Government Approves White Paper on Defence (June 26) The Slovak Government approved the White Paper on Defence of the Slovak Republic. The document contains a summary of the analysis of the current situation of defence and defines the basic politico-strategic framework of a longlasting development of the defence potential of the state with the emphasis put on the armed forces. The strategic aspect, the principal aim of the defence policy of the SR and the transformation aim of the armed forces remain unchanged. The techniques in order to achieve these aims will be enhanced. The strategy is divided into two phases. In the first phase i.e. by the end of the year 2015, the emphasis is laid on the stabilization of the situation preserving the current spectrum of the capabilities. In the second phase at the beginning of the year 2016, a more dynamic development based on a progressive modification of the main types of the weaponry and techniques are expected. The proposed solutions comply with the economic reality. Through a consistent implementation of the solutions, the negative trends will be precluded and the development of the armed forces initiated. Ultimately, the White Paper on Defence creates conditions for a gradual strengthening of the defence capability of Slovakia, enhancing our input to the collective defence and carrying out other international commitments in the area of defence. ● On 24 June, the members of the Topoľčany brigade provided assistance to the Elementary School in Kovarce during an exercise in support of life and health. Nearly 170 schoolchildren participated in the exercise. The main objective of the exercise was to stress the significance of the elementary skills and knowledge of topography and to demonstrate and explain principles of orientation in a terrain with the aid of a compass, GPS and a sun. Soldiers provided the children with information with respect to the training, making use of a terrain relief, orthophotomaps and coded maps currently used in the Armed Forces of the SR. Thanks to the soldiers of the Topoľčany brigade, the children mastered the basic skills in the self-defence and in provision of aid in the case of a threat to life or health.
Soldiers Thanked for Flood Assistance (June 26) The Head of the Government Robert Fico and the Minister of Defence Mar!n Glváč thanked the soldiers for help in this year’s ßoods and for elimina!ng the consequences. ‘We would like to thank all the soldiers for their professional work they carried out throughout the ßoods. Their engagement helped to prevent other damages from happening, ̓ stated the minister. The minister went for an onsite inspec!on of the ßood-affected areas on several occasions. ‘The soldiers responded very ßexibly to the current requirements during the ßoods and dealt with irregular procedures which are not included in any plans, ̓ emphasized the Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek regarding the work the soldiers carried out. The members of the Staff for the Opera!ons Management of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the SR and the soldiers of the garrisons in Bra!slava, Sereď, Nitra and Kuchyňa, which were the most nearby garrisons to the ßood-affected areas, were among the ten par!cipa!ng representa!ves of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. During the rescue opera!on, the soldiers evacuated materiel, Þlled sandbags, boosted dams, and transported the residents, food and fuel out of the food-affected areas. Once the water went down, the soldiers helped to clean ßood waste. During the days of ßoods, 600 soldiers were mobilized and 75 pieces of equipment were used including trailer trucks, helicopters, boats, a bus, a crane and a water pump. The Prime Minister Robert Fico kindly asked all the a'ending par!cipants to extend his thanks to all their colleagues involved during the ßoods. In his speech, the Prime Minister stressed out the importance of an!-ßood protec!on, which in his opinion should be built on the en!re territory of the Slovak Republic. Other ci!es and other parts of the Slovak Republic which tend to be threatened by ßoods should also receive similar an!-ßood protec!on as the one built in Bra!slava. Apart from the ten representa!ves of the AF of the SR, who took part in the an!-ßood ac!vi!es, the Minister of Defence Mar!n Glváč, the State Secretary of the MOD of the SR Miloš Koterec and the Chief of the General Staff of the AF of the SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek a'ended the ceremonial mee!ng at the Na!onal Council.
● On 25 June, the Commander of the Training, Analytical and Supply Centre of CBRN in Čereňany, Lt. Col. Martin Stanko, welcomed 51 CBRN specialists from the Hungarian Armed Forces. They participated in a comprehensive field exercise with the toxic chemical substances, with a primary focus being placed on detection of contaminants and sampling with the aid of the special equipment. A secondary task was to test and increase psychological resilience under stress and to develop confidence in protective qualities of personal chemical protective equipment.
Eternal Soldier is Back (June 27) Mortal remains of Ladislav Škultéty–Gabriš were finally laid to rest in his native village Mojtín on 27 June, with a solemn burial ceremony putting an end to a posthumous pilgrimage of the longest ever serving soldier in the world. The solemn burial ceremony was graced by representatives of diplomatic corps and the armed forces of Hungary, Romania, Austria and Slovakia. The representatives of the municipality organized a burial of mortal remains of their famous countryman, who more than 81 years served in a Hapsburg Army and died on the territory of the present day Romania in 1831. According to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the SR Lieutanant General Peter Vojtek, we would hardly find in history a more apt and pertinent symbol of devotion and loyalty than the military service of Ladislav Škultéty– Gabriš is.
