Vienna’s military commander Brigadier Kurt Wagner on the tasks of his command and future problems and challenges.
The military commands are also responsible for protecting critical infrastructure in the event of an emergency. How much more infrastructure needs to be protected in Vienna compared to the other federal states?
I don’t want to give you the exact figures, but it is true that a large part of the infrastructure that has been defined as critical by government agencies is located in Vienna. The area itself is very broadly defined – it includes government facilities as well as energy supplier facilities and information and communication facilities and their interfaces. We provided a good overview of possible deployment scenarios last November with our “Network 2014” exercise, in which we also included power plants and tank farms, for example.
Has the number of critical infrastructure facilities increased as a result of the recently redefined threat scenarios?
Irrespective of this, the list is a living thing and something is usually added and rarely dropped.
So the tasks in this area are getting bigger rather than smaller?
Yes, and I expect this to continue in the future.
What are the future challenges facing the Vienna Military Command?
There is no training without a group commander and no catering without a cook, so it is urgently necessary for us to be able to fill our personnel vacancies. In addition, we are currently facing major challenges in terms of troop mobility and infrastructure, particularly in the militia fighter battalions, where there is also a lack of equipment …
… but what should improve in the future?
If what has been announced as part of the package of measures comes to fruition, there will be improvements in the area of personal equipment. Something is also happening in the area of infrastructure, but we would like to see a little more speed there.
You can also read the report from our visit to the military command in Vienna. Click here for the other articles in our “5 questions to” series.
