Today, Defense Minister Mario Kunasek and Graz99ers ice hockey president Jochen Pildner-Steinburg presented a special event to mark “Conscription Day” at the Graz-Liebenau ice stadium. On Sunday, January 20, the Graz99ers field hockey team will play against HCB South Tyrol in specially designed team jerseys under the motto “Pride in the Armed Forces”.
“I’m looking forward to an exciting match between the Graz99ers and Bolzano. My goal as Minister of Defense was to make more out of the annual ‘Day of Conscription’. Namely a day on which our soldiers take center stage. A day on which we – society – say ‘thank you’ to our soldiers. And by wearing the jerseys, the Graz players are showing their appreciation for the Austrian Armed Forces,” said Defense Minister Mario Kunasek. “Right now, when the snow has large parts of Austria in its grip, 1,200 soldiers and 16 helicopters are ready to help people in their difficult situation,” continued the Minister.
The “Day of Conscription” also makes it clear that the conscripts of the Austrian Armed Forces also do a great job in their training every year: In 2018, a total of around 850 soldiers were involved in disaster relief as part of the assistance mission. Of these, over 50 percent were conscripts who made an enormous contribution to helping the population. On January 20, 2019 at 5.30 pm, the Graz99ers field hockey team will play a match against the HCB South Tyrol team in the Austrian Armed Forces jersey at the Graz-Liebenau ice stadium. The league match is specially dedicated to “Conscription Day”, which takes place for the sixth time this year on January 20. The “Day of Conscription” was launched by the “Military Austria” platform in 2014 and has been held annually ever since.
