Students of Malacky battle it out at a military training activity
No. 13 ● Vol. VII ● www.mosr.sk/ebulletin/
President appoints SVK GOV (22 March) President Andrej Kiska appointed the new SVK Government led by Peter Pellegrini. The President reappointed Peter Gajdoš as Minister of Defence of the Slovak Republic, who along with other GOV members took an oath of allegiance to the Slovak Republic during a ceremony held on 22 March at the Presidential Palace. Commenting on his reappointment, Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš said: “I want to thank SNS Chairman Andrej Danko for giving me the opportunity to continue performing my tasks that we have set out to implement across Defence. We will ensure continuity of the launched modernisation programmes in favour of the SVK Armed Forces and we will take maximum efforts to equip our soldiers with what they need to deliver the defence of the Slovak Republic and the security of its citizens.” He went on to emphasise that the direction of the SVK MOD remains clearly pro-European and pro-Atlantic.
SVK AF Spartan in action (25 March) The new C-27J Spartan airlifter, which was taken on charge (TOC) at Tactical Wing Kuchyňa in October 2017, is fully operational. Thanks to this, after years of absence the SVK Air Force has regained the capability of delivering supplies and equipment to its troops on operations and missions, including to the SVK Contingent in UNFICYP, Cyprus. “The air transport capability is vital to every Air Force, that is why it is highly positive that we have managed to restore it,” said Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš. The purchase of the two C-27J Spartan airlifters was made in compliance with the SVK Air Force Development Concept. The SVK MOD negotiated a discount of 900,000 euros as a contractual penalty for the delay in the delivery of the aircraft. The SVK military expects to take delivery of the second transport aircraft in the coming days.
(23 March) Students from 9 secondary schools battled it out in the first of a series of military training activities in the Bratislava district. Minister Gajdoš showed his support to the contestants by visiting the event. “This, too, is a form of how we want to awaken the students’ interest in defending their country. They can come and test their physical fitness levels, learn more about soldiers’ duties, and test their knowledge of first aid, topography, and CBRN,” he said. Third- and fourth-year students met at Malacky Grammar School to, among other things, try out firing airsoft weapons and test their knowledge of Slovak military history. As part of the series, secondary school goers will discuss military topics with SVK servicemen and women, attend lectures on the Voluntary Military Training (VMT) scheme, and see dynamic demonstrations. Military training activities for secondary school students will continue throughout March and April in Trnava, Trenčín, Nové Zámky, Banská Bystrica, Žilina, Košice and Humenné. The winning teams from across Slovakia’s regions will be rewarded with a 48-hour Military Drill Camp, to be held in June at the Training Centre Lešť. As part of its pro-active campaign to attract more potential VMT candidates, the MOD has prepared military training activities for students, where they can sign up for the VMT project via the Army recruitment teams. ● Prague hosted a working session on the stand-up of the V4 Battle Group on 19-21 Mar. Representing Slovakia were officials of the SVK MOD, GS and MP. The Slovak delegation was led by Col Peter Brauner, Chief of the Strategic Planning Section, Strategic Planning Staff, SVK General Staff. The representatives agreed on the training system for contributing countries, with a focus on the certification of individual contributions. The culmination of the training of the Military Police unit for the V4 Battle Group will be a joint concentrated exercise in the first half of 2019 in Poland. ● Residents of Sliač attended a ceremony on 19 Mar to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the townʼs liberation by laying wreaths at the WWII Victims Memorial. Representing Sliač Air Base at the ceremony was Maj Milan Eštok. The Military Band of Banská Bystrica provided music support to the ceremony, which was held under the auspices of the mayor of Sliač. ● A Surgeon Generalʼs meeting of commanders was held on 20 Mar at the Office of the Surgeon General in Ružomberok, with the participation of DCHOD Lt Gen Pavel Macko. The main aim was to assess the 2017 results, with a focus on the performance of tasks in the field of medical and veterinary support. Lt Gen Macko presented selected service personnel of the Office with the SVK Minister of Defence Medal marking the 25th anniversary of the SVK Armed Forces. ● 4th Czechoslovak Brigade Barracks hosted the Training and Mobilisation Replenishment Base Commanderʼs meeting of commanders on 21 Mar. At the beginning of the meeting, Base Commander Col Ľubomír Podhorec presented selected service personnel and employees with the SVK Minister of Defence Medal marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the SVK Armed Forces. The meeting focused on analysing damage to assets and assessing duty and work discipline and culminated with the Commanderʼs assessment of the 2017 results and presentation of the 2018 priorities and tasks. ● On 22 Mar, SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš received Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia, HE Mr Gregor Kozovinc, for whom it was his first visit to the SVK MOD after assuming his diplomatic post in Slovakia. The agenda covered current activities of bilateral defence cooperation, exchange of lessons learned from international crisis management operations and from other activities in support of developing partner defence capabilities, as well as current multilateral topics and mutual support for EU and NATO initiatives. ● The SVK MOD wishes to alert the drivers in Slovakia to take caution, as there will be 18 Allied military movements across Slovakia over the period from 26 Mar to 1 Apr 2018. They will mainly involve POL troops. This week will also see a SVK military round trip convoy with oversize cargo of equipment along the route: Sereď – Bratislava – Turecký vrch; and a railway movement of SVK troops and equipment.
