Session of Military Council of Chief of General Staff of AF SR
(February 18) The first negotiation of the Military Council of Chief of the General Staff of AF SR was held on 18 February in the premises of the Garrison Club of the HQ of the 1st mechanized brigade in Topoľčany, under the lead of the 1st Deputy ChoD Lieutenant General Ing. Peter Gajdoš. The Commander of the TSF Colonel of the GS Martin Stoklasa introduced to the members of the Military Council the concept of development of capabilities of training units and the Commander of the AF Brigadier General Ing. Miroslav Korba introduced the concept of development of the Air Force. The both concepts were submitted in compliance with the conclusions of the White Paper on Defence, with the aim to develop the Plan of development of the Department of Defence with a view to 2024. Ing. Jozef Drozd, Director of the Central Logistics Office of MoD SR gave a presentation focused on powers and competencies, on the role and tasks of the CLO. The participants had an opportunity to see practical demonstrations of duty service on the level of brigade and special fitness training in units of 1st mb. The second session of the Military Council of Chief of the General Staff of the SR will be held in March. ● The mechanized brigade Prešov performs an important task to select, train and deploy a reserve unit to the operation ALTHEA, as required. The mechanized battalion Michalovce, which has been earmarked as a reserve force of NATO Response Forces for 2014 – 2015 and some of whose units are preparing to perform tasks of NRF 2015, will from 1 May until the end of the year be ready to deploy a declared rapid reaction unit equipped with the light equipment to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The key personnel underwent their training on 17 – 21 February in the training unit Martin. The intensive preparation and training of the whole contribution will be held in the second half of April and will be completed by a tactical exercise.
Congratulations to A. Žampa (February 22) The Minister of Defence of the SR Marn Glváč congratulated Adam Žampa, an alpine ski racer from the Military Sports Centre Dukla Banská Bystrica, on a spectacular success at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Žampa had already placed 5th in the super combina on and ended 6th on 22 February in men’s slalom, having the best me in the 2nd run again. „Adam put in an excellent performance and I am glad that we have a sportsman in the Military Sports Centre who is in such a great form and who has such an enormous poten al. Unfortunately, he missed out on medal but I do believe that in four years he will reach for a medal again, “said the Head of the Department of Defence. The alpine ski racer Adam Žampa has been a member of the Military Sports Centre Dukla Banská Bystrica since June 2010. So far he has won 2nd place in slalom and 9th place in giant slalom at the Winter Universiade in December 2013. Last week he notched up an unprecedented success, having ended in the 5th place in the super combina on at the Olympics.
Sixth in Biathlon Relay Race
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(February 19) The sportsmen from MSC Dukla Banská Bystrica, Jana Gereková, Anastasia Kuzmina, Pavol Hurajt and Matej Kazár confirmed that they do belong to the top in the world. At the Sochi Olympic Games they finished in sixth place in biathlon mixed relay, which is an excellent result. The Minister of Defence Mar n Glváč congratulated them on their success: “Sportsmen from MSC Dukla Banská Bystrica tradi onally belong among the best Slovak sportsmen, stamping themselves as favourites when they finished in an excellent place in biathlon mixed relay.” The biathlon mixed relay race was held for the first me at the Olympics, before only women’s biathlon relay and men’s biathlon relay were held.
● On 19 February, a command meeting called by a commander of the Training and Support Forces (TSF) was held in the presence of the Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant General Peter Vojtek, who was accompanied by the Chief NonCommissioned Officer of the AF SR Sergeant Major Vladimír Beluš and by Major Gen. (Ret.) Marián Mikluš. The Commander of the TSF Col. of the GS Martin Stoklasa evaluated performance of tasks and achievement of goals in 2013 and introduced the goals and a plan of the tasks for this training year. For the noncommissioned officers’ corps, the performance of tasks was evaluated by the commanding non-commissioned officer from the TSF Sergeant Major Ján Brda. In the end, the Commander of the TSF presented the members of TSF with awards and commemorative badges.
