Yesterday, Vienna’s military commander Brigadier Kurt Wagner presented the “Pro Defensione” honorary award of the Vienna Military Command to the chairman of Raiffeisen-Holding Niederösterreich-Wien and militia representative of the Austrian Armed Forces, Major General Erwin Hameseder, at the Maria Theresien barracks. Captain Klaus Stockinger from the Vienna 2 Jäger Battalion was awarded the “Pro Defensione Junior” honorary prize.
“I would like to congratulate the two prizewinners on these exceptional awards and thank them for their tireless efforts to implement their fundamentally different but essentially identical projects to strengthen the militia,” said Defense Minister Tanner at the award ceremony. With the “Militia and Economy” working group, Major General Hameseder is helping to ensure that the connection between national defense and the population through the militia system leads to a greater awareness of the tasks of the armed forces, its role as a public client and the necessary cooperation with the Austrian economy. In order to meet the modern requirements of the military task spectrum, Major General Hameseder has been campaigning for years for a special investment package for the militia.
This package was adopted this year and includes functional vehicles to replace the fleet of Pinzgauers being phased out, equipment to protect soldiers (such as camouflage suits, night vision goggles, combat helmets, protective vests, headsets and hearing protection), command and control equipment (radios and modern ICT equipment to maintain command and control capabilities in the long term), modernized 77 assault rifles, new sniper rifles and new infrastructure such as garages and warehouses. Major General Hameseder has thus set special accents for the Austrian Armed Forces and is “Pro Defensione”. The “Pro Defensione Junior” was awarded to Captain Klaus Stockinger, who has been instrumental in anchoring the militia in society. He is the founder of the “We are militia” platform, which is intensively involved in networking all participants and firmly anchoring militia soldiers in society. Under his leadership, this platform was also responsible for the organization, supervision and implementation of the “Militia Island” on National Day in 2019. New accents were set here and the militia was put in the spotlight. The “Pro Defensione” award of the Vienna Military Command has been presented annually since 1987 to public figures who have made a special contribution to the Austrian Armed Forces in Vienna. The first “Pro Defensione” award winner was Mayor Helmut Zilk; last year Toni Faber was honored.
