Cultivating tradition

When former enemies become friends

Staff Battalion 7 celebrated its Tradition Day in the Goëss barracks.(Bild: Bundesheer/Wolfgang Hinteregger)

Staff Battalion 7 celebrated a very special day of tradition on Thursday in Klagenfurt's Goëss Barracks (formerly Windisch Barracks), where former enemies are now friends.

The roots of Staff Battalion 7 go back to the Imperial and Royal Feldjäger Battalion No. 8 and the Carinthian Volunteer Riflemen - these two units, which were mainly deployed on the Carinthian border and in Italy during the First World War, are therefore considered the traditional units of today's Staff Battalion.

Detachments from Italy made the journey 
It is therefore all the more significant that delegations from Italian military units and traditional associations came to the Tradition Day to remember together with the Carinthian soldiers, but also to look to the future - because peace unites.

Lieutenant Colonel Ulrich Baumgartner (far left) with representatives of the traditional associations.(Bild: Wolfgang Hinteregger)

Former military personnel from Italy.(Bild: Alexander Schwab)

Traditional associations and soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder on the Antreteplatz in the Goëss barracks.(Bild: Alexander Schwab)

Today's Staff Battalion 7 is based with its companies in Klagenfurt, Bleiburg and Graz. It ensures command, supply, material maintenance and NBC defense tasks at home and abroad and is also responsible for training the next generation of cadres.

Mission is also a legacy
"Our mission as Staff Battalion 7 is also to preserve the heritage of our traditional units and to stand up for peace and freedom. That's why we also evaluate the valid foundations of moral conduct from the past and incorporate them into our identity," says Lieutenant Colonel Ulrich Baumgartner, Commander of Staff Battalion 7. This is particularly important in the current global political upheaval.