Blue Sunbeam 2012 Three-weeks of preparations of our future blue berets culminated on July 4-5 in a certification exercise Blue Sunbeam 2012 held at the garrison training grounds on Kolíňanský vrch. The unit under assessment fulfilled typical tasks as required by real-life deployment in the UNFICYP peacekeeping operation. The following capabilities were verified: crowd control, voice procedures (radio communication in English on various levels of command), reporting system, patrolling (along with security zone monitoring), engineering and construction tasks. The importance of this verification exercise was further underlined by the attendance of the Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Peter Vojtek, who took great interest in inspecting the premises and the course of the verification exercise and expressed his full satisfaction after its conclusion.
How about a Spitfire? (July 3) The Slovak Republic has a stabile place in NATO, and the ac ons of its armed forces in interna onal opera ons - not only in ISAF but also in EUFOR ALTHEA in Bosnia, which is very important to the United Kingdom - are commendable, said the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Slovak Republic, H.E. Susannah Montgomery at a mee ng with the Defense Minister Mar n Glváč. Minister Glváč informed the UK Ambassador on plans for restructuring our contribu on to ISAF. Bilateral defense coopera on, more precisely the BMATT (Bri sh Military Advisory and Training Team), which the UK organizes at the Czech Military Academy in Vyškov, was also discussed at the mee ng. Minister Glváč also referred to the recently discovered 20 Bri sh Spi ire fighters that were buried during WWII in Burma to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. “Because our famous pilot O o Smik, whom our Air Wing in Sliač is named a er, fought in the RAF on the Spi ire, we are extremely interested in a long-term display of this aircra at the Military Historical Museum,” said Glváč. The Ambassador promised to look into the ma er.
● On July 4 representatives of the Joint Operations Center from the Czech Defense Ministry met with their counterparts from the Operations Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces in Bratislava. The Czech delegation was led by Brig. Gen. Jaroslav Kankia; the Slovak Armed Forces team was led by the Chief of Operations, Brig. Gen. Jindřich Joch. ● A delegation of seven U.S. Representatives visited Slovakia at the initiative of the U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic H.E. Theodore Sedgwick. One goal of the visit was to meet in person with Slovak explosive ordnance specialists who operated in the ISAF operation in Afghanistan. The U.S. delegation paid tribute to the work of Maj. Roland Bartakovics, Staff Sergeant Michal Mieres, Staff Sergeant Richard Veselka and Staff Sergeant Mário Rückschloss. The Slovak EOD team was awarded by Ambassador Sedgwick and Congressman Bill Shuster. ● As in the years past, also in 2012 the members of the Slovak Air Force collected charity money to donate to the children with severe or incurable illnesses in the Children´s Hospital in Banská Bystrica. The collected money was used to purchase gifts and equipment to aid creative work, which were handed over to the Director of the hospital´s elementary school.
Graduation Ceremony at AOS (July 3) The graduation ceremony of part-time study graduates at the Armed Forces Academy (AOS) of Gen. M.R. Štefánik culminated in a ceremonial vow. The AOS Rector Brig. Gen. Boris Ďurkech awarded graduation diplomas to 98 lieutenants, who have graduated their part-time study in the following accredited study programs: Electronic Systems, Weapons Systems, Weapons and their Parts, Management of Defense Resources. Two years ago the fresh graduates upon completion of their full-time Bachelor´s study at the Academy, became lieutenants, graduated from the Entry Officers´ Course, and worked in military units around Slovakia.
