Lieutenant General Maxim visits Indiana
(2 June) Based on the invitation of the Indiana National Guard Adjutant General, the Chief of the SVK General Staff visited the USA on 28 May – 2 June. Together with State Secretary Miloš Koterec and the SVK Armed forces delegation, he attended the National Guard change of command ceremony. Maj Gen R. Martin Umbarger retired on 30 May, after 17 years in the office, which is now occupied by Brig Courtney P. Carr. On this occasion, Lt Gen Maxim awarded Maj Gen R. Umbarger the Chief of the SVK General Staff Commemorative Medal 1st Class. The Indiana National Guard has been a partner of the SVK Armed Forces for 21 years. Maj Gen R. Umbarger has personally contributed to development of relations between Slovakia and Indiana, for which he was declared a honorary citizen of Bratislava in 2011. As a sign of recognition of merit in strengthening partnership between Slovakia and Indiana, Indiana Governor Mike Pence bestowed an Indiana honorary citizenship upon the Chief of the SVK General Staff. The Indiana National Guard Adjutant General awarded the State Secretary Miloš Koterec with the Indiana Commendation Medal for an extraordinarily fruitful co-operation with the SVK MOD. The Slovak delegation was given the opportunity to view the capabilities of the UH-60 Blackhawk and the UH-72 Lakota helicopters, which are part of the inventory of the 38th Combat Aviation Brigade, Indiana National Guard. The military part of the delegation participated in a shooting competition with the short firearm, in which they took up 2nd and 3rd places.
● On 3 June, in the Hall of Honour of the SVK General Staff in Bratislava, Chairman of the Slovak Association of Anti-fascist fighters (SAAF) Pavol Sečkár awarded Commemorative Medals of the SAAF to the sixteen professional soldiers for their dedicated effort for the further development. Among those awarded were: Lt Gen Milan Maxim, Chief of the General Staff, Lt Gen Marián Áč, Head of the Military Office of the President of the Slovak Republic, the both Deputy Chiefs of the SVK General Staff Lt Gen Peter Gajdoš and Maj Gen Pavel Macko, and other members of the SVK Armed Forces. ● On 26 May, members of the armed forces engaged in UNFICYP, Cyprus, Sector 4, donated blood in Famagusta State Hospital in the northern part of the divided island. 31 Slovak soldiers and 9 Serbian and 5 Hungarian soldiers joined the event Give Blood – Save Life, which was the fourth blood donation event organized by the Medical Centre team from Gen Štefánik Camp in Famagusta, under the lead of the medical doctor Lt Lucia Valkovičová, and at the same time, it was the second activity of its kind organized in the northern part of the island.
EDA chief executive in Bratislava (4 June) On Thursday, SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč and State Secretary of the SVK MOD Miloš Koterec met with Jorge Domecq, new Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), to discuss the advancement of preparations for the June European Council and Slovakia’s potential to join the EDA projects. According to the SVK Minister of Defence, Slovakia and the SVK MOD are ready to support intentions of the EDA and to strengthen the existing co-operation. “We will definitely support your initiatives. I believe that we shall start with small projects, and only then gradually add the bigger ones,” stated the minister and remarked that the V4 countries had been heading in different direction for several years. “That is why it is sometimes difficult to harmonize our development programs,” he explained. Martin Glváč also informed the EDA Chief Executive on current MOD modernization projects, which so far particularly concerned the Air Force. “Our current task is to continue the modernization of the Land Forces, especially with off-road vehicles 4x4 and 8x8,” stated the minister. He appreciated the fact that the defence companies produce again. “An excellent example of this trend are the military repair companies in Nováky, which we lease to strategic partners and which are able to offer their products to other countries as well.” The meeting was part of the series of visits Jorge Domecq has planned in the EDA member states after officially starting his term as the EDA Chief Executive.
Cooperation with Germany (5 June) Civil – military cooperation, relations between Slovakia and Germany, education and training, as well as the topical security issues – these are some of the issues raised at the meeting of Miloš Koterec, State Secretary of the SVK MOD and Ralf Brauksiepe, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence, which was held on Friday, 5 June. In the field of education and training, the Armed Forces Academy, based in Liptovský Mikuláš, co-operates with the Military Academy of Bundeswehr, based in Hamburg. „We are most interested in cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of training, also on the level of land forces,” added State Secretary Koterec. In the upcoming year, the Slovak Republic will for the first time preside over the European Union Council and Germany offered to provide its expertise during the Slovak Presidency.