State Secretary in Hungary
(February 18) The State Secretary of the MoD SR Miloš Koterec met with the Parliamentary State Secretary of MoD of Hungary Tamás Vargha in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. The State Secretaries chair the Joint Slovak – Hungarian Commission for military and other security policy issues. They assessed cooperation in the field of defence, namely in terms of performance of tasks resulting from the last session of the Commission. They concurred on the need for enhanced cooperation in the field of Air Force, training, education and military history. The State Secretary appreciated cooperation in the field of national crisis management: “The project Tisa is an outcome of the above standard international military cooperation, which not only serves as a guarantee of providing assistance to citizens in terms of flood prevention as well as in terms of mitigating potential consequences, but it also significantly contributes to the development of friendly relations between the countries in our region.”
● On 18 – 20 February, the Section of training, education and specialized preparation of the Division of specialized medical and veterinary activities of the Surgeon General Office Ružomberok, with a workplace in Liptovský Mikuláš, organized a first aid course, with a focus on dressing techniques and CPR. ● On 19 – 20 February, in the presence of the Chief of the General Staff of the AF SR Lieutenant general Peter Vojtek, the Commander of the Land Forces of the AF SR Brigadier General Ondřej Novosad evaluated performance of the main tasks of the Land Forces in the training year 2013. Major Gen. (Ret.) Marián Mikluš, Head of the regional group North of the Club of Generals, accompanied by the Chief Non-Commissioned Officer of the AF SR Sergeant Major Vladimír Beluš attended the joint general part of the evaluation. Next day, the meeting moved to its second stage, taking place in the premises of the Multifunctional Supply Base – West in Nemšová. ● On 17 – 21 February, the members of battalions Martin, Nitra and Levice underwent the basic training aimed at gaining knowledge in the field of chemical, biological and radiological protection (CBRN) and in the field of non-military incidents in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations in force. ● The Commander of the 21st mixed mechanized battalion (21 mmb) Trebišov Lieutenant Colonel Robert Funtaľ met on 18 February with the members of the 10th advanced tactical and staff officers’ course. He briefed them on the tasks ahead resulting from the force goals set for the 21st mixed mechanized battalion group. The course participants were given an opportunity to see the main combat equipment and weapons, to include the tank simulator T/71. The course participants concluded the visit by a working lunch.
Ministerial Meeting in Athens
(February 21) Informal negotiation of Defence Ministers was held in Athens. They addressed the issue of the joint engagement in regions (the Horn of Africa, Sahel). Referring to a deteriorating security conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they discussed the potential impacts on the ALTHEA operation. The State Secretary Koterec, being a leader of the delegation of MoD SR, emphasized the long-term effort of the Slovak Republic to seek closer cooperation between the EU and NATO in the field of strengthening the security and defence in Europe, as well as cooperation in the field of defence planning and incentives of projects in the field of defence cooperation. The crucial issue raised during the negotiation was security situation in the Central African Republic and preparation for EUFOR RCA operation. MoD SR views preparation of the meeting in Athens and the meeting itself as an opportunity to obtain knowledge that would be useful in terms of preparation for the Slovak presidency in 2016.
Slovak Soldier to Serve at the Operational HQ EU RCA
(February 17) The State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the SR Miloš Koterec and the French Ambassador Didier Lopinot discussed the current security situation in the Central African Republic. For the time being, the engagement of the Slovak Republic will be limited to deploying one member of the Armed Forces of the SR to the Operational Headquarters of EUFOR RCA. The operational Headquarters of the mission is based in Larissa, Greece. The conduct of the military operation EUFOR RCA is based on the UN Resolution and on resolution of the EU Council. The operation is supposed to be a temporary one and is aimed at creating security environment in the vicinity of the capital and at creating conditions that would enable humanitarian activities to be carried out in cooperation with the African Union and France. The French Major General Philippe
eBULLETIN MoD SR
Ponties has been appointed the Operational Commander and coordinates the whole planning process. The appointed member of our Armed Forces is supposed to occupy his position for six months.
February 17. - 23, 2014