On July 21, the farewell ceremony for 80 militia soldiers took place in the Andreas Hofer barracks. The soldiers of the 2nd Jäger Company of the Jäger Battalion Tyrol were partially deployed in May due to the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 1,400 militia soldiers from 13 Jäger companies were deployed throughout Austria.
The security police assistance mission for the Tyrolean militia soldiers lasted around three months. During this time, the soldiers mainly monitored Tyrol’s southern border and worked together with the police to combat illegal migration. The regional police director Edelbert Kohler confirmed that this worked well. “Joint provincial and operational exercises between the police and military in Tyrol have led to the ‘players’ knowing each other personally so that they can rely on each other in the event of an incident,” the provincial police director revealed the recipe for success.
The military commander of Tyrol, Brigadier Ingo Gstrein, gave an impressive summary of the deployment of the Tyrolean militia soldiers. He also expressed his thanks and appreciation to all operational organizations. “Without the militia, the Austrian Armed Forces’ domestic and foreign missions would be inconceivable and in the corona crisis, the militia company proved that it can handle missions independently,” Gstrein summarized. In his speech, the Vice President of the Tyrolean Parliament, Anton Mattle, emphasized the importance of the soldiers’ deployment against the coronavirus. Together with the military commander and the provincial police director, Mattle presented selected soldiers with the Austrian Armed Forces Service Medal for their commitment.
