Largest Exercise of the Year Begins

In his opening address Chief of Defence Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő said that the aim of the training exercise is to prepare the HDF personnel for carrying out the statutory duties of the military to full extent.

“The training objective is that all of you can master the operation of the pieces of equipment that serve the defense of the homeland and your protection" – said the Chief of Defence in his address to the personnel lined up in the central training area and shooting range. He added that the largest training exercise of the year focuses on territorial defence.

“Do your best, aim at successful task execution!" – this was Gen. Tibor Benkő’s advice to the troops.

The battalion battle group-level complex tactical field training exercise, combined with a live fire exercise at a certain stage, will demonstrate the actions to be performed by the nominated units of the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF 25th ’Klapka György’ Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Battalion) in the initial phase of the armed defence of the country. Furthermore, the exercise is aimed at practicing the elements of the battlefield healthcare system in cooperation with NATO forces.

The main objective of the exercise is to provide troops with an opportunity to practice, to master the tactical and operational techniques and procedures, and to demonstrate the actions carried out by the personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces during the execution of territorial defence tasks. During the training exercise, some modular elements will be added to the infantry battalion of the Tata brigade to form a battalion battle group. The exercise scenario concerns a fictitious operational situation in which a battalion deploys to engage the OPFOR elements, holds up the enemy’s advance and reassigns the battle task to the first echelon units of the brigade.

During exercise Dynamic Cooperation 2011, our country will host the COMEDS (Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services) meeting of NATO member states, which is organized by the Medical Directorate of the HDF Defence Staff. The COMEDS conference schedule includes the multinational medical capability demonstration “Vigorous Warrior 2011", which forms an integral part of Dynamic Cooperation 2011, as it will commence after the final phase of the exercise which involves MEDEVACing the troops wounded in action (WIA) from the battlefield. Vigorous Warrior 2011 is aimed at demonstrating the range of combat casualty care (CCC) for troops wounded during defensive combat as well as the use of the different elements and levels of medical care (ROLE) in providing medical treatment on the battlefield and at the home front, and the opportunities for interoperability with NATO forces. The medical capability demonstration is to be conducted with the participation of German, Dutch, Czech, French, and Hungarian medical units. The COMEDS meeting will take place in Hungary between 610 June.

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Photo: Gábor Galovtsik