120 recruits from Jäger Battalion 24 in the Haspinger barracks in Lienz and 240 recruits from Staff Battalion 6 in the Standschützen barracks in Innsbruck took their oath of allegiance to the Republic of Austria over the past few days.
The coronavirus situation restricted swearing-in ceremonies to the barracks, with longer intervals and without inviting the public. In Innsbruck, the swearing-in ceremony was performed by Governor Günther Platter and the Tyrolean military commander Brigadier Ingo Gstrein – in Lienz by the deputy military commander Colonel Gerhard Pfeifer.
After their basic training, the young soldiers will be deployed as system maintainers in the barracks in Tyrol, for operational tasks in security police assistance operations and as training troops for the international mountain exercise “European Mountain Thunder 2022”. The military exercise will take place from 9 to 20 May at the Lizum/Walchen military training area and in the Zillertal at 2,000 meters above sea level and will be carried out as part of the “Mountain Training Initiative” with participants from a total of six different nations under the leadership of the 6th Mountain Brigade from Absam. “The pledge of allegiance makes it clear that the soldier is something special. This specialness results from the legal and legitimate carrying of weapons and also the right and duty to use them if necessary”, with these words the military commander of Tyrol, Brigadier Ingo Gstrein, emphasized the importance of military national defence. Governor Platter emphasized in his ceremonial address: “The tasks of the Austrian Armed Forces are diverse. The spectrum ranges from assistance missions to combat the pandemic and illegal migration, disaster relief operations to missions abroad. However, traditional military national defense remains of crucial importance. It is important that the operational capability of the Austrian Armed Forces is always ensured.”
“Especially in these difficult times, we soldiers show that we are a reliable partner,” emphasized the Deputy Tyrolean Military Commander, Colonel Gerhard Pfeifer, in his speech. “Public life is being shut down, the emergency organizations are ramping up and operations in the Tyrolean barracks must be maintained for operational tasks,” he said, preparing the young soldiers for upcoming missions to protect the population. The soldiers pledged to protect the Republic of Austria and its people and to defend it with their weapons, to respect the laws and authorities and to serve the state. After this climax, the military music ended the ceremony, which had begun with the Austrian national anthem, with the Tyrolean national anthem.
