(15 October) The SVK MOD plans to present the village of Gajary with the light permanent bunkers, which are situated in its territory. For the Ministry of Defence it is a surplus property and will not be used anymore. The village of Gajary had showed its interest in turning the objects into an attraction for tourists. Government authorized the transfer of the property without pecuniary consideration. “The bunkers belong to the history of our village and we have been interested in them for several years. However, there was never an opportunity to rent them in the long term or to obtain the ownership. Finally, our dream came true. In co-operation with the Military History Institute, we would like to position information boards near those bunkers, which are located near cycle routes,” informed the Mayor of Gajary, Peter Tydlitát, who is interested in increasing the visibility of such defence objects, which are built on the extravillan lands of the village. The village’s citizens want to take care of the bunkers and maintain them. According to the SVK Minister of Defence Martin Glváč, the MOD’s interest is that the bunkers serve the citizens. “We will support all municipalities which would like to handle this type of redundant objects. The two Bratislava bunkers are a shining example of what can be done with such seemingly unused objects, if the zeal for history is present,” briefed the SVK Minister of Defence. The SVK Government also authorized the transfer of the light permanent bunkers near the village of Zohor without pecuniary consideration.
● On 19 October, in the presence of the SVK Land Forces Commander Brig Gen Ondřej Novosad the multinational exercise Ground Pepper 2014 held in the Training area of the military district Lešť reached its final stage. The exercise saw members of the armed forces from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the US training together. Simultaneously, the exercise moved through the final stage in the Military training area Kamenica nad Cirochou in Eastern Slovakia, in the presence of Chief of the General Staff of the SVK Armed Forces Lt Gen Milan Maxim, who watched the performance of the special forces, namely that of the members of the 5th Special Forces Regiment Žilina.
Soldiers train in a new way (16 October) The ongoing interna onal military exercise Ground Pepper 2014 is already the third unplanned exercise organized this year. “Unplanned exercises of such an extent are an innova on to our Armed Forces. We consider them to be the best way to reveal imperfec ons and, at the same me, to improve. They are a proof of our capability to respond promptly to changes in the field of defence,” stated the Minister of Defence Mar n Glváč. A er more than eight years, on the Defence Minister’s ini a ve, the approach to trainings is changing, for since the transforma on of the army into a fully professional organiza on, there were organized only planned exercises. According to the 2nd Vice-Chief of the General Staff, Maj Gen Pavel Macko, the unplanned exercises are the best tool to test the efficiency of previous trainings. “We do not inform the soldiers beforehand. They have to respond crea vely and flexibly to the emerged situaon, which will put their readiness to the test. That way, the SVK Armed Forces are being examined from top to bo om,” briefed Macko. He added that the unannounced exercises are an excellent supplement to the standard military exercises. In this manner, the SVK Armed Forces are gaining informa on on what to improve, and if necessary, they are able to respond more promptly to the changing security situa on. “Our servicemen and women are well prepared and highly mo vated, so I am excep onally sa sfied. Due to the authen city of the exercise, it was difficult for them to dis nguish, whether they were being deployed or only training. That is exactly the goal of a good exercise. However, some imperfec ons have showed up in the state of equipment. To preserve a high standard, we need reliable equipment. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that the situa on is ge ng be er,” remarked Maj Gen Pavel Macko. In his words, the unplanned exercises have brought a lot of lessons learned and the SVK Armed Forces should con nue to organize them in the future as well.
● On 13 October, the gate of the Training battalion opened for the last time in 2014 for 129 candidates to the preparatory state service and for 30 graduates of the civilian universities, who will undergo the basic military training and for whom the barracks of the 4th Czechoslovak brigade Martin will become home for a period of the nine upcoming weeks. 22 of the candidates and graduates are females. Having undergone the initial procedure and being issued the requisite equipment in the Regional centre for military clothing and equipment at the Multifunctional Supply Base West in Nemšová, the cadets were assigned to the training squads to start their training. Once they successfully undergo the training, a graduation ceremony will be held for them in December 2014.
