Introduction
Operational tasks are and will continue to be the core tasks for the Austrian Armed Forces.
Also in 2011, the scope of operational tasks ranged from airspace security operations (task of the Austrian Air Force), on the basis of the Military Powers Act, through large-scale support and contributions of crisis support teams, to civil-military cooperation as well as planning and preparation of contributions to multinational forces like the EUBG. Continuing the large spectrum of operations already mentioned in 2010, we can establish that the tasks of the Austrian Armed Forces, as laid down in the Defence Act, particularly international operations, could be accomplished by the deployed forces in terms of quality, quantity and complexity.
Taking the 8 June 2011 as an example, the requirements for the forces deployed at home and abroad can be illustrated. International operations (1,241) and the assistance operation at Austria’s eastern border (444) after the expansion of the Schengen Treaty remain constants. The assistance operation of an engineer company (94) following a local disaster was not uncommon for 2011. The operation on the occasion of the World Economic Forum illustrates the contributions to airspace security (806), the assistance on behalf of the police by an NBC-defence unit (70) and the support of the Ministry for European and International Affairs (47) and, moreover, includes also those forces that were held ready for special developments (569). The deployment or standing-by of these forces involved 3,271 soldiers with clearly designated tasks.
In 2010, 50 years of participation of the Austrian Armed Forces in international operations was celebrated. Since the first Austrian international UN operation within ONUC in the former Kongo in 1960, approximately 90,000 soldiers have served in up to 117 different operations outside Austria. In 2011 another six operations were added to the 177 existing ones!
The operations of the Austrian Armed Forces can be subsumed in the following categories:
Domestic operations
- Assistance operation in support of the police after the Schengen enlargement;
- Other assistance operations in support of the Ministry of Interior;
- Disaster relief assistance operations;
- Operations-relevant aspects of airspace surveillance and air policing;
- Support services by the Austrian Armed Forces.
International operations
- Contingents (KFOR & ORF, EUFOR/ALTHEA, UNDOF, UNIFIL);
- Missions with Austrian staff personnel, military observer missions and civil missions with military personnel;
- International humanitarian aid and disaster relief, search and rescue operations;
- Crisis support teams and evacuation operations;
- Contributions to multinational units.