On 13 November, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and high-ranking military officers honored extraordinary achievements in the armed forces at the “Military of the Year 2024” matinee. Austrian Armed Forces. The event took place at the Kulturpark Spinnerei in Traun.
After a welcome by the two presenters – Upper Austria’s military commander Brigadier Dieter Muhr and Veronika Riedl – and a short speech by Upper Austria’s Governor Thomas Stelzer, the award ceremony began with the “Basic Military Service of the Year” category. The nominees were Private Nico Eichinger from Armored Infantry Battalion 13, Recruit Florian Varilek from the Armaments and Defense Technology Office and Private Felix Wappel from the Army Troop School. In his speech, Chief of the General Staff Othmar Striedinger pointed out the enormous importance of basic military service for the armed forces, but also for Austria’s security. “Without basic military service, the Armed Forces system would not work.” Striedinger then presented the award to Private Nico Eichinger.
In the “Civilian Employee of the Year” category, Director Peter Holländer, Head of Militia at the Vienna Military Command (represented at the event by Vienna’s military commander Brigadier General Kurt Wagner), Director Peter Loher from the ICT & Cybersecurity Center and Director Thomas Ungersböck from the Language Institute of the Austrian Armed Forces (represented by Colonel Thomas Fronek, Head of the Language Institute) were present. The laudatory speech for award winner Thomas Ungersböck was held by Section Head Elisabeth Keckeis, Head of the General Directorate of the Presidency. https://militaeraktuell.at/sikorsky-loescht-black-hawk-ohne-pilot-feuer/ The awards continued with the “Unit of the Year” category. The nominees were the Pioneer Construction Training Unit of the Army Troop School in Bruckneudorf, the Physical Training Staff of the Army NCO Academy in Enns and the Technical Reconnaissance Company of the Reconnaissance and Artillery Battalion 4 in Horn. The laudatory speech was held by Lieutenant General Erich Csitkovits, Commander of the National Defense Academy and Chief of Training of the Austrian Armed Forces. “The nominees all show that a lot is possible if you have a goal and stick together.” The prize went to the Physical Training Staff of the Army NCO Academy. Major Christoph Hinterlechner, Vice-Lieutenant Thomas Krupa, Vice-Lieutenant Gerhard Dohrmayr, Vice-Lieutenant Hubert Jahn and Senior Staff Sergeant Thomas Thaler make up this successful team.
The agenda then included the presentation of four special awards. Firstly, the security policy experts of the Austrian Armed Forces were honored for their communication work in recent years. The laudatory speech was given by ORF presenter Claus Bruckmann and the award was presented by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. “When the war against Ukraine (-> current news from the war in Ukraine) began, we thought we could manage with three experts. However, our expertise was and is in such high demand that we soon had to increase the number,” says Defense Minister Tanner. “They explain things that were unthinkable for decades and we can all be proud of that, which is also one of the reasons why we were recently ranked first in the trust index for the first time. first place in the confidence index for the first for the first time.
“”Year after year, our soldiers and staff perform outstandingly well. The presentation of the awards gives me the opportunity to say thank you and to bring the winners – on behalf of everyone – in front of the curtain.
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Verteidigungsministerin Klaudia Tanner
The experts from the Tactical Communication Network and Vice Lieutenant Johann Kitz from the Army Logistics Center Klagenfurt were also presented with a Special Award for their civil courage. A year ago, he and his partner saved the life of an 11-year-old boy who was seriously injured at the time. Another Special Award went to the Austrian UNIFIL contingent (-> current news from the armed forces’ missions abroad).
Next on the agenda was the “Soldier of the Year” category. The nominees were Lieutenant Colonel Dominik Friedinger, Platoon Commander of Armored Infantry Battalion 13, Lieutenant Colonel Karl Göschka from the ICT & Cybersecurity Center and Vice Lieutenant Hans-Jörg Hackl from the Surveillance Squadron. In this case, too, the prize was presented by Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. Congratulations also went to Colonel Dominik Friedinger.
The performances are judged by a committee on the basis of various criteria such as professionalism, motivation, moral courage and inventiveness. In the end, one winner emerged from each category. The event was accompanied by music from the Upper Austrian Military Band and the military band’s rock release “Camouflash”.
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