The French Connection (July 3) “France remains an important partner of the Slovak Republic, and we plan to cooperate even more closely in the future. We highly value the assistance, which the French Defense Ministry provides to the Slovak Republic in opera ng the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Center of Excellence in Trenčín,” said Defense Minister Mar n Glváč at a mee ng with the French Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, H.E. Jean-Marie Bruno. “We value Slovakia´s friendship and alliance within NATO and the European Union, and we rest assured that with the new leadership on both the Slovak and French poli cal scenes, this coopera on could flourish even more,” said H.E. Jean-Marie Bruno. Other topics of talks included regional cooperaon within the V4 group; the results of the recent NATO summit in Chicago and the decision of the French President Francois Holland on withdrawing French troops from the ISAF opera on in Afghanistan. In this regard minister Glváč welcomed the fact that French troops will remain in the country, although with a modified mandate. “I want to reiterate our pledge to fulfill our obliga ons agreed upon interna onally. We will honor the principle of “in together, out together”, but our goal is to transform the Slovak con ngent in Afghanistan as we have pledged repeatedly in various fora,” said the Slovak Defense Minister.
Using the form of a part-time study they have increased their qualifications, and in the words of Rector Ďurkech “have entered the pool of the Slovak Armed Forces´s future specialists”. The award for the best AOS graduate of the 2011/2012 academic year went to Lt. Marek Považan.
Government News (July 6) In September the Defense Ministry plans to deploy a two-member military police mentoring team to the ISAF operation in Afghanistan. The team should act as a part of the Czech MP mentoring team in the Wardak province. Among its tasks will be the teaching theory to the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police (ANP) troops, but also the fulfillment of specific police tasks and activities. The MoD informed the Cabinet on the plan in a report, which was noted by the Government. September appears in the report also with respect to the planned reconfiguration of the EUFOR Althea operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The change should include a decrease in the number of deployed troops. The number of mentioring and liaison specialists should drop from 33 to 24. Starting September, due to restructuring and other personnel changes, a total of up to 34 Slovak troops will continue in the EU-led operation. The MoD is also considering plans to contribute to regional rapid response forces for the Althea operation in 2013 - consisting of a mechanized company (120 troops) on stand-by for a period of one year. This is, however, conditioned on the allocation of funds in the amount of at least 586.000 EUR, which are currently neither programmed nor budgeted. Such reserves, dual-hatted for both EU and NATO, would also have to be approved by the NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR). Slovak International Air Fest (SIAF) at the Sliač airfield will be held on September 1 - 2, 2012. In those two days around 250 members of foreign armed forces may visit Slovakia. Their temporary presence in the country was approved by the Cabinet on Friday. The report submitted by the MoD informs that foreign armed forces will be represented at SIAF by more than 35 aircraft including helicopters, F-16, F-18, Tornado and Jas-39 fighters. The Government also approved the presence of foreign troops on our territory during 15 other exercises planned for the second half of 2012. Most of them are expected in September for a ten-day toxic chemicals exercise; among those up to 50 Slovenian soldiers. The Government also gave the green light to allow Slovak soldiers to participate in 19 exercises abroad. In September up to 120 Slovak troops should take part in a OMLT team exercise in Germany before their deployment to the ISAF operation in Afghanistan.
Military Dixieland In the first two days of July, Trenčín and Bratislava welcomed the U.S. Air Force Dixieland band The Wings of Dixie. The U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic H.E. Theodore Sedgwick attending the Bratislava concert in front of the Eurovea Shopping Center noted that the performance celebrated the 4th of July, the Independence Day. “The Wings of Dixie were formed 20 years ago and now we call the U.S. airbase in Rammstein, Germany, our home,” said Staff Sergeant Meredith Healy, a musician in the band. The USAF in Europe band has 45 members, but they also perform in smaller ensembles. “Thus we are able to play more than 400 concerts annually,” adds Healy. The 7-member team came to Slovakia from the Czech Republic; their next stop is Austria. In Bratislava, their concert was part of the
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official program of the Cultural Summer. The traditional series of the Cultural Summer activities in the capital had to do without the Slovak Armed Forces Military Band this year. However, in June, the Band performed in the Janko Kráľ Park, and in August they will play at the Hviezdoslav Square. During the summer the Military Band can be seen and enjoyed in other places as well. The Banská Bystrica Military Band will perform in their hometown during the celebrations of the Slovak National Uprising.
July 2 - 8, 2012