Non-Commissioned Officers Look Back (December 10) „You are the backbone of the Armed Forces,“ said the Chief of the General Staff of the AF of the SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek to non-commissioned officers at the specialist meeting of the Chief Non-Commissioned Officer of the AF of the SR in the premises of the Air Force Headquarters in Zvolen. He noted that the current system of the operation of the Non-commissioned Corps, which have been in formation since 2005, have turned out to be the right path to take. The Chief of the GS appreciated the contribution of the first Chief NonCommissioned Officer Sergeant Major Rastislav Macejko and his successors Sergeant Major Richard Fabrícius and Sergeant Master Vladimír Beluš. The Chief Non-Commissioned Officer Vladimír Beluš turned everyone’s attention to the tasks ahead in 2014. General Vojtek presented a badge to the “Best Non-Commissioned Officer of the AF of the SR in 2013” Master Sergeant Jaroslav Melega from the Battalion based in Martin, and appreciated the work of other commanding non-commissioned officers from the entire Armed Forces. ● On Monday, 9 December, the Commander of the Air Force of the AF SR Brigadier General Miroslav Korba met with the Commander of the Hungarian Air Force Brigadier General Albert Sáfár in the premises of the Command HQ of the Slovak Air Force in Zvolen. They addressed the issue of cooperation in the field of cross-border operations, in particular the possibilities of the joint training, exchange of information and experience gained in NATINADS. Brigadier General Sáfár evinced an interest in a potential usage of the Slovak simulator Mi-17. ● In the Club of MoD SR, a meeting of metrologists working for the defence department was held. Ing. Imrich Repka, the Chief Metrologist of the MoD SR, assessed the performance of tasks and briefed the participants on preparation and development of a new directive on metrology service and on the main tasks for the training year 2014. Major Ing. Peter Slovák, Deputy Commander of the Logistics Institute of Metrology and Testing, evaluated the metrology practice in a laboratory dealing with calibration of measuring instruments for the defence department. In the end, Ing. Jozef Lacuška, Director of OdDČIP ÚRŠSS at MoD SR, for the first time presented the award METROLOGIST OF YEAR 2013. The award went to the seasoned employee Ing. Peter Móric, serving in the military unit 4070 Žilina. The selected employees and soldiers were presented with certificates of appreciation.
Veterans in Hall of Fame
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(December 11) Minister of Defence of the SR Mar!n Glváč introduced Þve modern veterans to the Hall of Fame at the tradi!onal ceremony in the Slovak Na!onal Theatre. Capt. Stanislav Sikel, Lt. Col. (ret.) Peter Džurdženík, Maj. Jozef Michalov, Msg. Marián Lenčeš, and Sgt. Szabolcs Očkai received awards for excep!onal ac!ons that went down in the modern history of the Defence Department. „You represent us in an excellent manner not only in our country, but abroad as well. I am glad that your work is greatly appreciated at each mee!ng also by our foreign partners,“ said the Head of the Department. He thanked all civil employees of the Department and professional soldiers for their work throughout the year. The tradi!on of the induc!on of the selected modern veterans to the Defence Ministry’s Hall of Fame started in 2010. Including this year’s veterans, there are already 18 soldiers listed in the Hall of Fame. To date, we have more than 6,500 modern veterans in Slovakia. Since 1993, 16,497 Slovak soldiers, out of them 199 women, have rotated in 30 missions. As the Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek stated, only the best can be introduced to the Hall of Fame: “I am always glad, when you all return home safe and sound. It is an honour for me to serve with you.” All of the a$endees at the mee!ng honoured the memory of Staff Sergeant Daniel Kavuliak, who died during the a$ack on Slovak soldiers in Afghanistan in July this year. They commemorated also the other 54 colleagues who had perished in service abroad. The Minister announced the 17th Annual Military Deed of the Year 2013 at the ceremony. Anyone who knows about extraordinary deeds of soldiers or civil employees of the Defence Department done in 2013 can send sugges!ons to one of the following categories: Lifesaving, Help to the Public and Friend of the Armed Forces.
Preparation for Year 2014
(December 10) Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek endorsed and approved the Directive on Preparation of Troops as the main planning document of the Armed Forces in 2014. It defines the course which the planning process should take in the Armed Forces in the training year 2014. Year 2014 will be particularly significant in terms of termination of ISAF operation and transition to the new Resolute Support Mission. Equally, the important organizational changes are taking place with the aim to optimize the command structure and structure on the level of units. The top priorities like performing operational tasks in NATO Integrated Air Defence System or performing tasks in operations and missions of the international crisis management remain unchanged. In 2014, the main goal of the preparation of the AF SR will be to build up, develop and enhance military specialized knowledge and preparedness of every individual soldier, as well as their resilience, endurance and perseverance, and to build up and enhance their physical fitness and to stimulate their social, moral, intellectual and cultural development.
● On 9 December, members of the Transportation Battalion Hlohovec met with clients of the social service facility for children and adults in Pastuchov to celebrate St. Nicholas and present the sweets. The Commander of the battalion Lieutenant Colonel Zuzana Kraushuberová presented the Director of the facility Mária Grznárová with a symbolic cheque amounting to EUR 500, which is the amount that the members of the battalion had collected as a voluntary donation. ● On 11 December, the language exams started at the Language Institute of the GS of the AF SR in Liptovský Mikuláš, headed by Lt. Col. Ing. Patrik Adamec. The exams were organized for the graduates of the intensive English and French language STANAG courses on levels SLP 1, SLP 2 and SLP 3. Altogether 137 participants took the examination. The results of the exam reflect the effort they had put in during the 4 and 5month courses run by the individual sections of the language preparation of the Language Institute of the GS of the AF SR based in Liptovský Mikuláš, Zvolen, Trenčín and Prešov. ● On 10 December, in the presence of members of the Logistic Support Battalion Topoľčany, a social science workshop was held, dealing with the issue of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Crime Prevention. The first part of the lecture was focused on fight against drugs and drug addiction. In the second part, the lecture dealt with the issue of fighting the extremism and included presentation of symbols and illegal activities of the followers of the extremist groups. In the end, the participants were briefed on weapon handling related problems and concerns, as well as on concerns linked with the handling and disposal of explosives and other dangerous materiel.
Castle Guard Celebrations
On 6 December, a parade show of the Castle Guard was held in the courtyard of the Prague Castle on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the aforementioned Corps. Besides important military and political figures, the ceremony was attended by representatives of the Military Office of the President of the SR, and members of the Guard of Honour of the President of the SR under the command of Colonel Miroslav Ištván. The highlight of the ceremony was the awarding of military decorations. The Commemorative Badge of the Castle Guard was presented to the Chief of the Military Office of the President of the SR Lieutenant General Marián Áč.
SUAF Has a Stabile Partner in the Ministry of Defence
(December 10) State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the SR Miloš Koterec and representatives from the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters (SUAF) evaluated their cooperation as very good and mutually fruitful. The State Secretary appreciated the work of the Union’s members through which they help strengthen the traditions of antifascist resistance and secure appropriate social status for the veterans of the fight against fascism. Together with the Chairman of the SUAF Pavol Sečkár, they discussed about the possibilities of further cooperation with respect to the upcoming 70th Anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising, the Carpatho-Dukla Offensive and the liberation. As a token of gratitude, Pavol Sečkár awarded the M.R. Štefánik Commemorative Medal, 1st class (gold), to State Secretary Miloš Koterec for his long-term cooperation and involvement in the Union’s matters.
eBULLETIN MoD SR
December 9 - 15, 2013