Training saves lives

“A tenth of a second decides the outcome”

This expansion can save lives: In the Steinbach urban training facility at the Allentsteig military training area, individual exercise scenarios can now be practiced even more realistically with more forces.

(Bild: Antal Imre)

The army invested 1.6 million euros in the Steinbach training facility from 2019 to 2024. This is where they practise house-to-house combat, rescue operations and much more. In an emergency, this practice is intended to help the emergency services react more quickly, which can mean the difference between life and death in extreme situations.

Training under absolutely realistic conditions is the non plus ultra for emergency organizations when it comes to reacting as quickly as possible in an emergency. The "Suburb East" has now been opened at the Steinbach urban training facility at the Allentsteig military training area (TÜPl).

Expansion driven forward since 2019
31 new buildings have been erected there since 2019 and 1.6 million euros have been invested to expand the village section. According to Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner, the facility enables realistic scenarios that would improve response capabilities. "We are also strengthening cooperation with other rescue and emergency organizations," she said, referring to many years of joint operational exercises with other blue light organizations.

Many of our own resources used
Dead wood and gravel from the company's own TÜPl were used to build the extension. Solid entrance doors and shutters to darken the windows provide additional protection. A "test house" was even built to test the penetration of different frequencies. The newly constructed outdoor areas of the urban training facility include illuminated streets, parks and playgrounds, seating areas and a cemetery. An environmentally friendly retention basin for rainwater was also built. Some of the work was carried out by employees of the military training area and pioneers from the Austrian Armed Forces.

Saving lives . .
"Good training increases every soldier's chance of survival. The best life insurance is to be that crucial tenth of a second ahead. Operations all over the world now take place in the villages," said TÜPl commander Herbert Gaugusch, explaining the importance of the facility, where the "Vorstadt West" is already being planned.