SNU is a milestone in our history (29 August) SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč, joined by constitutional representatives of the Slovak Republic, important foreign guests and direct participants of the WWII resistance movement, attended the commemorative ceremony celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. “The Slovak National Uprising marks one of the most significant milestones of Slovak history. It testifies to the will of the Slovak citizens to take the nation´s destiny into their own hands. It is, therefore, inevitable to commemorate the event so that its significance remains also in the minds of younger generations,” he said. As part of the event, SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu opened an exhibition entitled “Victory” at the SNU Museum. “It is important to remind that the visit of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is connected with the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the SNU. I passed on our concerns over the situation in Ukraine. It is needless to repeat that a diplomatic solution requires communication,” said Minister of Defence Martin Glváč.
● Since Monday, 25 August 2014, more than 60 specialists met in Trenčín where they participated in a 3-day main planning conference preparing the international exercise GROUND PEPPER 2014, which will be held this October in Slovakia. The leader of the conference was Maj Gen Pavel Macko, 2nd Vice Chief of the General Staff, and the participants were welcomed by Land Forces Commander Brig Ondřej Novosad. The commanders and specialists discussed the plan of the exercise, its logistic support, as well as the technical agreement among the participating countries. The conference participants were as follows: a delegation from NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum and representatives of the Czech, Hungarian and U.S. Armed Forces.
Air fest days (30 August) SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč attended the opening ceremony of the Slovak International Air Fest (SIAF) 2014 at Sliač AFB. Being in its 4th year, Slovakia’s largest airshow was symbolically opened by a flypast formation of two MiG-29 fighters, three L-39 aircraft and one Tu-154 SVK Government Flying Service aircraft. Even this time spectators did not miss out on an airdrop of parachuters with the flags of the participating countries. The opening ceremony was attended by the SVK President and Commander-in-Chief, Andrej Kiska. “The aviation days provide an excellent opportunity to promote the work of our Air Force in the public. Visitors to the airshow can view the aircraft with which our soldiers work and compare them with those operated by foreign countries. They can see for themselves that the situation is far from ideal and that modernization, which we plan to implement under the adopted SVK Air Force Development Concept, is absolutely inevitable. It is important to realize that military aviation has an irreplaceable role not only in protecting our airspace but also as part of domestic crisis management,” said Minister of Defence Glváč. He announced that Slovakia was finalizing the contract of purchase for two Spartan aircraft, which won the competitive bidding for the contract as early as 2008. “Our ambition is to complete this process by 30 September,” he confirmed, adding that the entire process was still to be approved by the Security Council of the Slovak Republic and the SVK Government. He went on to emphasize that the procurement process for the aircraft was in accordance with the adopted SVK Air Force Development Concept. Also Lt Gen Milan Maxim, Chief of the General Staff of the SVK Armed Forces, appreciated the SVK Air Force´s participation at SIAF 2014. “This is an opportunity for the SVK Air Force to demonstrate what they can do with relatively outdated aircraft,” he said. At the same time, he highly appreciated the planned acquisition of the Spartan tactical transport aircraft. The Slovak International Air Fest SIAF 2014 was held for two days (30 and 31 August) and the SVK Air Force was also represented by Mi-17 helicopters and L-410 aircraft. www.mosr.sk/ebulletin/
As part of side events, visitors to the airshow could view the SVK Armed Forces' static and dynamic demonstrations and meet with army sportsmen and women. A number of countries were represented at SIAF, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Sweden, Austria and the United Kingdom.
