and a non-forest sites, (II) to find out what biotope characteristics attract birds in open landscape and (III) what characteristics attract birds in forest. Fieldwork took place in a still active MA of Hradiště and neighboring controls of Bochov and Ostrov. In total, 80 study plots were surveyed for representation of individual biotopes (39 types in total) and the number of fragments of woody vegetation. Data on bird species richness were taken from the thesis of Bušek (2015), surveyed birds at identical study plots and calculated total number of bird species and the number of endangered bird species at each plot. The open landscape of MA has, compared to the surrounding cultural...

Enhancing antiterrorism force protection (ATFP) training at off-installation sites to allow employees to survive a life threatening situation is a necessity after recent events at such military installations. However, little is known about how service members perceive their current ATFP training experiences and how those experiences impact their self-confidence for responding to a threat. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how current training experiences impact confidence levels in learning basic security fundamentals to respond to a threat, as well as possible training changes that might improve confidence levels. This study used social constructivism, andragogy theory, heutagogy, and problem-based learning as the conceptual frameworks. Participants were 15 sailors from 5 off-site locations. Data sources were semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using provisional and open coding strategies to identify themes of supports and barriers to learning ATFP concepts. Results indicated that existing instruction resulted in sailors engaging in supplemental self-training activities to reach what they believed were strong preparedness levels. They also indicated that instruction that emphasizes authentic adult education practices such as learner-center instruction and hands-on drills under the framework of problem-based learning and heutagogy were necessary to increase self-reported levels of confidence in responding to a threat. This study impacts positive social change by providing guidelines for effective terrorist and threat preparedness instruction, regardless of organization, institution, or location that can be used by administrators to improve their confidence and ability to deal with terrorist actions.

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