SVK Minister of Defence participates in Skýcov – Zlatno march (22 August) The SVK Minister of Defence, Martin Glváč participated in the hiking march through the Educational Partisan Trail Skýcov – Zlatno. Together with other participants, he paid tribute and gratitude to the soldiers and partisans, who died in the Slovak National Uprising (SNU) 71 years ago. After laying down wreaths at the SNU Memorial in Skýcov, the participants together with the minister embarked on a 12-kilometer-long educational trail. The remembrance ceremony culminated in the wreath laying ceremony at the SNU Memorial in Zlatno, where the participants were joined by Peter Pellegrini, Chairman of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. In the presence of both guests, a memorial plaque, dedicated to the memory of 11 Zlatno citizens who died in the WWII, was unveiled at the municipal authority. The SVK Minister of Defence presented a medal to 10-year-old Dávid, who was the first to get to the finish, and at the same time, this was his tenth participation in the march. The minister did not forget about Ján Husák, direct participant of the SNU and founder of the hiking march, either. “I do appreciate every effort to familiarize the younger generation with the Slovak National Uprising,” stated Glváč. ● On Wednesday, 19 August, the SVK AF Commander, Brig Miroslav Korba welcomed the Defence Attaché of the Federal Republic of Germany, Lt Col Rüdiger Heinrich. They talked about the possibility of further cooperation. Then, together with Col Vladimír Lisý, GS, they visited Sliač Combined Wing, which prepared a manifold programme – multimedia presentation of the base, demonstrations of flight simulators, as well as static displays of aircraft. ● Chief of the SVK General Staff, Lt Gen Milan Maxim met with the President of the Union of Soldiers of the Slovak Republic, Tomáš Švec. The meeting saw also Lt Gen (Ret.) Peter Vojtek, Union’s Vice-President; Col (Ret.) Ján Paulech, 2nd Vice-President; and Lt Col (Ret.) Peter Zelizňák, Union’s Secretary. Tomáš Švec informed the Chief of the SVK General Staff about the current activities and changes in the Union. They also discussed the new bill on state service of professional soldiers of the SVK AF, which is currently under review of the committees of the National Council of the SR.
Forthcoming Slovak Shield 2015
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(19. August) The Slovak soldiers are preparing for the biggest ever international exercise in a modern history of the armed forces. Nearly 4 000 troops will practice complex training tasks related to both military and non-military threats during the fourth stage of the exercise Slovak Shield to be held in autumn. Part of the exercise, which has been planned in a long-term, will be movement of the equipment on road communications in the whole Slovak Republic. “This is intended to be continuation of the international exercise Ground Pepper, which was held last year in the training areas Lešť and Kamenica nad Cirochou. Nevertheless, the scope of the present exercise will be much broader,” said SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč. According to the Head of Defence Department, within the past three years the number of the exercises organized in the armed forces, to include the unscheduled ones, has increased. “We are doing our best to ensure that the soldiers are adequately prepared and ready to cope with the crisis situations,” emphasized the Minister. According to Chief of the SVK General Staff Lt Gen Milan Maxim, this year’s preparation of the Slovak troops on the territory of Slovakia will reach its peak in September. “We launched the series of exercises Slovak Shield in the beginning of this year. It has four stages and we practice various activities and scenarios of deployment of the armed forces under the Slovak law,” he explained. He further stated that during the 4th stage, the troops will train side-by-side with the soldiers from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the United States and with the observers from some other countries like Germany or Turkey. In the course of the exercise, several movements of the equipment and vehicles will be organized, which poses a unique opportunity for the soldiers to practice also these capabilities. “It is nothing exceptional or unusual for us. Transportation and movement belong to the standard training activities,” stated SVK CHoD. On the road, the citizens will have a chance to watch the movement of the anti-aircraft missile system S-300, which was not a commonplace before. Part of the exercise Slovak Shield will be movement of the US troops through the territory of Slovakia to Hungary, within the so-called Dragoon Crossing. It cannot be ruled out that, in the future, troops would rehearse also the other types of movement, be that by air or by rail.