EUMC Informal Meeting
(17 October) On 15 – 16 October 2014, an informal meeting of the EU Military Committee was held in Florence. The Slovak Republic was represented by Head of the Office of Military Representative of the SR Maj Gen Miroslav Kocian. The military representatives were welcomed by the Italian Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli. In the discussion took part Gen Vincenzo Camporini, the former Italian Chief of the Defence Staff. The former Italian Minister of Defence Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola made a notable contribution to the debate on current military capabilities. The informal part of the negotiation focused on the issue of implementation of Art. 44 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), on a possible contribution of a military entity to the building and development of capacities within the common security and defence policy of the EU and on forms of remuneration of both the civilian and military personnel deployed in EU missions and operations. Conclusions of the discussion will serve as a starting point for devising the documents for the upcoming EUMC meeting at CHOD level, which is to be held on 12 – 13 November in Brussels.
● On 15 October, 34 course graduates and newly recruited members of the basic military training company, 4 professional soldiers of the home unit and 1 civilian employee donated blood on the premises of the Training battalion based in Martin. Blood donation in the Training battalion is organized four times a year, usually one week after the basic military training of candidates to the preparatory state service starts, in cooperation with the National Blood Centre – workplace Martin and with members of the dressing station of the Training battalion. ● On 7 – 10 October, the next one of the series of the TATRA FREEDOM exercise dubbed TATRA FREEDOM FULL SCALE 05/14 was held at the Command, control and reconnaissance brigade based in Zvolen. The primary focus of the exercise was on practicing the course of action to take in standard and contingency situations that may arise while conducting aerial operations at peacetime, in a crisis and at war. The purpose of the exercise was to put the logistic support of the units to the test, as well as defence of forces and protection of assets, and procedures of moving to the state of readiness under the conditions of a rapidly deteriorating situation. Live flights (LIVEX) were also part of the exercise and were organized on 7 – 8 October in cooperation with a combined wing Sliač and transportation wing Kuchyňa. Under real-life conditions, the MiG-29 aircraft practiced a rapid response aimed at engaging an aerial target. The exercise saw the members of the SVK Air Force HQ actively taking part in the training together with the members of the NATO senior level Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) Uedem.
Training of Firefighters
On 7 – 8 October 2014, pilots from the helicopter wing Prešov and firefighters from the military firefighting unit underwent training focused on the water filling technology to be used with BAMBI buckets, with the aim to master the activities of aerial firefighting in forests and in a wild nature. They practiced guiding a helicopter to the site intended for the filling up of the bucket with a capacity of two thousand litres as quickly as possible, so that the helicopter would not hover in the air for far too long. Despite a strong wind the firefighters managed to fill up thirty two BAMBI buckets and gained lots of experience. On 10 October, members of the military firefighting unit of the Prešovbased wing of Col Gen Ján Ambruš underwent also training aimed at mastering the techniques of fast roping from SAR helicopter Mi-17.
GROUND PEPPER 2014: Slovak tanks again in action
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(19 October) Thanks to the international military exercise Ground Pepper 2014, the SVK tanks operate in the field again. Though during the previous years a primary focus was on conservation of the tanks rather than on their deployment in training areas, thanks to the military exercise, that has not been in Slovakia for a long time, the tanks proved to be an integral part of the SVK Armed Forces. The intention of the previous leadership of the SVK MOD was to have the tanks decommissioned and subsequently make them disappear from the inventory. The current Defence Minister Martin Glváč is of a different opinion: “If you have no alternative for your only firepower, it is a real hazard with the state security to cause it to be nullified. The situation in Ukraine stands for my point. The global security situation is constantly changing. I do not want to imagine a situation when a citizen asked me whether the security of our territory was guaranteed, and I
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would have to answer ‘NO’, for there was absolutely no firepower. Our predecessors did not think of it at all.” Martin Glváč emphasized that phasing out capabilities is the easiest solution to balance a poor financial situation of the Department. “We, unlike our predecessors, do not want to follow this path. Once you abolish any capability, the same would be extremely difficult to substitute in the future, and in some cases it may even be impossible.” At the Lešť Training Area, co-operating with the Slovak-Polish mechanized units, a Slovak tank platoon put up a flawless defence against a simulated attack of a NATO member state. By their combat action, they managed to push the adversary out of the occupied territory. “Exactly this kind of test of the Armed Forces’ performance in a modern, highintensity conflict shows the need to retain the tank capability. Nowadays, the tank firepower is irreplaceable,” briefed the Chief of the General Staff Maxim.
October 13 - 19, 2014