International Operations
As per the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers on behalf of the Austrian government, in the observation period of 2012 an average of about 1,400 soldiers participated in up to 14 international operations. In line with the political specifications, the focus continued to be on the Western Balkans, where despite general force reductions in the missions, especially by deploying ORF forces with up to 900 soldiers temporarily, the bulk of the personnel was deployed. Since December 2011 the Austrian Armed Forces have also been contributing to UNIFIL in Lebanon.
In 2012, an amendment to the International Operations Act of 2001 entered into force, highlighting the basis of a prominent change in the Standing Operating Procedures of the Austrian Armed Forces. The new subparagraph (2) of § 6a now regulates the "Tasks and Powers in International Operations”, providing more clarity to soldiers in carrying out their operational tasks and improving the legal basis. The new regulation has been implemented for the force contingents of KFOR, EUFOR "Althea” , UNIFIL and ISAF by way of specific decrees.
The contents of the pocket manuals were tailored to the respective operations and only had to be slightly adjusted. On this basis, the Standing Operating Procedures for new operations of own contingents are developed in a parallel procedure for presentation to the Council of Ministers and will be submitted for authorisation.
With the appointment of Major General Wolfgang Wosolsobe as Director General of the European Military Staff, another deserving officer of the Austrian Armed Forces will be awarded an outstanding position within the international community, which is effectively due to his qualifications and his personality.
Contingents
AUTCON/KFOR
For the hand-over of Camp "Casablanca” in Suva Reka to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), in cooperation with Switzerland and Germany, the preparatory planning and first measures were completed in 2001 and, independent of the progress of Deterrent Presence, the Camp was handed over in the autumn of 2012. For the implementation exhaustive planning efforts had to be made in order to create the required infrastructure to accommodate the remaining elements of the Austrian Contingent in Camp Film City in the German field camp Prizren.In the course of the rotation of April 2012, A-Coy was relocated into Camp Villagio Italia in Peæ. By way of acquiring or building infrastructure in the area Film City in Pri¹tina, the preconditions for accommodating the bulk of AUTCON were created. At the same time, the relocation of the logistic elements and the equipment of the Operational Reserve Force Company to Prizren was to be prepared and a fieldhouse for the Liaison and Monitoring Teams (LMT) in Orahovac and Suva Reka was to be built. The relocation to Austria of military assets that were to be used in a follow-up operation was conducted by way of air transport with C-130 "Hercules” aircraft, railway transport and trucks in multiple transports. The timeline for the closing-down of Camp Casablanca included an inspection by KFOR and UNMIK on 2 August 2012 as well as the legal and physical hand-over of the camp by signing the contract and definitely leaving the camp with all KFOR soldiers. Finally, on 8 September 2012, the hand-over to the town of Suva Reka was celebrated with a ceremonial act.
AUT MSU Contribution
Since January 2011, the Military Police Command has provided a 26-strong Multinational Specialised Unit (MSU) contingent for Kosovo. With these forces, the AAF has built up new capacities and capabilities since the last reform, which have proved to be very successful. See below for a brief review of this contingent:
In order to optimise cooperation with the Italian (ITA) MSU contingent, made up of Carabinieri, a training cooperation was established by means of providing ITA MSU instructors for the AUT contingent’s operations preparation. During this preparation, the focus was on Crowd and Riot Control (CRC), particularly on getting familiar with Italian commands as well as techniques.
From the onset, participation in this mission has been limited time-wise, since pulling out the AUT MSU elements was planned to go hand in hand with entering into GATE 3. (During this third phase a force reduction from 5,000 to 2,500 soldiers was planned.) Together with the Carabinieri, the MSU contingent was on stand-by for especially demanding operations, as tactical reserve for the Commander KFOR (COM KFOR). Possible tasks in the area of operations comprised:
- Escorting;
- Close Protection;
- Investigations;
- House Searching;
- Crowd and Riot Control (incl. the use of non-lethal weapons);
- Direct Action.
This element is not only an important instrument in improving force protection in the area of operations but also serves to establish public order in this crisis region. Although Kosovo as a whole has been defined as a possible area of operations, the operations concentrate mainly on the northern part, and there, in particular, on the "divided” town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
For the second half of 2012 participation and stronger engagement in the International Military Police (IMP) KFOR was planned. As a future IMP element it was to enter into cooperation with the CHE MP.
