The Federal Ministry of Defence (German: Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung, sometimes shortened to BMLV or Verteidigungsministerium) of Austria is the ministry in charge of all matters relating to military affairs, especially the Austrian Armed Forces. It is Austria's ministry of defence. Its current minister is Klaudia Tanner.
Contents
Authority
The minister is head of all the ministry's subordinate authorities and is the supreme military commander of the Austrian Armed Forces. For certain acts, such as deployment of more than 5,000 men of the militia or reserve, the minister for defence's authorization is bound to the president of Austria, since in these cases the constitutional command of the army takes precedence.
Responsibilities
Specifically, the Ministry is responsible for matters regarding:
the armed forces' constitutionally defined duties
the armed forces' operational and tactical leadership
military aviation
the provision of arms, equipment, materiel and personnel to the armed forces
weapons, ammunition and munitions
military technology, including weapons testing and military-technical research
military restricted areas
care of the armed forces' health, including military hospitals and supply of medicines
military attachés
the establishment, maintenance and management of all military buildings, facilities and properties owned by the state, the ministry building, the military administration or the army, including the Military History Museum, known as the Heeresgeschichtlichen Museum
shipping, road transport, telecommunications and mapping in the military field
the running of the Military History Museum, known as the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Militärhistorisches Institut).
the armed forces' finances
the army forest at Allentsteig
management of Austria's shares in the SIVBEG (Strategische Immobilien Verwertungs-, Beratungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) as long as the federal government is a shareholder, and the regulation of that company.
the European Defence Agency
Office holders
Minister: Klaudia Tanner
Head of the Minister's Cabinet: Stefan Kammerhofer
Chief of Staff of the Minister's Cabinet: Brigadier (1 Star General) Jürgen Ortner
Chief of the General Staff (Head of the entire Austrian Bundesheer): General Othmar Commenda
Deputy Chief of Staff: Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Bernhard Bair
Head of Section I (Zentralsektion or Central Section): Sektionschef / Head of Section, Mr. Christian Kemperle
Head of Section II (Planung or Planning): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Franz Leitgeb
Head of Section III (Bereitstellung or Supply): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Norbert Gehart
Head of Section IV (Einsatz or Mission): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Karl Schmidseder
Head of Section V (Sport): Samo Kobenter
Subordinate departments
Subordinate to the ministry are the:
Streitkräfteführungskommando (Supreme Command): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Franz Reißner
Stellvertretender Kommandant (Deputy Commander): Generalmajor / Major General Dieter Heidecker
Kommando Einsatzunterstützung (Operations Support Command): Brigadier (1 Star General) Andreas Pernsteiner
Führungsunterstützungszentrum (Leadership Support Center): Brigadier (1 Star General) Andreas Wochner
Ämter (Offices):
Armed forces personnel office: Hofrätin / Councillor, Mrs. Brigitte Habermayer-Binder
Armed forces' building and surveying office : Hofrat / Councillor Johannes Sailer
Office for armaments and procurement: Brigadier (1 Star General) Christian Tauschitz
Office for armaments and military technology: Brigadier (1 Star General) Michael Janisch
Heeresnachrichtenamt (Army Intelligence Office): Generalmajor / Major General Edwin Potocnik
Abwehramt (Defence Agency): Generalmajor / Major General Anton Oschep
Academies:
Landesverteidigungsakademie (National Defence Academy): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General Erich Csitkovits
Historical development
Defence and sport were combined in the same ministry from 2009 till 2018.
Defence Ministry
Previous to 1918, there was a Ministry of War for the whole of Austria-Hungary and a Ministry of Defence solely for the Austrian half of the empire. The defence ministry took on various names during the First Austrian Republic of 1918 to 1938, and was abolished during Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria from 1938 to 1945. During the Allied occupation of Austria from 1945 to 1956, the defence agenda was in the remit of the "Office for National Defence", a section in the Federal Chancellery.
Sports Ministry
Sport first became a government portfolio in Austria in 1966, as part of the remit of the Federal Ministry of Education, which in 1984 was renamed the Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Sports. In 1991 sport was moved to the Federal Ministry of Health, Sport and Consumer Protection, then in 1995 to the Federal Chancellery, in 2000 to the Federal Ministry of the Civil Service and Sports, in 2003 back to the Federal Chancellery and in 2009 joined the Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports. In 2018, the sports agenda was moved to the Ministry of Civil Service and Sport.