● Being in accordance with the issued operational plans on the mission termination of the Slovak Armed Forces in the ISAF operation, SLOVCON continued to perform tasks at Kandahar Airfield even at the end of August, especially the preparation of the premises and materials to be handed over to the coalition partners, and other logistic backup. The performance of the tasks was stepped up after the final planning conference, involving representatives of all coalition states, was over at KAF in Kandahar. Among others, the conference aligned the national plans on ISAF’s transformation. ● On Saturday, 23 August, soldiers from five countries – Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the USA – participated in the 19th International Military Kriváň Mountain Climb (2,494.7 MASL) organized by the Association of Slovak Soldiers. Its president, Col Tomáš Švec (RET), and the commander of the Crisis Management Strategic Centre of the General Staff, Brig Jindřich Joch, and others from among 1,050 participants of the climbing event gathered at the Slovak National Uprising memorial on the shore of Lake Štrbské Pleso to commemorate the fallen heroes. ● The end of summer holidays means also the end of summer camps for children of professional soldiers and MOD employees. In July and August, the Military Social Welfare Office, together with the financial support of the SVK MOD, organized summer stays for 320 children in the departmental facilities in Smrekovica, Tatranské Zruby and Zemplínska Šírava. Under this figure, the Central Office of the Ecumenical Pastoral Service organized the 8th biblical camp for 26 children and the Ordinariate of the Slovak Armed Forces and Armed Corps for the 11th time prepared a summer camp for 36 children.
Airspace protection (30 August) The State Secretaries of the Slovak, Czech and Swedish Ministries of Defence – respectively, Miloš Koterec, Daniel Koštoval and Carl von der Esch – signed a declaration of trilateral cooperation on the use of multipurpose tactical aircraft. “The fulfilment of the declaration on cooperation among Slovakia, the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden will, above all, pave the way for implementing the project of joint Czecho-Slovak airspace protection.” Under the scheme, Czech Gripen fighter jets and Slovak MiG-29 fighter aircraft will be allowed to operate from the air bases located in both countries under the NATINADS system. Thus, realistically, it will be possible for Czech Gripen fighter jets to operate and conduct missions from Sliač AFB, which complies with all NATO standards today,” explained Miloš Koterec, the SVK MOD’s State Secretary. He added that “Phase 1 relies on the use of aircraft currently in service. After 2016, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have set out to operate the same type of fighter aircraft. This move is meant to significantly cut down the financial costs of both countries in the field of logistics and training and to strengthen the interoperability between the SVK and CZ Air Force within NATO.”
Maj Gen Umbarger in Slovakia (28 August) Maj Gen Roy Martin Umbarger, Adjutant General of the Indiana National Guard, with which the Slovak Armed Forces have been cooperating for twenty years, accepted the invitation of the Chief of the General Staff, Lt Gen Milan Maxim to visit Slovakia. His visit to the General Staff in Bratislava began with discussions over the issues involving joint activities of both militaries. During a 3-day visit, Maj Gen Umbarger took part in the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica. The other days he visited the Slovak International Air Fest (SIAF) 2014 at Sliač AFB and met with the representatives of the Generals Club of the Slovak Republic.
CIS experts test interoperability (25 August) The Germany-based Grafenwoehr Military Training Area, operated by the U.S. Army, has been hosting Exercise Combined Endeavor 2014, the 20th international exercise testing the interoperability of automated command and control systems. A total of 23 NATO countries, 14 Partnership of Peace (PfP) countries and 3 international organizations are taking part in the event this year. The Slovak Republic, through their military communication and information system (CIS) specialists, has participated in the exercise every year. The SVK Armed Forces are represented on the exercise´s main operational base by members of the Mobile CIS Base, Stationary CIS Base, 5th Special Operations Regiment, Land Forces HQ, led by a member of the SVK General Staff. Throughout Slovakia, Combined Endeavor and Slovak Endeavor have brought together exercising troops from the Mobile CIS Base, 13th Mechanized Battalion Levice, 1st Mechanized Brigade Topoľčany, Chemical, Biological, Radiological
eBULLETIN MoD SR
(CBR) Protection Battalion Rožňava, 2nd Mechanized Brigade Prešov, members of the SVK Air Force, involving the Command, Control and Surveillance Brigade Zvolen, Air Defence Missile Brigade Nitra, Helicopter Wing Prešov, Rocket Launcher Detachment Rožňava, and members of the 5th Special Operations Regiment Žilina. The exercise is scheduled to finish on 12 September.
August 25. - 31, 2014