On 30 October 2012, the AUT Force Provost Marshall (FPM)/KFOR was deployed to facilitate the transition and incorporation of the AUT elements of the MSU into the International Military Police. The AUT IMP element was to comprise 21 Austrian soldiers.
In coordination with the 28th KFOR contingent, in March 2013, the AUT IMP element deployed to Kosovo. The newly formed IMP (AUT and CHE) will operate out of Camp Film City and carry out all KFOR orders (coordinated by the FPM) according to the required capacities (defined in SOP 1075). These capacities include
- Inquiry and investigation services,
- Order and protection maintenance,
- Traffic controls,
- Prisoner affairs,
- Transport escort and traffic regulation,
- Threat assessment and
- Subsequent advising of the Commander on all MP-relevant matters.
Most of the required skills are imparted already during MP training, whereas the skills not yet taught are instructed during operations preparation, in order to prepare the future IMP element for best possible task fulfilment in the area of operations.
KFOR intends to continue this participation by maintaining the current engagement, pending on the decision of the North Atlantic Council (NAC). The termination of the participation in MSU (ITA) and the entrance into the IMP was planned for April 2013.
Development of the Situation 2012
Upon the request of COM KFOR, the ORF operation was continued throughout 2012, alternating DEU with AUT parts and ITA. At the end of March 2012 ITA relieved the DEU/AUT ORF Battalion. In order to support the 6 May elections in Kosovo, however, the DEU/AUT ORF Battalion was deployed again for the period of one month to reinforce the ITA ORF Battalion. The routine relief of the ITA ORF Battalion by the DEU/AUT ORF Battalion was effected in October 2012. Due to the shortage of available forces for carrying out the mission in the area of operations, and the lacking implementation of EULEX as well as the lacking assertiveness of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), the operation was scheduled until 31 December 2012 according to the activation order. The additional requirement of forces was derived from the assessment of possible unrest due to the implementation of the Integrated Border Management (IBM-) Agreement, starting as of 10 December, with regular border clearance at Gates 1 and 3. As a second step, on 31 December 2012, the border clearance at two more border crossings, Dog 31 und Gate 5, was planned to be taken up.
The relocation of the DEU/AUT ORF Battalion was carried out at the beginning of January 2013. Substituting this battalion with the ITA ORF Battalion or prolonging its operation is out of the question at the moment.
AUTCON/EUFOR "Althea”
The year 2012 was characterised by preparing further troop reductions, which included restructuring the Regional Coordination Cells (RCC) into a LOT Coordination Centre (LCC) in Sarajevo, 17 LOT houses and three Field Human Intelligence Teams (FHT), implemented in 2012. AUT also operates three LOT houses in Tuzla, Bratunac and Brèko. As of September 2012 the AUT-led Multinational Battalion (MNBN) was reduced to a Headquarters(-) with two companies (provided by AUT and Turkey - TUR), one of which is always tasked with ensuring the security of the Headquarters (HQ) in Camp Butmir (CB). In the currently - rather unlikely - event of an escalation of the situation in the area of operations, tactical, operational and strategic reserves are to support EUFOR, provided by the KFOR Tactical Reserve (TACRES), Intermediate Reserve Forces and Strategic Reserve Forces.In the field of the Helicopter Detachment (HELDET), on 18 December 2012, two AB.212 were substituted by two S70 Black Hawk (tactical air transport). The three Alouette III (Al3) in the MEDEVAC version remain in the area of operations. The HELDET supported Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with services pertinent to patient transport, the rescue of mine victims and in various extinguishing operations on the occasion of wildfires in summer 2012.
Within the training and support mission, Austria continues to contribute up to 30 soldiers to the Capacity Building and Training Division (CBTD) and provides the required instructors and experts in various areas for the Mobile Training Teams (MTT). The MTT are deployed into the area of operations of "Althea” differently, in a phased manner or for a limited time, as required by Bosnia. To be able to carry out training courses under optimal conditions, training in machine saws, explosive demolition and NBC defence with approx. 20 participants each was carried out in Austria. As of September 2012, the deployment of an Embedded Training Team 5th Brigade was prepared for 2013.
As of 3 December 2012, in the course of a ceremonial act, the command of Major General Robert Brieger was handed over to Major General Dieter Heidecker, who will be in charge of EUFOR "Althea” as Force Commander for one year.
