“Once they Put on the Uniform, Everyone will Look the Same…”

Tuesday, June 7, 10 a.m.: the HDF Central Training Base in Szentendre is extremely busy, as future enlisted men join up and begin their basic military training on this day. The Szentendre base organizes five basic trainings a year for enlisted personnel, usually for 120–130 new recruits at a time. This year – in February and April – a total of 259 young people put on the uniform in the barracks of the town on the banks of the Danube.

“The 14-week basic training commences on June 8 with the commander’s briefing and tasking" – Col. Zsolt Mikusi tells us about the three-month basic training of new recruits. He adds that they expect around 190 people to sign on in the second half of the year, in September and November.

Following the arrival of the recruits, they register and their particulars are checked, then they sign on with a military organization. This is where representatives of the two recruitment/augmentation commands transfer the young recruits to their “parent units", that is, the military organization where the soldiers will serve following the completion of basic training. As we are told, the majority of recruits have come from Eastern Hungary this time, and they will be posted to the same region. On the one hand, this part of our country has the highest number of job-seekers, on the other hand, there are more military units in the area.

Here we meet Tamás Bíró, who came from Bugac and will serve in Hódmezővásárhely as a mechanic after the training. He does not know much about what lies ahead of him, but he already has some ideas of soldiering.

Sergeant First Class Edina Kaszabné Petróczi, who has been serving as an NCO at the personnel and HR section of the HDF 34th Bercsényi László SOF Battalion for ten years, knows more than that. “Although it is the first time I am in charge of the in-processing" – she says proudly. “I am waiting for two people but they are not unknown to me, for they have been to Szolnok and seen the unit six weeks ago, on an introductory visit" – she adds.

In-processing usually goes smoothly at the base. People do not have to wait for long anywhere, there is no sign of stress or haste, for in Szentendre every officer and NCO is aware of his or her duty and performs it properly. Between the different stages of the process, civilians in small groups of 8–10 are escorted by soldiers. And even though it takes quite a long time for them to line up, and the double-file formation is not yet perfect, there is no straying or hanging around.

In the meantime breakfast packs, lunch and supper vouchers are distributed among the new recruits, and those who are thirsty can have a tea. "Today we have bean goulash and scones for lunch" – tells us a nice lady who is wearing a white apron. The hosts have seemed to care about everything…

As regards their education, there is a university graduate and four college graduates among the recruits. The majority – a total of 96 persons – completed a vocational secondary school or industrial school, 20 of them have a GCSE, and the rest of the group have signed on with an elementary school certificate.

Within the HDF CTB’s military organization responsible for basic, re- and follow-on training, it is the Mecséri János Training Department that performs the specific training tasks. Here we meet First Lieutenant Gábor Durucz, company executive officer (XO), and two young men standing next to each other. One of them weighs some 60 kg, he is around 160 cm and his back is slightly bent, while the other has a muscular body weighing around 100 kg, and he is at least 185 cm tall. Interesting pair…

“What is your opinion of them?" – I am asking the first lieutenant (by the way he looks like a US marine). “Once they put on the uniform, everyone will look the same. The requirements and standards are also the same for everyone. Those who fulfill them will become soldiers, those who do not, won’t. It is as simple as that…"

As we learn from Col. Mikusi later: “Out of our 120–130 new recruits, generally there are only 5–10 who drop out during these three months. Mostly because they have medical or physical problems, or an unfortunate accident. The insignificant number of dropouts can be understood, for on the one hand the preliminary aptitude test is thorough, on the other, the overwhelming majority of applicants know the requirements."
While in the earlier years there were some people in their late thirties among the recruits, and even a mother of three among them, today the majority of the applicants are in their early 20s, or mid-20s at the most.

The young recruits receive their basic gears at one of the last stages, then they take it to their 7-14-bed billets and sign their oath.
In the four years that have passed since its establishment, the CTB has given the Hungarian Defence Forces thousands of enlisted personnel who had completed their basic training and passed their examination.

Presumably, this pattern will continue in the coming years as well, says Col. Zsolt Mikusi. “As you could see, the in-processing is carried out in a well-organized way, I would say routinely. For the time being, we do not want to change this process – not even in the near future. In all probability, we are going to refine it and make some modifications, but the method is basically good. We can say that in less than one day, everyone who joins up at the CTB is ready for the training. Tomorrow morning I will brief the Command Group, and following that, our joint work will commence."

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Photo: László Tóth