Tanner: 70 million euros – Militia: More equipment, more money for exercises

In view of the current events in Ukraine, the militia units of the Austrian Armed Forces are again training to be ready for emergencies. Militia members mainly perform their private jobs and are mainly active in military exercises or operations. For example, they supply the majority of the staff on foreign assignments.

Almost three times as many soldiers practice
For a long time these associations were literally “starved”, and many exercises were also stopped because there was no money for them. However, since 2019, the situation has been slowly improving: in 2022, a total of 6,890 militia members are training – almost three times as many as in the previous year.

There is material again
Equipment is also being replenished: goggles, night vision goggles, all-terrain vehicles, recovery systems with trailers, sniper systems, soldier radios, headsets with integrated hearing protection, troop radios and shortwave systems were purchased under Minister Klaudia Tanner, who has planned special investments of 70 million euros for 2022 for only the militia.

Every two years to practice
The basic exercise rhythm in the militia was set at a two-year cycle. The duration of each exercise depends on the content and tasks of the exercise and usually varies between one and two weeks. In order to give the shooters more training opportunities in the future, new concepts have to be created by the General Staff.