After Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner recently initiated a discussion process for a possible reform of the Austrian Armed Forces, Brigadier Dieter Muhr, Military Commander of Upper Austria, has now commented: “Against the background of the personnel and financial framework conditions, the new threat scenarios and experiences from Covid-19, we cannot and must not ignore a reform. It is a necessity.”
Here are the starting points of the reform and its significance for Upper Austria: Military national defense remains a core task, as stipulated in the constitution. The armed forces in Upper Austria are constantly preparing for operations. This includes training with the heavy weapons units, such as the armored infantry battalion 13 in Ried and the armored battalion 14 in Wels. The core competencies in training are to be retained there in the future for national military defense.
More likely to occur today are attacks by systemic terrorism, for example via the cyber domain, attacks on the credibility and integrity of politics, administration, business and the media, as well as blackouts and disaster relief. The Austrian Armed Forces in Upper Austria will be able to prepare for this more intensively than before. An NBC defense company is already located in Hörsching for this purpose. Pioneers and a cyber defense element are not yet immediately available in the province. The cyber security conference will take place in Linz at the Design Center in 2021. The operational command units in Graz, Salzburg and Vienna are being reformed. In future, their tasks are to be merged with those of the Ministry of Defense and, as far as Upper Austria is concerned, partly taken over by the Upper Austrian Military Command in Hörsching. With a strengthened military command as an authority and operational command in the province, processes will become faster and simpler. Command Area 4 Upper Austria employs around 3,600 people, soldiers and civilian staff, of which around 1,600 are conscripts. In addition, there are the soldiers of the militia, the Jägerbataillon Oberösterreich, with a further 1,000 soldiers. The armed forces in Upper Austria are also affected by a wave of retirements.
The militia is to be deployed even more than now in operations at home and abroad. The active battalions are to cooperate even more intensively with the militia fighter battalion of Upper Austria. This has already happened. The 1st Jäger Company of the militia in Upper Austria has already been deployed on Covid-19 missions in the province and has proven its worth. The militia should receive a tangible financial incentive for their deployment. Every militia soldier will have their own personal equipment. Militia training is to be streamlined. Incidentally, Upper Austria is home to the Army NCO Academy in Enns, the central training facility for militia NCOs. There are 6 barracks and official buildings, 1 military airbase, 2 firing ranges, 3 training areas and 4 other properties in Upper Austria. No garrisons will be disbanded in Upper Austria. The infrastructure is to be modernized. The start of the renovation of the position road in the garrison road in Linz and the barracks in Ried is planned for this year. In Upper Austria, so-called “protection and assistance zones” are to be established for several political districts. A military contact person will be named to the authorities in the event of a disaster. This measure is intended to make operations smoother.
