This year's largest military exercise in Slovakia – Ex Slovak Shield is over
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- Date: 24.06.2021
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After the month-long Slovak Shield 2021 exercise, the exercising troops were given the ENDEX command to end the exercise on Thursday 24 June.
In his statement, SVK Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko said: “I am satisfied with the results of the exercise. Despite the pause in training due to the pandemic, our armed forces have maintained a high level of professionalism in the planning processes and in operating weapon systems. From this exercise we take away a lot of valuable lessons learned and we will work them into systemic changes so as to increase our readiness to respond to the current, still complicated security situation in our area of interest.”
This year's Ex Slovak Shield was unique in terms of its complexity. Nearly all SVK Armed Forces units were put at the highest state of combat readiness on 2 June 2021. Subsequently, they carried out missions along three lines of efforts related to mobilisation, force protection, intense pre-deployment training before being deployed on operations to defend the Slovak Republic.
One of the mission-essential training tasks was to eliminate the enemy's intense hybrid activity. Therefore, the exercise scenario was set in the period shortly before the outbreak of armed conflict, while armed forces continued to combat the pandemic. Interestingly, members of the Levice-based Mechanised Battalion, who formed the core of the exercising troops in the tactical phase at TC Lešť, supported medical facilities in their region still on 17 May. The following day, they began their move to the training location.
Reflecting on the exercise, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “I revisited our servicemen and women at Lešť throughout the exercise. They had to operate in truly demanding conditions, across challenging terrain, and under time stress. I am absolutely satisfied with the organisation of this extensive exercise, which spanned several locations in Slovakia, and with the entire course of the exercise. My thanks go out to my colleagues and Allies for their outstanding collaboration.”
Overall, over 8,000 servicemen and women with 650 pieces of vehicles and equipment took part in Ex Slovak Shield 2021. The training audience at TC Lešť involved military units from Czechia, Hungary, Poland and the United States of America.
With the conclusion of the exercise, local residents are asked to use care as military rail and road convoys will move across Slovakia, and so will military aircraft across SVK airspace. Relevant measures have been taken to minimise disruptions to local traffic and populations during these movements.
In his statement, SVK Chief of Defence Gen Daniel Zmeko said: “I am satisfied with the results of the exercise. Despite the pause in training due to the pandemic, our armed forces have maintained a high level of professionalism in the planning processes and in operating weapon systems. From this exercise we take away a lot of valuable lessons learned and we will work them into systemic changes so as to increase our readiness to respond to the current, still complicated security situation in our area of interest.”
This year's Ex Slovak Shield was unique in terms of its complexity. Nearly all SVK Armed Forces units were put at the highest state of combat readiness on 2 June 2021. Subsequently, they carried out missions along three lines of efforts related to mobilisation, force protection, intense pre-deployment training before being deployed on operations to defend the Slovak Republic.
One of the mission-essential training tasks was to eliminate the enemy's intense hybrid activity. Therefore, the exercise scenario was set in the period shortly before the outbreak of armed conflict, while armed forces continued to combat the pandemic. Interestingly, members of the Levice-based Mechanised Battalion, who formed the core of the exercising troops in the tactical phase at TC Lešť, supported medical facilities in their region still on 17 May. The following day, they began their move to the training location.
Reflecting on the exercise, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “I revisited our servicemen and women at Lešť throughout the exercise. They had to operate in truly demanding conditions, across challenging terrain, and under time stress. I am absolutely satisfied with the organisation of this extensive exercise, which spanned several locations in Slovakia, and with the entire course of the exercise. My thanks go out to my colleagues and Allies for their outstanding collaboration.”
Overall, over 8,000 servicemen and women with 650 pieces of vehicles and equipment took part in Ex Slovak Shield 2021. The training audience at TC Lešť involved military units from Czechia, Hungary, Poland and the United States of America.
With the conclusion of the exercise, local residents are asked to use care as military rail and road convoys will move across Slovakia, and so will military aircraft across SVK airspace. Relevant measures have been taken to minimise disruptions to local traffic and populations during these movements.
