Panzerbataillon 14 (Federal Army)

Tank battalion 14
active
Country	Austria
Armed forces	Federal Army
Armed forces	Land Forces
Branch of service	Armored force
Subordinate troops	Command & headquarters company 1st tank company 2nd tank company 3rd tank company
Insinuation	4th Panzer Grenadier Brigade
Headquarters of the battalion command	Hessenkaserne , Wels
motto	Black the color - gold in the heart / armor ahead!
Tradition	Kuk Upper Austrian Infantry Regiment "Ernst Ludwig Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine" No. 14
Anniversaries	September 12, 1917, storming of Monte San Gabriele
commander
Current commander	Obstl Jörg Loidolt

A Leopard 2A4 and an M88 armored recovery vehicle from the PzB 14

Two Leopard 2A4s of the PzB 14

The Panzerbataillon 14 (PzB 14) is the last remaining tank battalion of the Austrian Armed Forces after the Panzerbataillon 33 is converted into a Jäger battalion . Its location is the Hessenkaserne in Wels , Upper Austria .

According to the plans of the 2016 army reform , it will continue to form the armored core of the 4th Armored Grenadier Brigade, in which all mechanized forces will be concentrated in the future.

history

During the First Republic , the People's Army Battalions I / 14 and II / 14 were set up. After a short phase as Alpine Jäger Regiment No. 7, the association was transferred to the Upper Austrian Infantry Regiment No. 14 in 1935. After being incorporated into the Wehrmacht , the association went through the Second World War as an infantry or grenadier regiment 133 ( 45th Infantry Division ) .

On September 1, 1956, the Upper Austrian Infantry Regiment No. 14 was reorganized. In 1957, the association was renamed Jägerbataillon 14 and on April 1, 1964, reclassified to the tank battalion. Initially stationed in the Hörsching and Wels garrisons , the battalion was completely relocated to Wels by 1976.

Initially, the battalion had M24 main battle tanks . In the mid-1960s, the battalion was converted to 51 M47 battle tanks and in 1967 was entrusted with maintaining the tradition of the Kuk Upper Austrian infantry regiment "Ernst Ludwig Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine" No. 14 . The day of the storming of Monte San Gabriele (September 12, 1917) by units of Regiment No. 14 in World War I is the official traditional day of the battalion.

From 1974 the battalion belonged to the "standby force", whose units were intended as counter-attack forces in the context of space defense . From the beginning of the 1980s, the battalion was equipped with M60 A3Ö main battle tanks , and in 1998 it was equipped with the Leopard 2A4 main battle tank .

On May 21, 2001 the PzB 14 entered into a partnership with the Panzerbataillon 104 of the German Bundeswehr , which is stationed in Pfreimd , Bavaria . Since October 18, 2002 there has also been an official partnership with the city of Wels.

In 2006, Panzerbataillon 10 was dissolved in Spratzern and its Leopard 2A4 fleet was divided between the two remaining tank battalions, PzB 14 in Wels and PzB 33 in Zwölfaxing . Due to the reclassification of PzB 33 into a hunter battalion, all Leopard 2A4s from Zwölfaxing were transferred to Wels in 2015. This makes the PzB 14 the last unit of the armed forces equipped with battle tanks.

In May 2017 the battalion won the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at the German military training area Grafenwöhr and prevailed against the teams from Germany, the USA, France, Poland and the Ukraine. The PzB 14 had taken part in this match for the first time, in which the teams had to compete in twelve disciplines such as attack and defense shooting, shooting with handguns and precision drives.

The battalion is currently led by battalion commander Obstl Jörg Loidolt.

Composition and structure

In 2013, the battalion had a strength of around 150 professional soldiers and was equipped with 110 vehicles, including 28 Leopard 2A4 battle tanks and 4 M88 armored recovery vehicles . By taking over the main battle tanks of the PzB 33, the number of Leopard 2A4s has increased to 40 vehicles. The re-establishment of the 3rd tank company with 16 additional Leopard 2A4s, which are to be reactivated from the spare parts reserve, is also planned by 2019. A management presence unit for foreign assignments is also to be set up in 2017.

The tasks of the battalion in peacetime consist of assistance and missions abroad, as well as participation in international exercises. For example, the battalion was called in to provide support after the flood disasters in 2002 , 2005 and 2013 , the snow disaster in 2006 , as well as after train accidents and storms. One of the main tasks is also the training of basic military servants, of whom up to 300 move into the Hessenkaserne every year.

The mission of the tank battalion is to fight in the tank area in cooperation with tank grenadiers and to support the infantry in combat in urban areas. To this end, PzB 14 works closely with the Army Logistics Center in Wels, which takes care of technical improvements and the maintenance of the vehicles.

Together with the Panzergrenadierbataillon 13 from Ried im Innkreis (and after the implementation of the Army Reform 2016 also with the Panzergrenadierbataillon 35 in Großmittel ), the Panzergrenadierbataillon 14 forms the mechanized backbone of the 4th Panzer Grenadier Brigade . Previous operations were completed during the ČSSR crisis in 1968 and the Yugoslavia conflict in 1991, when the battalion took on security tasks.

structure

• Federal Ministry for National Defense
  • Land Forces Command
    • 4th Panzer Grenadier Brigade
      • Tank battalion 14
        • Battalion Command
        • Headquarters company
        • 1st tank company
        • 2nd tank company
        • 3rd tank company

Web links

Commons : Panzerbataillon 14  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Tank battalion 14
• The last battle tank leaves the Kopal barracks
• The Hessenkaserne in Wels
• The city and the garrison have long and closely connected

Individual evidence

1. ^ The new structures of the armed forces , website www.bundesheer.at, accessed on June 29, 2016
2. ^ Bundesheer: First place in an international tank comparison battle
3. ↑ http://www.hlogz-wels.at/datenveranstaltungen/garnisonsball/ballfuehrer_2013.pdf The Garrison Wels
4. ↑ http://www.nachrichten.at/oberoesterreich/wels/Welser-Bundesheer-reaktiviert-Panzer-anstatt-sie-als-Ersatzteillager-zu-nuetzen;art67,2637276 Welser Bundesheer reactivates tanks instead of using them as a spare parts store.
5. ↑ http://www.bundesheer.at/sk/lask/brigaden/pzgrenbrig4/baon/pzb14.shtml Panzerbataillon 14
6. ↑ http://www.bundesheer.at/truppendienst/lösungen/artikel.php?id=1010 Panzerbataillon 14