Slovak Association of Reservists
Slovak Association of Reservists (abbreviated SZVVZ , full name Slovak Association of Reservists and Military Sports Activities ) was founded in 1966 as a voluntary, non-political civic association, which is open to all Slovak citizens, but above all to reservists . As a civic association, it exercises interest, defense and sport shooting activities in cooperation with the armed forces of the Slovak Republic .
In 2011 SZVvZ united up to 2000 members in 97 reservist clubs across Slovakia . The basis of the activities of SZVvZ is the organization of shooting competitions of various kinds, in which the competition is mainly aimed at shooting weapons used in the armed forces of the Slovak Republic.
History of the association
The Slovak Association of Reservists is actually the successor organization to the Zväzarm organization from the last century. Zväzarm (Association for Cooperation with the Army, in Czech Svaz pro spolupráci s armádou or Svazarm for short) was a unified voluntary military-social organization in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic . It was established on November 4, 1951 on the basis of Act No. 92/1951 on Military Training. At that time it united 10 social organizations as collective members. In 1952 she switched to individual membership at the liaison assembly.
Zväzarm performed some state defense tasks. This organization dealt with military sports and technical interests, which included bicycle trials, electronics, cynology , aviation, model making , motor sports, terrain games, skydiving , diving , amateur radio, shooting, hang gliding and many others.
The Association of Reservists was founded in 1966 for the development of technical sports, especially shooting sports . After the break-up of Czechoslovakia, its successor organization, the Slovak Association of Reservists, was established in Slovakia in 1993 as a voluntary, apolitical civic association. Later the name of the club was expanded to the present form - Slovak Association of Reservists and Military Sports Activities.
The first president of the Slovak Association of Reservists was Major of the Reserve, Miroslav Jánoš, who served for 26 years. He resigned at the 8th SZVvZ meeting on October 26, 2019.
organization structure
The organizational structure of the Slovak Association of Reservists is anchored in the statutes. They are regularly reprinted at the meeting. The assembly is the highest governing body of the association.
The new organizational structure of the association was adopted at the 8th SZVvZ meeting on October 26, 2019. It was designed with the aim of improving the effectiveness of the governance of the association, maintaining the voice of the regions and activating a wider range of members of the association. Unnecessary and non-functioning intermediate links in the form of regional associations have been abolished and new functions of vice-presidents with specialization and responsibility for certain areas of administration and development of the association have been added.
The organizational structure of the association at its highest national level has the following hierarchy (the order from the highest to the lowest level):
- Assembly
- Central Council
- Presidium (headed by the President)
- controller
The central council is the supreme body of the association in the period between individual meetings. It consists of 9 members entitled to vote, with the vote of the association president being decisive in the event of a tie. They are the President of the Association, 4 members of the Presidium (Vice-Presidents) and four representatives of the regions of Slovakia within the meaning of the administrative structure of the Slovak Republic, which was valid until December 18, 1990 (Bratislava, West, Central and East).
Competitions organized by the association
All-around shooting
Shooting all-around is a classic military sport of the organization in which individual athletes and teams of three vie. The principle of this competition lies in the fulfillment of five competition disciplines (four for individual athletes who do not start in a team) The competition disciplines of the shooting all-around competition are:
- Aimed shooting of large-caliber pistols at 25 m
- Three-position shooting from a model 58 self-loading rifle at a reduced target of 50 m
- Grenade throw for accuracy
- Combat shooting from the pistol
- Shooting battle of the teams in shooting from small-bore rifles
Target shooting
Shooting triathlon is a traditional competition of individual athletes, which consists of two technical disciplines in targeted (precise) shooting of large-caliber pistols and large-caliber revolvers with the caliber 7.62 - .45 (11 mm). Each discipline consists of three rounds:
- 2 × 5 shots at the target 135-P (green, uncovered, lying figure with circles)
- 2 × 5 shots on the 50/20 target (international pistol target)
- 2 × 5 shots on a two-center target SČS D-1 (so-called "parrot")
Shooting from a model 58 self-loading weapon
Shooting as an independent competition was added to the SZVvZ calendar in 2013. It is about a three-position shootout with a civilian (self-loading) version of the Model 58 submachine gun , which had been part of the basic armament of the soldier of the Czechoslovak army since the 1970s and was then used by the successor armies.
The shooting range is located 100 meters from the target. The competition takes place in two separate disciplines, which are assessed separately - Standard or Open . In the standard discipline, shooting is done with open sights, and in the open discipline, optical aiming devices can also be used (collimators, binoculars, diopters). The athlete can participate in both disciplines during the competition, of course with appropriate equipment.
Each part of the discipline consists of three rounds on the target 135-P (green, uncovered, lying figure with circles), which must be performed in the following order:
- Shooting lying down
- Shooting standing
- Shoot kneeling
The performance in the individual rounds is limited in time.
International REPIKO competition
The newest competition discipline in the SZVvZ calendar. "Czech Republic" is entered as the country of origin in your birth certificate. It was adopted by our Czech neighbors and included in the official competition disciplines for the first time in 2016. A year later the preliminary series of qualifying competitions took place, ending with the unofficial Slovak championship.
REPIKO is an attractive team discipline that combines the elements of dynamic and precise disciplines. Her name is an abbreviation of three words that reveals her essence - RE volver, PI stole, KO llektiv. It is a competition between teams of three, in which the accuracy of shooting at the target and the speed of shooting at metal targets (pepper poppers) are decisive.
The popularity of this competition lies primarily in the fact that it is a team competition in which the coordination and cooperation of individual team members play an important role. Large caliber pistols (or revolvers) with a caliber of 7.62 - .45 (11 mm) are used for shooting. Obligatory equipment for this competition is eye protection (against ricochets) and of course (as in other competitions) also hearing protection.
Cooperation with departments
In addition to shooting competitions, SZVvZ is involved in socio-political activities of a national and international character and works mainly with the Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic and the General Staff of the Army of the Slovak Republic, with associations of reservists abroad and with other associations and organizations in Slovakia that work with the Armed forces are linked together. In this context, SVZvZ tries to form the link between the armed forces and the public and help in solving many important problems.
The Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic accepts SZVvZ as the only organization representing all reservists in Slovakia and has signed a cooperation agreement with SZVvZ.
Financing the association's activities
The Ministry of Defense of the Slovak Republic, in addition to providing shooting ranges for shooting competitions by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, also gives the opportunity to apply for special projects every year in order to receive financial support for part of the international activities of SZVvZ.
However, all activities of SZVvZ and their financing are dependent on voluntary activities and membership fees of the members of the organization.
Membership in international organizations
Since 1993 SZVvZ has been a member of the international organization of the Reservists Gaminger Initiative and since 1999 an associated member of the global organization of Reservists CIOR.
The organization Gaminger Initiative is a regional association of soldiers and officers of the reserve from the Central European countries, namely from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland. Its aim is to support reservist associations in the member states and to work with them in improving European security and defense.
The international organization CIOR currently unites more than 1.3 million reservists from 36 countries around the world - both inside and outside NATO . CIOR is the link between the reservists and NATO, promotes the activities of the reservists' associations, supports their rights, activities and training in all member and partner countries of NATO.