UNDOF
The mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Force (UNDOF) is based on Chapter VI of the UN Charter and governs the peaceful settlement of disputes between UN member states. In general, such operations are also called peacekeeping operations, with the use of armed force being limited to self defence. Therefore, the mandate to use armed force in UNDOF is limited to self defence of the deployed soldiers and the defence of other UN soldiers, UN goods or UN positions against unlawful attacks. Active intervention by UN soldiers during the described clashes was not authorised in accordance with the applying mandate, and the use of armed force going beyond the extent described also would have violated international law.The clashes in Syria escalated over the turn of the year and may not be assessed reliably as to their impact even today. The fighting between forces of the Senior Syrian Arab Delegate (SSAD) and the various rebel groups grew more violent and shifted, among other areas, towards Damascus and the borders of the area of operations of UNDOF, with the 2nd Company of the Austrian Battalion (AUSBATT) and the 3rd Company (provided by Croatia - HVR) of AUSBATT being in the focus of the operations. Task fulfilment was complicated due to the limitations of movement in Syria, particularly the use of the Damascus Airport, and in the Area of Limitation (AOL 1-3) and, subsequently, also in the Area of Separation (AOS). The incursion of the SSAD and rebels into the UNDOF-monitored AOS and the use of heavy weaponry resulted in protests on the part of Israel and in countermeasures by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). In essence, until the rotation in November 2012 no hostile actions were directed immediately against AUTCON. Collateral damage, however, were not to be excluded. Several attempts to carry out rotations and follow-up supply over A-Side (Israel) were rejected by the UN and the political side by referring to the provisions of the agreement with Syria.
On 29 November 2012 at 14:50 unknown attackers shot at a convoy of Austrian UN soldiers approx. 15 km west of Damascus airport. The convoy was on its way to the airport to pick up newly arrived Austrian UN soldiers and to fly home those soldiers who had finished their rotation on the Golan Heights. Two soldiers were injured by projectiles, two others were slightly injured by splinters. The unarmoured vehicle was considerably damaged by numerous impacts.
A 53-year-old warrant officer from Burgenland province was hit into the shoulder, a 25-year-old corporal from the province of Styria in the arm. After receiving medical emergency treatment by two surgeons present from the contingent and with the support of the IDF, both soldiers were transported from A-Gate into a hospital in Haifa, which is specialised in gunshot injuries. Already on the next day, an airplane chartered by the UN took the two slightly injured soldiers back to Vienna, together with their contingent.
On 30 December 2012, due to security reasons the rotation of the Austrian and Croatian UN soldiers of the new contingent was transported from Damascus airport to Camp Faouar with armoured vehicles in several transports. In that process, the convoys were shot at again, although without the soldiers suffering any injuries. The damaged vehicles and a large part of the equipment had to be left behind at the airport and could not even be transported to Camp Faouar by a civilian forwarder.
Since that last incident all transports to Damascus and Damascus Airport have been prohibited.
Should the supply axis continue to be blocked, future personnel movements and also the resupply will have to be conducted through A-Gate on the Israeli side and B-Gate in the AOS on the Syrian side. Japan and Canada indicated after these incidents that they would terminate the mission under such circumstances.
Austria, in coordination with the UN, elaborates measures to increase force protection and possibly required measures for emergency planning in the event that the mandate cannot be fulfilled anymore.
UNIFIL
On 6 September 2011 the Council of Ministers decided that the Austrian Armed Forces were to contribute a contingent of up to 160 soldiers to the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as of November 2011. Its Headquarters is located in Naqoura in the southwest of Lebanon. On the basis of the UN Resolution of 2006, the Force can be augmented to up to 15,000 soldiers and it is equipped with heavy equipment, such as main battle tanks and mortars. In addition, UNIFIL includes a Maritime Task Force (MTF) in the Mediterranean. Currently, some 35 nations provide approximately 12,000 soldiers. The mission of UNIFIL is, in essence, to safeguard security in the area of operations, including patrols, checkpoints and the support of the Lebanese security forces. The robustness of the force is ultimately derived from the fact that at any given time activities by the former conflict parties are to be expected, ranging from local attacks to violent clashes that are limited in space.AUTCON/UNIFIL was deployed on 22 November 2011, whereas its full operability was achieved on 30 November 2011.
