Petr Šafařík joined the army in 1996, when he started to study at the Military Academy in the city of Brno. He graduated with the Bachelor degree in 2000. He started his elementary training during studies in 1999 in the Z-142 fixed wing aircraft. Then he was selected as a helicopter pilot and the next year he started his primary helicopter training in the Mi-2 helicopter. After finishing the Military Academy and earning his pilot wings, Petr received order to the 33rd Helicopter Air Force Base to Přerov and transitioned to Mi-17 heavy transport helicopter. After less then year, in October 2001, he reported to the SAR Squadron (later in 2004 reorganized into the 233rd Helicopter Squadron SAR and MEDEVAC) stationed at Líně airport near the city of Plzeň and started the flight training in the W-3A Sokol helicopter.

During 2002-2005 he attended the Defense University again and earned the Master’s degree in 2005. Petr spent the first half of the year 2008 in the USA in the Aviation Captains Career Course at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Due to the Air Force reorganization the 233rd Helicopter Squadron SAR and MEDEVAC was disestablished and merged with the 243rd Helicopter Squadron of the 24th Transport Air Force Base at Praha- Kbely on October 1, 2008, so Petr Šafařík reported also to the 243rd Squadron. Through his time within the 243rd Squadron between 2008 and 2015 Petr successively served as a captain-crew commander and finally flight commander of the 4 th flight. He was deployed in Afghanistan in 2014 in position of the commander of the 12 th Air Advisory Team. In April 2015, Petr received orders to the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic and spent 4 years there in position of senior officer – specialist of the Air Force Development Department. On 1 March, he returned back to the 24th Transport Air Force Base as the chief of combat training section of the 24th Transport Air Wing. On 1 January 2022 Petr was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assumed command of the 243rd Helicopter Squadron.

 He has accumulated more than 3 600 flight hours of which more than 3 100 flight hours have been in the W-3A Sokol helicopter.
 flown aircraft: Z-142C AF, Mi-2, Mi-17, Mi-171, W-3A Sokol
 current qualifications: instructor pilot/inspector on W-3A Sokol and Mi-17
 married, 2 children
 Besides various sport activities his other favourite hobbies are photographing, aviation history and plastic kits aeromodelling.