[1][2] The German decision to permit the organization of a military force under direct control of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was due to three factors.

First, the complete dissolution of the Czechoslovak Army carried with it a concurrently large increase in the unemployment rate; continued maintenance of at least a fractional military force could mitigate that to some extent.

For political reasons, many of the army's original personnel were gradually dismissed to be replaced by new recruits unconnected with the armed forces of the formerly independent Czechoslovakia.

New recruits were limited to Czech males between 18 and 24 years of age, of Aryan ethnicity, at least 165 centimeters (5 ft 5 in) tall, in good health, and free of criminal record.

[3][10] Prior to 1944, Government Army forces were primarily deployed to provide security along railroad lines, to support civil defense, for public duties assignments, and – during the winter of 1943 to 1944 – in a short-lived effort to capture parachutist drop sites in Bohemia and Moravia used by Czech resistance fighters.

[1][9] According to one account, when asked by a subordinate officer what Protectorate soldiers should do in the event they successfully intercepted parachutists, General Jaroslav Eminger replied, "if there are few you will ignore them, if there are many you will join them".

State President Hácha discussed the proposal with SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Hermann Frank, who ultimately decided not to forward it to Adolf Hitler.

[5] While in Italy, approximately 600 of the Czech soldiers deserted to the side of the Italian partisans, due in part to the effects of the propaganda campaign "Operation Sauerkraut" of the United States' Office of Strategic Services.