Exercise Safety Fuel 2016 Starts in Pápa

The infrastructure of the air base was demolished according to the exercise scenario, so the establishment of a field fuel supply capability was necessary. Exercise Director Col. Attila Král told us that the ongoing cooperation between the German and the Hungarian armed forces started in 2012, and this exercise is regularly organized as part of this cooperation. The primary training objective is to give NATO member states opportunities to set up and operate bulk fuel installations (BFI), to which the technical equipment is provided by the three participating nations. The professional preparation is overseen by the Hungarian partners.

The colonel emphasized that military fuel supply systems are built to replace demolished or destroyed in situ facilities. During these operations, the army sets up its own bulk fuel installation (BFI) whose fuel storage capacity may reach thousands of cubic meters. He added that the German–Hungarian executing personnel have gained experience under operational conditions in the Afghanistan mission, where they had to refuel vehicles in a wartime environment.

In addition to German and Hungarian logisticians, the present exercise involves Croatian ones too – the military of Croatia has not yet integrated into the system in the way the Hungarian armed forces already have, and that is why they have now seized this opportunity to participate in the event.

A total of 116 soldiers are participating in the exercise that is running until 30 September.

Photo: László Tóth