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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">cndcgs</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation</journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="epub">2538-8959</issn>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">2669-2023</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>LKA</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">97_KELLNER</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.47459/cndcgs.2026.97</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Comparison of Physical Fitness Between University of Defence Students and Active-Duty Soldiers</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>KELLNER</surname>
            <given-names>Petr</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:href="mailto:petr.kellner@unob.cz">petr.kellner@unob.cz</email>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_cndcgs_aff_000"/>
          <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="cor1">∗</xref>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_cndcgs_aff_000">Centre of Physical Education and Sport, University of Defence, Brno, Czech Republic;                                                                                        Faculty of sport studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic</aff>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>NEUBAUER</surname>
            <given-names>Jiří</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_cndcgs_aff_001"/>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_cndcgs_aff_001">Department of quantitative methods, University of Defence, Brno, Czech Republic</aff>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>NOVOTNÝ</surname>
            <given-names>Viktor</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_cndcgs_aff_002"/>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_cndcgs_aff_002">Centre of Physical Education and Sport, University of Defence, Brno, Czech Republic</aff>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>SMEJKAL</surname>
            <given-names>Rudolf</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_cndcgs_aff_003"/>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_cndcgs_aff_003">Centre of Physical Education and Sport, University of Defence, Brno, Czech Republic</aff>
      </contrib-group>
      <author-notes>
        <corresp id="cor1"><label>∗</label>Corresponding author.</corresp>
      </author-notes>
      <volume>2026</volume>
      <issue>1</issue>
      <fpage>856</fpage>
      <lpage>861</lpage>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>13</day>
        <month>07</month>
        <year>2026</year>
      </pub-date>
      <permissions>
        <license license-type="open-access">
          <license-p>Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY)</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <p>Physical fitness is a key element of military readiness. This study compared performance in the 12-minute run and upper-body strength tests between University of Defence students and active-duty soldiers from Land Forces, Air Forces, and the Airborne Regiment (data 2023–2025, age 20–30 years). University of Defence students significantly outperformed Land Forces and Air Forces personnel in the 12-minute run in both sexes. In upper-body strength, students achieved comparable or slightly better results than Land and Air Forces. The Airborne Regiment remained a distinct elite group, recording the highest performance in all disciplines. Performance was highly stable across the three-year period. The results indicate that military university students demonstrate physical fitness levels comparable to or exceeding those of regular active-duty soldiers, while still falling short of the standards of the Airborne Regiment.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group>
        <label>Keywords</label>
        <kwd>physical fitness</kwd>
        <kwd>military leadership</kwd>
        <kwd>military students</kwd>
        <kwd>active-duty soldiers</kwd>
        <kwd>fitness testing</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
