Petr Pavel (* 1961) is a retired army general who has achieved the highest military posts both in the Army of the Czech Republic – Chief of the General Staff (2012-2015) and in the North Atlantic Alliance – Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (2015–2018). He was elected to this prestigious position as the first representative of post-communist states. He began his military career in 1975 when he joined the Military High School in Opava, then graduated from the Military College of Ground Forces in Vyškov, postgraduate studies in intelligence at the Military Academy in Brno, College Staff College in Camberley (UK), Royal Academy of Defense Studies in London (2005) and King’s College London, where he earned a Master of Arts (MA) in International Relations (2006). He held command posts in the airborne reconnaissance platoon of special purpose in Prostějov, military intelligence units, joint forces and as a representative of the Army of the Czech Republic in international institutions. He was a participant in several foreign military missions and for his heroic deeds received a number of honors ACR and high foreign orders, including the highest honors France and the USA. Since retiring to the end of 2018, he has been giving lectures and popularizing defense and foreign policy issues. In order to strengthen security, civil society and democratic values ​​in the Czech Republic, he founded the association For a safe future.