AUTCON is based at Naqoura, has a strength of approx. 160 soldiers, is comprised of a staff element (7), a national element (7) and the Force Multi Role Logistic Company (MLRU, 143), consisting of the command element (26), the warehouse platoon (36), the personnel transport platoon (31), the materiel transport platoon (29) and the maintenance and recovery platoon (21).
The operational tasks fulfil the following UN requirements of the Force Multi Role Logistic Company (MRLC):
- Planning and coordinating transports for the HQ/UNIFIL;
- Transporting personnel and equipment (especially supporting the multinational contingents in carrying out rotations and transports between the ports of embarkation or the airport to the HQ/UNIFIL;
- Maintaining and recovering heavy vehicles of UNIFIL;
- Warehousing and distributing the goods of the HQ/UNIFIL;
- Fuel supply for the mission;
- Fire protection in the HQ/UNIFIL.
In accordance with the current planning of the HQ/UNIFIL, the permanent outsourcing of transport capacities into the staging area of Beirut has been requested with the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), a major gateway, especially, for rotations and follow-up supply. It is to be expected that the DPKO will approach Austria to request the marginal augmentation of the contingent’s size to up to 174 soldiers by deploying also two officers to Beirut and up to 12 drivers. On the national level, this increase has already been provided in advance, although the deployment will require another decision by the Council of Ministers.
National augmentation forces
The Austrian Armed Forces have national augmentation forces for the Joint Operation Area Balkans on stand-by. They are kept ready in the sense of a force pool for such emergencies in which the employed forces of the respective missions require reinforcements in order to fulfil their tasks in escalating situations. Up to 250 soldiers can be deployed under such circumstances. In essence, these soldiers can augment deployed elements to help carry out their tasks, take over additional tasks or replace the personnel on site. Parts of the national augmentation force pool were deployed on the occasion of the unrest in Kosovo in March 2004, within a space of time of only 48 hours. Other deployments were conducted in support of the deployed ORF contingent at the end of 2011/2012.In autumn 2012 the Chief of Defence issued the order to review the fast availability and the implementation of the operational readiness in the event of an alert. In the course of exercise alert ZUGVOGEL, an infantry company, a task group of Special Operations Forces (SOF), a mechanised infantry platoon and a helicopter detachment were alerted, amounting to up to 250 soldiers. The readiness for deployment was established in the respective units, while the operational readiness was checked at the air transition point of Hörsching. Subsequently, selected elements had to undergo a live firing test at the military training area Ramsau-Molln, where also the infantry fighting vehicle Ulan was used.
Operations with Austrian Staff Personnel, Military Observer Missions and Civilian Missions with Military Personnel
In 2012 the following operations were continued:
- 4 staff officers at HQ UNFICYP (United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus); their mission: Preventing the fighting from flaring up again between the ethnic groups by showing presence within the buffer zone on the basis of UN-Resolution 186 (1964).
- 7 military observers at UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation); their mission: Supervising the cease-fire in the Middle East; peacekeeping on the basis of UN-Resolutions 48 (1948), 50 (1948) and 73 (1949). As of September 2012, a military observer has been ceded to Serbia temporarily for the duration of three years.
- 1 staff officer at UNOWA (UN Office for West Africa) in the function of deputy military advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary General. His mission: Implementing UN measures in the fields of peace and security in West Africa in general; coordinating and exchanging information between the UN missions, supporting the UN Secretary General in his effort towards peace, supporting the Cameroon Nigeria Mixed Commission, helping to elaborate strategies against youth unemployment and the proliferation of light weapons. Participation in the mission was taken up again on 5 May 2011.
- 2 military observers at MINURSO (Mission de las Naciones Unidas para el Referéndum en el Sahara Occidental); the UN mission for carrying out a referendum in Western Sahara.
- 5 military observers at EUMM-GEO (European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia) as Military Monitoring Officers (MMO); observer mission (unarmed) of the EU in Georgia in line with the Council decision No. 2008/736/GASP of 15. September 2008. Austria has participated in this European Union observer mission since January 2011, providing 4 observers, 1 liaison officer and 3 representatives of the Ministry of the Interior. Tasks: Observing and analysing in order to help stabilise, normalise and monitor the Russian troop withdrawal, supporting confidence-building measures, monitoring freedom of movement in the areas of responsibility and the return of refugees, observing the situation of the human rights and supporting the normalisation of the disputed areas, e.g. by way of reconstruction and civil administration. In so doing, the mission closely cooperates with the OSCE, the United Nations, the Office of the Special Envoy of the EU for Southern Caucasus, the European Commission and the NGO’s active in the region. EUMM-GEO does not have any executive tasks in the mission. Colonel Anzeletti, with his regular job being an operations planner in the Directorate General "Operations” of the MoD, was awarded the EMPA (European Military Press Association) Award 2012 for his article published in the TRUPPENDIENST journal No. 6/2012: "Georgia - Where I left my Soul”, in which he describes his deployments to Georgia.