● On 4 June, the full-area exercise aimed at effective cooperation and coordination, involving also the state administration bodies and the elements of the integrated rescue system of the Slovak Republic, was organized in the nuclear power plant Mochovce. Members of the SVK Armed Forces with the Tatrapan T1 vehicle rehearsed evacuation of employees, decontamination of the transportation equipment and decontamination of persons. The exercise put to the test the capabilities of the armed forces, namely in terms of a flexible response to the emergency situations falling under the domestic crisis management, as well as the possibilities of cooperation with the individual elements of the state administration and integrated rescue system. ● On 2 – 3 June, members of the Multifunctional Supply Base - West in Nemšová underwent training in the MTA Turecký vrch. On the first day, the focus was on the selected issues related to the tactical, engineering and medical preparation, whereas the second day of training was aimed at firing preparation. All the goals of the exercise were met, with the outcomes reflecting the level of preparedness and individual abilities of the involved troops, which is what we can build on when considering the next course of action to take in training in the future. ● On Friday, 29 May, a ceremonial parade was held on the premises of the 5th Special Forces Regiment in Žilina, which was a part of bidding farewell to the 37 members of the SVK Armed Forces to be deployed to the operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan. According to Pavel Macko, 2nd Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the SVK Armed Forces, the main task they are charged with will be to provide assistance and mentoring support to the Afghan armed forces in the field of training and to develop training programs, provide advice in the field of developing the architecture of the Afghan security forces. The commander of the SVK contingent reminded that, since 2002, there have been numerous rotations, and altogether approximately 3,600 Slovak troops have served in different locations in Afghanistan.
Transfer of command authority in Sereď (1 June) On 29 May, on the premises of the Engineering Battalion Sereď, a ceremony of handover and takeover of the command authority was held in the presence of Colonel of the General Staff Karol Navrátil. As of 1 June, Lt Col Ladislav Kisel, a former Deputy Chief of Staff of the SVK Land Forces Combat Support Brigade HQs, was appointed to the position of Commander of the Engineering Battalion. In the past, he had also served as Commander of the Training unit in Martin, which is charged with training of troops declared to military missions, and also as Commander of the SVK contingent serving in the operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The outgoing commander Dalibor Jelínek, who was promoted to the rank of Colonel, will take the position of Senior Military Advisor at the Combat Support Division of the Staff of Strategic Planning at the General Staff of the SVK Armed Forces in Bratislava. Except for the 2-year-service at the SVK Land Forces HQs and the six-month-service in ISAF, Afghanistan, he has spent all the twenty years of his military career in Sereď. He significantly contributed to the process of establishment of the Engineering Battalion in 2002.
Slovak soldiers start last stage of preparations for V4 battle group
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vak Challenge Exercise, the certification team will test capabilities of the declared units to serve in the multinational unit, which is to be on stand-by in the first half of 2016. “By finishing the training of our soldiers, who are part of the declared contribution to the V4 EU Battle Group, we will symbolically end our presidency, which we are going to hand over to our Czech partners on 1 July. I do believe that we will continue in dynamic co-operation (7 June) Slovak soldiers have started the last under their leadership as well,” stated SVK stage of preparations for their contribution to Minister of Defence Martin Glváč. the joint V4 EU Battle Group. Within the Slo- The Slovak contribution, with an overall
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strength of up to 560 soldiers, will consist of a mechanized company with its own logistics support platoon and dressing station, a CBRN company, a transport company, a tactical psychological team, a military police platoon, a movement control team and EOD team. In the field of CBRN defence, Slovakia will be the lead nation within the whole battle group. “Exercise Slovak Challenge is a culmination of our national preparations. It is symbolical that we will finish the national certification on the very same day that, in the presence of chiefs of defence in Starý Smokovec, I am
going to pass the V4 presidency to my Czech colleague. Thereby we will also enhance joint preparedness to respond to current security challenges,” said Milan Maxim, Chief of the SVK General Staff. The tactical Exercise Slovak Challenge with combat firing using the MILES 2000 simulation system will take place in Lešť on 15 – 19 June. The national training of the Slovak contribution will end on 30 June. Then the international training of the V4 EU Battle Group will follow, culminating in autumn in the certification exercise Common Challenge 2015.
June 1 - 7, 2015