Colonel Jan Hric

5th Artillery Regiment Commander Slovak Armed Forces

He joined the Slovak Army in September 1995 and spent five years studying at the National Military Academy. He graduated in July 2000 as an Artillery Lieutenant and was commissioned to the 5th Artillery Brigade. Hi served junior ranks from platoon commander to battery CO with 152mm and later with 155mm self-propelled gun howitzers, on his promotion to Captain he was assigned to Rocket-launcher battalion as Reconnaissance Company CO. During this period, he undertook countless exercises on battery and battalion level mostly in Slovakia. On his promotion to Major he became Chief of staff of Rocket-launcher battalion, later Executive officer and finally in Jun 2019 the commander of MLRS Battalion. Since 01SEP 22 he was assigned the duties of 5th Artillery regiment command and was promoted to Colonel. His operational experience counts two deployments to Cyprus, 2007 and 2021, and two tours in operation ISAF in Afghanistan, where he served as senior joint fires officer in Regional Command South HQ based in Kandahar Airfield and later as Slovak force protection company commander of Kandahar Airfield base defence. Colonel Hric attended the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham, United Kingdom. There he successfully passed the Advanced Command and Staff Course 20 while simultaneously completing the Master’s program at the King´s College London and being admitted the degree of Master of Arts in Defence Studies. Since August 2023 until January 2024, he studied in NATO Defence College in Rome. Col. Hric took part in numerous national and international exercises as the artillery / joint fires / targeting expert. He is fluent in English, has a colloquial grasp of German and partially Russian languages. He is keen sportsman and a huge fan of history books. Together with spouse Eva they are proud parents to daughter Gabriela (27) and two sons Jakub (23) and David (20).