Mission Started…

Szöveg: Ferenc Antal | 2011. szeptember 15. 14:31

The 11th rotation of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT-11) departed for the mission in Afghanistan at dawn on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 from the Debrecen Airport. Their task is to support the Afghan Government, to sustain the safe environment and to help the reconstruction in the war-weary region.

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The soldiers leaving from the Szolnok base in the evening of August 23, arrived by buses to the airport, in the company of their loved ones. The members of the rotation were also accompanied by the Zrínyi Média staff to Debrecen. The farewell ceremony of the now departing servicemen, took place in Szolnok on August 16. Their mission rehearsal training (MRT) was going on since March. During this period they spent more than five weeks in the Táborfalva Training Base, where they have prepared for all unexpected situations that might occur in the course of the six-month tour of duty abroad. They built the small scale model of the base in Afghanistan, and followed the mission’s daily routine.

First the Croatian, Montenegrin and Albanian troops arrived in Debrecen, who had been practicing with their Hungarian comrades since June 14 in Táborfalva, then appeared the vehicles transporting the first Hungarian soldiers. The terminal is still empty, most people assembling in groups in front of the building talk about the approaching mission, while others exchange a last embrace with their loved ones.

The commander of the unit held a short briefing for the personnel gathering in the departure lounge, and after the information about the safety measures and the regulations, the soldiers put their parcels on the conveyor belt. The majority of them were acting routinely, many of them perform their umpteenth mission, and accordingly a well-prepared, cohesive community leaves for the mission. After their marching orders and personal documents were checked, the members of the contingent –– passing through the metal detecting door frame got into the inner waiting-room, where they had to wait for many hours until they took a glimpse of the lights of the airplane in the night sky at dawn of August 24. The soldiers, who had been waiting patiently so far began to prepare themselves, and lined up for the last control.

While the service crew placed the packages of the servicemen in the luggage compartment of the Airplane Boeing 737 that arrived from Romania everybody occupied his seat. After boarding the flight, the airplane set out for the runway, and the figures waving in the windows became smaller and smaller, then disappeared in the night. In a short time only the lights of the airplane were visible, which slowly turned onto the runway, then abruptly accelerating climbed sharply up into the air.

The Debrecen Airport did not remain empty for long: the contributors of the Zrínyi Média Kft. also travelled to Afghanistan with the next plane after the Hungarian soldiers, who relieved their comrades having served with the PRT-10. Upon handing over the area of responsibility (AOR) the contingent of the PRT-10, mission completed, began their returning home to Hungary on September 9.