- 1 staff officer at EUSEC RD CONGO, EUSEC RD CONGO (European Union Advisory and Assistance Mission for Security Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo), advisor and support mission of the EU on behalf of the security reform of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, one staff officer is deployed as an advisor for building up training structures and supporting the security sector reform of that African country.
- 1 staff officer at RACVIAC (Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre), the regional verification and support centre for the implementation of armament agreements in south-eastern Europe, with is based in Croatia. RACVIAC stands for dialogue and cooperation. The originally German-Croatian disarmament centre RACVIAC was founded in October 2000. So far, 21 nations support RACVIAC. It is considered as one of the major projects of the Stability Pact and is an element of the Working Table III "Security”.
- 3 staff officers at Headquarters ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) in Kabul, Afghanistan; their mission: Supporting the Afghan transitional administration in maintaining security in Kabul and the areas directly bordering on it.
International humanitarian aid and disaster relief, search and rescue operations and evacuation operations
In 2011, the following elements continued to be available for carrying out operations within the framework of international humanitarian aid and disaster relief:
- The Austrian Armed Forces Disaster Relief Unit (AFDRU) is a unit earmarked for international disaster relief, ready for deployment under 10 hours after being alerted and which may be assembled in various configurations in order to cooperate with civilian authorities. This unit is formed for a specific contingency and augmented with civilian specialists. Rescue and recovery operations after earthquakes, water treatment after high floods and flood disasters, etc. in the international environment are part of its mission. In September 2012, AFDRU was certified with INSARAG (since 2005 international guidelines of the UN). The INSARAG External Classification (IEC) is carried out by a UN Classifier Team, with the following aspects being examined: alerting and mobilisation of the unit, communication, operational procedures for combat at disaster sites, medical treatment, etc. The IEC successfully examined AFDRU in accordance with the Comprehensive Portfolio of Evidence (C.P.o.E.), which, in essence, tested the decision-making process for and the procedures regarding the operation of AFDRU.
- The UN Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination Team (UNDAC) is an element of the UN which may be employed worldwide in the event of disasters upon request of UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). When a disaster strikes, the availability of the experts held in evidence by the member states is inquired. After selection by UNOCHA, they will be ready for departure within 24 hours and may be deployed at any time thereafter.
There was only one deployment as per international humanitarian aid and disaster relief in 2012:
- ATHUM LIBYA: On 3 May 2012, within the framework of humanitarian aid for the reconstruction of Libya, a team of 26 persons flew from Linz to Tripolis with a C-130, transporting a sizable donation of medical goods in support of the Society for Austro-Arab Relations.
Crisis support teams and evacuation operations
In 2012, crisis support teams prepared for possible evacuation operations by the European nations from probable future crisis areas, in close coordination with the Ministry for European and International Affairs.
Contributions to Multinational Units
Operational Reserve Forces (ORF)
Since the mid-nineties of the past century, in coordination between NATO and the EU, forces have been kept on stand-by to manage unexpected crises in the Joint Operation Area (JOA) Balkans. These forces are termed Over the Horizon Forces (OTHF), providing reserves on the operational level.The Austrian Armed Forces’ contribution is made up, in essence, of one infantry company with the wheeled APC "Pandur” and national elements, which amount to some 140 soldiers, attached to a battalion of the German Bundeswehr.
In 2012, these troops were pulled out in March and deployed again, in addition to the ITA ORF Battalion on the occasion of the oncoming elections. The next activation was when in 2012 the above forces were relieved by the Joint Forces Command (JFC) Naples and subsequently redeployed into the AoO Kosovo and subordinated to KFOR (for the course of the operations, see KFOR). On 30 November 2012 in coordination with Germany the operational option of the joint ORF Battalion for EUFOR "Althea" was terminated.