Blonde Avalanche 2011

The troops of the TISA Multinational Engineer Battalion were preparing for a disaster relief operation. The exercise which was being conducted in the garrison towns of Hódmezővásárhely and Szentes had a scenario in which they were tasked with evacuating the population from a flooded area and rescuing their technical equipment and belongings.

The personnel of the Operations Support Engineer Battalion and the Combat Support Engineer Battalion of the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade executed the task together with the nominated units from the armed forces of Slovakia, Romania and the Ukraine, in cooperation with several experts from the HDF Joint Force Command, the HDF 37th ‘II Rákóczi Ferenc" Engineer Regiment, the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base, the National Directorate for Disaster Management and the regional directorate for water management.

The pre-exercise training for the Hungarian module started last week, while the troops of other nations arrived in Hódmezővásárhely on Sunday. The opening ceremony of the exercise took place on September 19.

Having welcomed the participating troops, Brig.-Gen. Dr. Gábor Böröndi, the commander of the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade said that after 2007, the Hungarian Defence Forces, in particular their 5th infantry brigade have now another opportunity to demonstrate their engineering skills. The core purpose of the TISA Multinational Engineer Battalion consists in training for carrying out disaster relief operations with special regard to flood control on the River Tisza. This year’s exercise was unique in the history of the battalion because the personnel had an opportunity to demonstrate the full dynamics of the evacuation process for the first time, just like it would be executed in real life. By this activity, they have shown that the Hungarian Defence Forces are well-organized and prepared for conducting flood relief missions and are able to evacuate the population, reinforce the dams, and have all the vehicles, equipment and logistical support bases available with which they can create the conditions for effective flood prevention and disaster relief operations.

After the opening of the exercise on Monday, the participating units continued to train for the exercise and improve the interoperability of national modules in the first half of the week. The rehearsal for the exercise took place on Wednesday, September 21, while the Deputy Chiefs of Defence of the participating nations inspected the culmination exercise on the VIP day of the exercise, on Thursday, September 22.

Photos by the author

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