Assistance tasks carried out at Slanské Hills

Garrison Veľké Ozorovce's training ground at the Slanské Hills and the villages of Malé and Veľké Ozorovcehosted Exercise New Horizon 2017 on 10-13 July, with the aim of practising the C2 system and SOPs in running the SVK Armed Forces' assistance missions in a non-military threat environment. The missions saw exercising members of the SVK Armed Forces, especially from the 23rd Motorised Battalion Trebišov, supported by assigned MP assets, employed in rehearsing efficient cooperation in a simulated time of war and state of war environment, while coordinating their operations with the Foreign and Border Police, Migration Office, Police Corps, Firefighting and Rescue Corps, the Slovak Red Cross and the state and local administration bodies. Some security and rescue services and local administration authorities managed to organise a controlled evacuation of residents living in the endangered area, tried out securing the protection and defence of the state border, as well as cleaning up in the aftermath of combat operations. The exercise was held under the auspices of the Mechanised Brigade Prešov and was attended by 200 troops, drawn mainly from the Motorised Battalion Trebišov and another 100 members from the other components mentioned above. According to the Officer Commanding the Exercise/Trebišov Military Unit Commander, Lt Col Norbert Hríb, this has been the first serious validation for the unit since its formation on 1 September 2015. The course of the exercise has demonstrated that the regulations applicable to individual components need to be synchronised to deliver smooth and efficient cooperation in a similar event in the future. The importance of improving the understanding and coordination of specific activities was also echoed in the statement by the Director of the Red Cross Branch Trebišov, Libuša Babuľáková.