SACEUR Calls CGSs to Krakow (November 7-8) The Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Peter Vojtek traveled to Krakow, Poland to attend the conference of the chiefs of staff of Central European countries. The invitations to the conference were issued by the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Admiral James Stavridis and the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish armed forces Gen. Mieczysław Cienuch. The conference attendees discussed the prospects of future cooperation; alignment of the post-structure ISAF units with the overall NATO goals; the overview, scope and number of regional and international exercises; and the strategic assessment of the U.S. scope of operations and their impact on the regional safety of Central Europe. At the conference Lt. Gen. Vojtek was accompanied by the Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning and Capabilities Development Brig. Gen. Josef Pokorný and the Chief for Strategic Planning Col. Slavomír Staviarsky.
The Remembrance Day (November 11) The MoD´s representa ves remembered the Remembrance Day on Sunday a ending the ceremony at Šafárikovo Square in Bra slava. Na ons around the world remember November 11 as the end of WWI, and pay tribute to those who had lost their lives on ba lefields. “In these hec c mes we some mes forget how lucky we are to be free and live in peace. A memorial day like this provides us with an opportunity to stop for a moment and pay tribute to those who had fought for our freedom paying the ul mate price – their health and lives. Those soldiers deserve our respect,“ said Defense Minister Mar n Glváč. In some countries the Remembrance Day is also called The Red Poppy Day - the red poppy has been adopted by the war veterans in 1920 as a reminder of war atroci es. “We must not forget the war veterans, who were and s ll are opera onal in the current conflicts,” reminded the gathered guests Lt. Gen. Peter Vojtek, the Chief of the General Staff. The ceremony was organized by the MoD in collabora on with the UK embassy. On this day a number of military garrisons around Slovakia remembered members of their own ou its, who had lost their lives in foreign missions. A memorial was also held at the Petržalka - Kopčany military cemetery. Currently there are 7.492 registered war veterans in Slovakia, 6.162 of them are so called “new-age veterans” (foreign missions par cipants) and 1.330 are veterans of WWII.
● On Nov. 6 members of the Ukrainian armed forces conducted an observation flight over the territory of the Slovak Republic consistent with the OPEN SKY treaty. The goal of the mission was to verify whether or not the Slovak Armed Forces (OS SR) conduct activities contrary to the treaty. The flight made by a Ukrainian An-30B observation aircraft covered almost all of the OS SR units. A day later the Ukrainian inspection team inspected the observation of the agreement on the Convention Forces in Europe focusing on the numbers and dislocation of the combat equipment at the Anti-aircraft Rocket Brigade in Nitra. ● From Nov. 1 to Nov. 8 the NATO STEADFAST JUNCTURE 2012 exercise was staged in Estonia. Deployable Communication Module (DCM-C) operators from Ružomberok attended this exercise, which represents the last step in the NRF training and readiness assessment for 2013. The main goal of the exercise was to achieve full operational readiness for the NRF stand-by phase in 2013, as well as to verify the communication and information systems command and control system, their readiness, deployability, interoperability and sustainability.
We're Ready To Help Serbia (November 5) The Slovak Republic would welcome further development of relations with the Republic of Serbia, whether to share experience from the integration process or in other fields mutually beneficial to both sides, said the MoD´s State Secretary Miloš Koterec at the meeting with the Serbian Ambassador to Slovakia H. E. Radmila Hrustanovič. “Serbia is our important partner in the West Balkans region. Therefore we are looking forward to signing the bilateral treaty on military cooperation in the close future,” said Koterec. H. E. Hrustanovič acknowledged the fact that Slovakia has been recently granted the role of the NATO Contact Embassy in Serbia for the period of 2013 – 2014.
● In a crisis situation policemen may be assisted by tankers in protecting our Eastern border. In the exercise called Empty House members of the tank company from the 21st Mixed Mechanized Battalion garrisoned at Trebišov employed a training scenario, in which help was needed in addressing increased influx of illegal migrants. Using simulated situations the company trained procedures needed to protect the state border, techniques for retaining refugees, establishing checkpoints, inspecting persons and vehicles. ● Consistent with the Land Forces Training Plan and the Land Forces Command Plan for 2012, and pursuant to the Directive of the Land Forces Commander a comprehensive testing of the Land Forces engineering battalion (ŽPR) had been staged from Nov. 5 to Nov. 9. The test verified the ŽPR Sereď readiness to carry out duties in the 2012 training year, evaluated the level and quality of the tasks fulfilled in the 2011 and 2012 training years, and the manner in which the deficiencies found in the past were remedied. ● From Nov. 5 to Nov. 8 the Sučany garrison training facility hosted the final exercise of the OR-6 Non-com Skill Enhancing Course. It marked the conclusion of the leadership part of the course, in which each of 86 graduates had to demonstrate the ability to make decisions, lead and command small military units of the team size.