● On Tuesday, 25 June, the members of the Ground Forces HQ underwent their advanced preparation and training in the premises of the garrison firing range Tomášikovo, which was primarily focused on small arms firing and on mastering the intended elementary combat skills. The Commander of the Ground Forces, Brig. Gen. Ondřej Novosad, came to check the preparation. The participants practiced shooting the vz.82 pistol and vz.58 machine gun on vanishing, stationary and mobile targets and they practiced making a time fuse and detonating a 75 grams’ charge. A part of the preparation was a practice of the basic combat skills related to the firing, engineering, medical preparation and training. ● On 26 June, the Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek, in the presence of the Chief of Operations Staff of the GS AF SR Brig. Gen. Jinřich Joch and Chief of Staff for Operations Support Brig. Gen. Juraj Krištofovič, met with the Brig. Gen. Pavol Maslík, who has held a position of the Head of the Institute of Special Health Care and Training (ISHCT) of MO SR in Lešť since 1997. On the occasion of the end of his service, the Brigadier General Maslík was awarded a Commemorative Medal of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, 2nd Grade, by the Lt. Gen. Vojtek, who thanked him for an excellent and professional performance and service in the AF SR. ● On Wednesday, 26 June, a live combat firing from the military aviation equipment L-39 and Mi-17 on ground targets was held at the firing range in Kuchyňa. Apart from the aviators from the Sliač Air Base and Prešov Air Base, the Forward Air Controllers (FAC) from the 5th Special Forces Regiment in Žilina took part in the firing. A successful completion of combat firing while the FAC navigate the aircraft is a prerequisite for pilots to practically provide close air support to the ground forces and is viewed as one of the most important tasks within NATO. The combat firing was a part of preparation for the exercise RAMSTEIN ROVER to be held in September in the Czech Republic, in which our aviators will take part. ● On Thursday, 27 June, the members of the military council of the Ground Forces’ Commander discussed in the premises of the Ground Forces HQ in Trenčín the topical issues in the scope of responsibility of the Ground Forces. The negotiation was led by the Commander of the Ground Forces Brig. Gen. Ondřej Novosad. He summarized the tasks performed by the Ground Forces in the past period and welcomed to the negotiation the Director of Personal Office of the AF SR Col. Ivan Sálaši. One of the agenda points of the military council was announcement of the order of the President of the Slovak Republic on awarding honours of a historical name to the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Protection Battalion in Rožňava and to the Self-Propelled Artillery Division in Michalovce. The selected professional soldiers were promoted to higher ranks.
Ceremony in Darney (June 30) The State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic Miloš Koterec commemorated the happenings which occurred 95 years ago and significantly contributed to the recognition of the future independent Republic of Czechoslovakia. ‘The Republic of Czechoslovakia was for the first time recognized in this place. According to the position of France, the Great Britain, the USA and Italy recognized the independence after which the first government of Czechoslovakia was informally appointed,’ stated the State Secretary in the place where the French President Raymond Poincaré handed over the battle flag to the 21st Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment of Czechoslovak volunteers on 30 June 1918. The State Secretary Miloš Koterec visited the Czechoslovak historical museum and handed over a commemorative medal to the 84 year-old director of the museum André Poirot, who has worked here for 50 years.
NATO to Apply Know-How from CAPABLE LOGISTICIAN 2013
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June 2013 in order to monitor practical feasibility of the current military logistics and a possible contribution of multinational solutions for the logistic support. The top NATO, EU, PfP representatives visited the NATO largest military exercise organized in the last 10 years based on the joint invitation of the military officials of (June 26) After the departure of the the Slovak Republic and the Czech foreign soldiers, who participated in Republic to the NATO and the EU. Besides the representatives of the CAPABLE LOGISTICIAN 2013, the the military committees representevaluating period was initiated. The ed by the Deputy Chairman of the highest-ranking military officials of NATO Military Committee Lieutenthe Alliance, the EU and the allied ant General Walter Gaskin and the countries attended the international Chairman of the EU Military Commilitary exercise in Slovakia on 20
eBULLETIN MO SR
mittee General Patrick de Rousiers, the event was attended by the highest-ranking representatives of the logistics community and of the NATO agencies. The director of the NATO Support Agency (NSPA) Mike Lyden, the director of the NATO Standardization Agency (NSA) Cihangir Aksit, NATO Chief Scientist Albert Husniaux and the NATO Assistant Secretary General for defence policy and planning Hüseyin Diriöz could not miss this event. The NATO Logistics Committee is jointly chaired by Hüseyin Diriöz and Lieutenant General Walter Gaskin.
In the context of the Connected Forces Initiative (CFI), the attending military representatives discussed the matters of organizing and making the best of specialized exercises focused on application, testing and verification of the acquired experience and on the strengthening of interoperability. The CAPABLE LOGISTICIAN 2013 exercise does not end by the departure of the foreign soldiers from Lešť. The evaluation phase will follow until the final evaluation conference, processing knowledge and experience, which will be reflected in the activities of practical military operations.
June 24 - 30, 2013