Medal Parade in Kabul

Following the words of command of Senior Warrant Officer Sándor Gombos, the Command Sergeant Major (CSM) of the Contingent, the HDF KAIA FPC “medal parade" ceremony commenced on October 3 – in the traditional manner in NATO – at the arrival of Brigadier General Olivier Taprest, the Commander of the Kabul International Airport (KAIA) and the Contingent Commander Colonel Zoltán Apáti.

The French Commander of the Airport congratulated the Hungarian troops upon the service, with which they have deserved from the very beginning the recognition and the NATO medal. “Thanks for everything that Hungary here, in Afghanistan accomplished, and thank you for your professional working performance in Kabul", said the Commander in his speech.

In what follows the Portuguese Senior National Representative awarded the Portuguese distinction to 10 service members from among our troops, who performed their service outstandingly well in the KAIA international staff and in the personnel of the Force Protection Squadron.

In his speech, Colonel Zoltán Apáti stressed that the inscription on the NATO Medal that reads “In Service of Peace and Freedom" covers everything that our soldiers have achieved in the past six months, and it serves as an acknowledgement, an eternal memory for their self-sacrificing efforts taken for peace and freedom. He thanked the different nations for their co-operation, as a multinational environment is full of challenges, which they can only meet by working together at all times.

On behalf of the Hungarian Minister of Defence and the commander of the HDF Joint Forces Command, Antal Drágos, the Ambassador of Hungary to Kabul conferred Hungarian distinctions upon the foreign troops.

At the end of the event, the signing of the TOA (transfer of authority) document of the Airport Mentoring Team took place. Colonel Gyula Kovács handed over his position – after a one-year long service – to his French successor.

The second rotation of the HDF Kabul International Airport Force Protection Contingent (HDF KAIA FPC) provided force protection of ISAF strategic point, the Kabul Airport since April 1 for six months. The protection of the camp was such a task, which definitely showed, that the Allied Forces trusted in the preparedness of the Hungarian soldiers.

During the past half year, each of the squads of the force protection squadron carried out 140 service duties at the entry control points of the airport, and they spent 28 days securing the round-the-clock operation of the Quick Reaction Forces (QRC). The service members of the Contingent were checking the outbound and inbound traffic of over a thousand vehicles and more than a hundred people entering and leaving the camp per day.

One of the priority goals of the ISAF-mission is to improve the population’s living conditions. In doing so, the contingent – besides their operational tasks-, devoted priority attention to the support of the population as well. In the course of this activity, they gave assistance through more than twenty mentoring projects to the local population living near the airport.