Honoring Dubček's Memory (November 7) Defense Minister Mar n Glváč honored the memory of Alexander Dubček on Wednesday at the tomb of the la er at the Slávičie údolie cemetery. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of the legendary Slovak poli cian, statesman and leader of the Prague Spring, Glváč along with the PM Robert Fico and various other Cabinet members placed wreaths at his tomb.
Invigorating Ties with Egypt
(November 7) Current international developments especially those in Syria and Afghanistan, but mainly the issues of bilateral cooperation dominated the meeting be● The ROLE-3 military hospital at the Kandahar Airfield witnessed an unusual medical intervention. The clinic dentist treated the teeth of tween the MoD´s State Secretary Miloš Koterec and the Egyptian Ambassador to the Slovak Republic H. E. Ahthe German shepherd named Yony deployed since June along with its master Sergeant 1st Class Miloš Šoltis, an International Military Po- med Talaat Nasri. Koterec pointed out that the MoD supports the developlice member, to the ISAF operation in Kandahar. The dog came to injury during the search of accommodation premises at the KAF military ment of relations with the countries of the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue, and advocates defense diplomacy, conbase. The surgery required a full anesthesia. tributing to peace and stability in the region. At the same ● Turks wish to build a monument for all Turkish soldiers who had time we are interested in developing bilateral contacts: lost their lives in WWII on the territory of Slovakia. The monument “We are convinced that mutual talks will lead to the invigshould be erected at the military cemetery in Nitra, where several oration of Slovak-Egyptian defense relations, and that we Turkish soldiers are buried. The plan calls for relocating the remains will succeed in outlining specific opportunities in military of Turkish soldiers from other cemeteries around the country. 53 Otcooperation,“ said Koterec. toman Army soldiers were buried in Slovakia. Their tombs are in Both sides expressed interest in speeding-up the work Trenčín, Košice, Ružomberok, Levoča, Oponice, Martin and on the Agreement on Bilateral Defense Cooperation, Trenčianska Teplá. which could be ready for execution in 2013.
Defense Minister Glváč: Slovak Engineers in Afghanistan Make Us Proud
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(November 9) Slovak engineers who have been the symbol of our deployment to Afghanistan for a number of years, are returning home for good. Following a decade of deployment in the ISAF operation, the multifunctional engineering company shall be pulled back home in stages. The last rotation will be over by the end of November. According to Defense Minister Martin Glváč the deployment bore significant fruit: “Our engineers in Afghanistan have represented Slovakia in the best possible manner, as evidenced by various awards and honors, but mainly by the reconstructed infrastructure, which serves both the local population and the coalition forces,” said Glváč. Demining the area helped save a number of lives, which is the highest contribution to the stabilization in this crisis spot, he said.
The main tasks of our multifunctional engineering company included demining, reconstructing take-off and landing runways and constructing airfields. Since 2007 the company has been placed under the direct command of the Deputy Commander of the Kandahar base and tasked with erecting protection barriers, building safety bunkers for soldiers, reconstructing roads and runways damaged by rocket attacks, and other construction and reconstruction tasks. During their deployment in Afghanistan our engineers have demined 725 440 m2 using equipment and 575 173 m2 by hand. Slovak engineers became popular reconstructing the departure terminal at the Kandahar airport, and building the school for children of Afghan tradesmen selling their goods at the military base. The main task in the last
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years has been demining the area around the ever growing base and reconstructing fences, barriers, roadblocks and dikes after floods. Lately, our engineers were gradually replaced by private contractors, which made further continuance obsolete: “We
have realized there is nothing to be gained anymore by keeping our engineering company in place from the point of view of increasing its capabilities, therefore we have initiated the change of their mandate, and we are withdrawing the unit back home,” said Glváč. Homecoming engineers will help enhance the Home Crisis Management capabilities, especially in assisting local population during natural disasters and calamities. Withdrawing the unit means transporting a lot of equipment and materiel back home. The most important task – transporting our engineers safely to Slovakia – will be completed by the end of November. “I fervently hope all of them will return alive and in perfect condition to spend merry Christmas with their own families,” said Glváč.
November 5– 11, 2012