● On the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops, a commemorative ceremony took place on Friday, 21 August, at the Šafárikovo Square in Bratislava. It was organized by the Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia in cooperation with the Comenius University, Bratislava. The gathering, which took place at the memorial plaque dedicated to victims and is situated on the building of the Comenius University, started in the morning with the wreath laying ceremony at the spot where three people were shot in 1968 by the occupational troops. The profound dignity of the event was underlined by the Honour Guard of the SVK Armed Forces and Bratislava Military Music.. ● On 6 – 21 August, members of Martin-based Repair and Maintenance Battalion participated in technical and specialized assistance with digitalization of the collection items in the inventory of the Military History Museum in Piešťany. They primarily focused on necessary repairs of the antiquated equipment and its conservation. They spent for more than 1 400 hours restoring more than 150 pieces of equipment. ● On 19 – 20 August, a complex staff rehearsal entitled the 21st Combined Mechanized Battalion (CMB) while conducting defence took place at Veľké Ozerovce Garrison Ground under the auspices of the 21st Combined Mechanized Battalion Trebišov Commander, Lt Col Róbert Funtaľ. Its goal was to drill and coordinate staff members of the 21st CMB with members of the attached units in the planning process. The complex staff rehearsal was one of the last possibilities to prepare for a certification exercise, which will be held at the turn of September and October at the Training Centre Lešť.
Minister appreciates help (18 August) The SVK Minister of Defence, Martin Glváč welcomed to the SVK MoD Hana Blažejová, Vladimír Šulko and Peter Korba – the first people to help directly at the spot where the Mi-17 military helicopter crashed near the city of Prešov. “I appreciate your courage that helped to save lives, and I would like to express my gratitude to you for your help,” stated Martin Glváč. He awarded Hana Blažejová, Vladimír Šulko and Peter Korba with the SVK Minister of Defence Commemorative Medal, 3rd Class. Vladimír Šulko was the first one at the crash site. “We were just descending from the mountains when I heard a loud noise. I was not afraid that the helicopter could explode, I rushed to take the pilot out of it,” stated Vladimír Šulko, who was assisted by Hana Blažejová. “I went out of a forest, and there was the helicopter and my partner waving at me. He had already taken the pilot out and I helped him to carry the man away, since the helicopter started to explode. I did not even realize the fear,” added Ms Blažejová. “I would like to thank the SVK MoD for the medal, but I have to say that in my case the sorrow is stronger, since I personally knew the pilots and the flight engineer. We were close friends with the deceased pilot, so it is logical that the sorrow is stronger. Anyway, thank you again,” said Peter Korba, who turned off the helicopter motors immediately after he arrived at the spot of the accident. The Mi-17 helicopter took off at 1:30 pm from Prešov AFB. The 3-member crew were practicing landing in the field, when the control tower lost connection with them shortly after 2 pm. Capt Richard Sépi, 2nd pilot, died in the accident, the other two were seriously injured and transported to hospitals.
● During the ceremonial muster at Hlohovec Garrison, Lt Col Zuzana Kraushuberová handed over the post of the Transportation Battalion (TB) Commander to the current TB Deputy Commander, Maj Alexej Kudrjavcev. Lt Col Kraushuberová has served at Hlohovec Garrison since 2000 in the position of the TB Chief of Staff, TB Deputy Commander, and TB Commander – as the first woman in a commanding position at a combat battalion ever. She will use the experience and lessons learned as the SVK Armed Forces Command Support Battalion Commander.
Bill on state service of professional soldiers introduced (21. August) The round of visits by SVK CHoD Lt Gen Milan Maxim and the representatives of the General Staff, to include Director General of the Human Resources Department at the SVK MoD JUDr. Eleonóra Kišová, and members of the Personnel Management Division of the Operations Support Staff at the General Staff to the individual units and formations of the SVK Armed Forces has come to an end. In the selected garrisons, they introduced the soldiers to the process of preparation of the new Act on State Service of Professional soldiers and introduced the aim of said Act and informed the soldiers of its selected provisions. Chief of the General Staff advised the most significant and positive change – simplification of the processes in the field of personnel management. Management of the military personnel will become more flexible and transparent. According to what he said, the housing allowance will be preserved in a form of the socalled stabilization allowance, and salaries of professional soldiers will be reviewed and adjusted with regard to a rank with a view to the fact that the permanent state service has been introduced. However,
eBULLETIN MoD SR
the allowance for deployment to a training area will be cancelled. The changes as proposed in the new bill are intended to create better conditions to ensure stabilization of the personnel. In comparison to the original bill submitted to the SVK National Council, primarily those conditions are to be reviewed that affect the performance of professional soldiers, namely in the field of discipline, or terms and conditions applying to the visits of soldiers’ families. The aim of Chief of the General Staff Milan Maxim and his delegation was to inform, to respond to the enquiries and explain the aspects that are not completely clear to the members of the SVK Armed Forces. The delegation made visits to the garrisons in Michalovce, Prešov, Bratislava, Zvolen, Martin,Trenčín and Nitra. More than 1 200 members of the SVK Armed Forces attended the meetings. Chief of the General Staff Lt Gen Milan Maxim believes that those who have attended the discussions will give a proper and true construction of the Act when talking to their colleagues, so that no ambiguities would occur from the lack of information.
August 17 - 23, 2015