In a Flash… – Reporting from Afghanistan
Szöveg: Balázs Trautmann | 2012. május 27. 14:23…this was how the seventh rotation of the Mi-24 HDF Air Mentor Team arrived in Kabul. The C-160 Transall aircraft of the German Air Force played a considerable role in this. Fortunately, this time its fabulously sensitive self-protection (anti-missile countermeasure) system was not activated, so the one hour of flight time passed without much excitement. True, this meant that the spectacular popping of flares did not take place either.
Galéria
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.
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…
Photo: Veronika Dévényi
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