In a Flash… – Reporting from Afghanistan

The soldiers received their ground defence weapons, ie. the pistols and assault rifles on their arrival. Hopefully, they will never need to use them, but alongside the ceramic-plated ballistic vests, these weapons are compulsory equipment for the members of the AMT-7.

Besides the firearms, information is the most effective tool of self-defence for the just arrived Hungarian soldiers: the sixth rotation, which is about to return home, gave them a briefing on the essentials in the afternoon. For some members of the rotation that arrived on the previous day, the present one will not be the first deployment in Kabul, but as Col. József Koller, the commander of the AMT-7 noted, the earlier six rotations “have stepped into a lot of puddles so the newcomers will not need to repeatedly". The new arrivals to the team are going to attend a so-called Newcomer’s Briefing, which all soldiers starting their tours of duty in Kabul must receive, but it is advisable to discuss in a narrower, national circle the must-know items concerning security and life in the camp.

Considering the length of the two-day flight, it is understandable that the afternoon and the evening were spent with rest and occupation of the tents serving as temporary accommodation. On Saturday, the AMT-7 personnel met their Afghan and US partners, as the sixth rotation “handed them over" to them for the next four months. At the meeting, Lt.-Col. Joshua Bowman, the commander of the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron gave heart to the newcomer members of the AMT-7 who are to commence their first mission, saying it was all right if they did not feel perfectly comfortable, because he himself did not manage to do so even after being here for two months. True, it would not be good if everything were already comfortable, since it would follow then that they’re doing something the wrong way, as the mentors should always have some challenges and tasks to be able to occupy themselves. The US commander reminded the newcomers that here they will have to proceed with small steps in order to make continuous progress and achieve the intended results.

Afterwards the Hungarian mentor team met the Afghan colleagues in an excellent atmosphere. The Afghan pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians welcomed the Hungarian specialists – their workmates for the next four months to be spent in the spirit of mutual assistance and learning – with a kind of joy and openness that might seem unusual to Hungarian eyes. According to schedule, they will first focus on classroom instruction and later the on-the-job flying will play an increasing role.

Besides the smiles, the signs of cooperation include some traces of sweat after a Saturday PT session was held for the interested ones by Maj. Attila Suszter, the commander of the AMT-6 in conjunction with his US partner. The international joint PT session proved that after the necessary acclimatization, Hungarian soldiers are capable of almost anything at an elevation of 1800 meters…