US–Hungarian Joint Combined Exchange Training

The commander of the ODA from Colorado State said that the exchange was a unique opportunity for the Americans to acquire skills for weapons that are widely used in the area of operations. The ODA members learnt a lot of lessons and hope that, in exchange, they will be able to share their knowledge.

The commander of the Hungarian ODA conducting the Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) – an exercise based on US–Hungarian exchange of experiences – told us that during the training sessions the personnel of both nations execute the tasks, and then they execute them in combined fire teams so that soldiers can learn how to bridge the gap between differences in tactics and overcome the language barrier.

Col. Tim Manning, the head of the Office of Defense Cooperation, Embassy of the United States, Hungary also visited the exercise. After a brief introduction to the soldiers and their weapons, the colonel soon lay behind a machine gun in order to learn how to use it personally.

Col. Manning told us why it is important to hold such combined training exercises. He said the day was a great example of cooperation between the two nations, as they fought together and trained together to be able to meet the challenges in the area of operations.

“The Americans are very good soldiers, their individual training standards are very high. In my opinion, the training standards of Hungarian ODAs and their ability to cooperate are best shown by their participation in joint operations conducted in the Afghanistan theatre" – Col. Tamás Sándor, the commander of the HDF 34th “Bercsényi László" Special Forces Battalion told us.

Photo: Veronika Dévényi