Austrian HEER: Remembering the deployment of the Austrian Bundesheer during the Yugoslavian crisis of 1991

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I received this brochure during one of my visits to the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum. 
This brochure was produced by the Austrian HEER and is dedicated to remembering the deployment of Austria's forces during the Yugoslavian crisis of 1991. All of the significant events that occurred on Austria's side are well depicted in this brochure. 1991 was the first and last year Austria had to deploy their forces to defend and ensure security along the Slovenian-Austrian border. This was due to Austria having a territorial defence force to protect itself from any possible escalation during the Cold War.

I have outlined some of the more interesting parts and translated them. If you wish to read the entire brochure in German,  I have included a scanned PDF of the booklet. For full image quality, you can open the images in a new tab. 



 









On the 28th of June, the MoD received pressure from the states of Kärnten and Steiermark to deploy forces along the Austrian-Slovenian border. Austria initially did not recognize any potential threat and the main goal during the deployment was to create a sense of security.

In total, the deployment along the border lasted until the 31 of July. 7.700 soldiers were deployed. 



Austrian HEER deployed a large variety of different battalions along the border.  Landwehrstammregimenter 52 and 53 were deployed, along with Tank divisions and Pioneer divisions for assistance. Graz-Thalerhof and Zeltweg were turned into airfields. Occasional munitions landed on Austrian territory. 

A large amount of TV channel reporters gathered along the border crossing recording the ongoing events, throughout the 33 day deployment. 






Austria had 8 main groupings during the 1991 deployment: 
  1. Landwehrstammregiment 73 supported by the Panzergrenadierbataillon 9.
  2. Landwehrstammregiment 72 supported by Heeresaufklärungsbataillon.
    1. FlAB (Fliegerabwehrbataillon) 1 grouped with FlAB 3.
  3. Kampfgruppe 9 with Panzergrenadierbataillon 9, Landwehrstammregiment 81, Jägerbataillon 25 and 26.
    1. Kampfgruppe 14 with Panzerbataillon 14, Jagdpanzerbataillon 7, Panzerartilleriebataillon 4, Pionierbataillon 3.
  4. Landwehrstammregiment 71 consisting of Panzergrenadierbataillon 9 and FIAB 3. 
  5. FlDiv Fliegerdivision (grouping of FlR and FlAB)  located in Graz-Thalerhof, Klagenfurt and Zeltweg: consisting of Fliegerregiment 1, 2, 3 and FlAB 12-13. 
  6. FlAB 2 together with FlAB 1 and 3 
    1. Along with Kampfgruppe 1 Reserves consisting of: Panzerbataillon 33, Jagdpanzerbataillon 1 and Panzerartilleriebataillon 9.
    2. Jägerbataillon 21: Consisting of: Landwehrstammregiment 64 and Landwehrstammregiment 42.
  7. Landwehrstammregiment 53 consisting of: Jagdpanzerbataillon 4 and Landwehrstammregiment 35.
  8. Landwehrstammregiment 52 consisting of: Jagdpanzerbataillon 4, Landwehrstammregiment 33-32, Pionierbataillon 2, Landwehrstammregiment 55 and Jagdpanzerbataillon 7




During the 10-day Slovenian War, Austria protected their 300km long border. A variety of equipment was deployed, 1.400 wheeled vehicles, 700 tracked vehicles, and 62 aircraft. Austria's airspace was violated 10 times by the Yugoslavian air force. 



After the newly learned experiences, the Bundesheer has been restricted, abandoning the idea of territorial defence, ending the ERA of the Cold War. This led to the needed modernization of the forces and the purchase of new equipment: tanks, aircraft and A2A missile platforms.  




After Austria joined the EU in 1995, it assisted in many deployments primarily in the South East. The main locations were Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. At the end of 1995, Austria participated in the IFOR and at the end of 1996 in the SFOR. 1999 Austria participated in the KFOR in Kosovo.  


Bundesheer deployment numbers in Europe and the Middle-East 




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