Latvia counts on us (19 March) SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš received Latvian Chief of Defence Lt Gen Leonīds Kalniņš at MOD Main Building. During their meeting, they discussed ensuring continuity of the SVK deployment to Latvia under NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP), the collaboration between the countries within NATO, the EU’s PESCO initiative, and the gradual increase in defence spending and modernisation. Slovakia is planning to send up to 152 personnel to Latvia this year, to help defend the Alliance’s eastern flank. The mandate to send two 6-month rotations of SVK personnel will be approved by the Cabinet and the Security Council, whereupon it will be endorsed by Parliament. SVK soldiers were deployed as part of NATO’s eFP in Latvia in 2017. Lt Gen Kalniņš arrived in Bratislava at the invitation of CHOD Milan Maxim. Following his meeting with Minister Gajdoš he familiarised himself with the SVK Armed Forces’ structure, reorganisation changes and modernisation programmes, as well as with lessons learned from the SVK eFP deployment to Latvia.
On cooperation with Croatia (20 March) The further strengthening of the ties between the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Croatia in the field of defence, be it bilaterally or within NATO and the EU, is in the interest of both countries. SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš and the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Slovakia, His Excellency Mr Aleksandar Heina, apparently concurred in this opinion during their meeting at MOD Main Building. The Minister specified that Slovakia and Croatia can cooperate on military training involving the SVK and HRV Air Force, Special Operations Forces (SOFs), and Military Police (MP). Furthermore, he appreciated both armed forces working together actively on the international stage. The training of military divers was on the agenda too. At the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Gajdoš and Ambassador Heina explored ways of taking military cooperation to a higher level, including through the Training Centre Lešť and the International Staff Officers’ Course (ISOC) delivered by the Armed Forces Academy (AOS) in Liptovský Mikuláš. Head of the MOD thanked Croatia for its financial contribution to covering the costs of the SVK-led demining courses in Iraq.
Gen Maxim in visit to Hungary (23 March) At the invitation of the HUN CHOD, SVK CHOD Gen Milan Maxim paid a visit to Hungary, to meet SVK and HUN troops deployed on Exercise Common Effort 2018 at Madarás on the HUN-SERB border. The exercise’s focus was on coordinating Army troops and HUN border police units in a joint response to a mass migration wave. Before the upcoming V4 meeting, both CHODs were in agreement that there was a need to enhance mutual relations and make the best of training opportunities, just as in the case of Exercise Common Effort. Two years ago a similar exercise tested the coordination of SVK and HUN troops and demonstrated increasing interoperability levels in conducing nonmilitary operations in support of civilian authorities.
The signing up for the 3rd edition of Voluntary Military Training is officially launched (19 March) Those interested in Voluntary Military Training (VMT) can sign up for the scheme until 27 April by submitting their application forms for the selection process. The Personnel Office of the SVK Armed Forces is ready to receive applications online via https://www.regrutacia.sk/54-sk/online-registraciauchadzaca/, or at the Army recruitment teams located in the regional capitals, depending on the applicant’s place of residence. By the end of the 11-week VMT training the trainees will have developed basic military knowledge and skills. On completion of the training they will receive a financial reward of €1,100. Head of the MOD said: “The Voluntary Military Training project is among the priorities of our MOD and the Slovak National Party (SNS). Last year we improved the conditions for those interested in the scheme, and this year we have set a more convenient date for secondary school and college leavers. The VMT training will start on 2 July and finish on 14 September. It will once again take
place at the Training and Mobilisation Replenishment Base in Martin.” As CHOD Gen Milan Maxim said, Slovak citizens are being prepared via VMT for the defence of the country and are subsequently assigned to the reserves, whereas they have an option to join the Active Reserves and deploy on domestic crisis management operations, if required. “Last but not least, VMT contributes to Slovak citizensʼ personal development, and they can apply the experience and expertise they acquire during VMT to everyday life.” This year, too, the MOD has the ambition to train up to 150 VMT soldiers once they have met all legal requirements, including Slovak citizenship, place of residence in Slovakia, legal capacity, clean criminal record, certificate of secondary school education,
eBULLETIN MoD SVK
Slovak language proficiency, physical and psychological resilience, and the persons must not be subject to criminal proceedings. Over the duration of the training the MOD will provide free accommodation, catering, clothing and equipment, and will reimburse travel fares. On successful completion of the training VMT soldiers will be promoted to 2nd Degree Private and will be a source for generating the reserves. In case they are interested in joining the Army, they will be exempted from attending basic military training (BMT). VMT is the only legal way for SVK citizens to gain basic military knowledge and skills without joining the armed forces. More information and application forms are available via www.regrutacia.sk.
19 - 25 March 2018