Whoever Helps Quickly Helps Doubly

In late May, Hungary’s defence attaché to Belgrade requested the Deputy Chief of Defence to make sure that until the end of August, the Hungarian Defence Forces provide a selective intensive training course in parachuting for two pilot candidates of the Serbian Air Force College, because otherwise their aircrew training certification would expire. The Deputy Chief of Defence tasked the nominated instructors of the Special Parachute Training Team of the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base with carrying out the training on the basis of a bilateral agreement of cooperation. At the request of the Serbian partners, in addition to the students, an airborne NCO instructor (as helper) and the deputy commandant of the officer training school (as inspector) also attended the course.

The training was conducted in English and included theoretical and practical elements from the training curriculum of Hungarian pilot candidates. During the first two weeks it focused on ground-based preparation, i.e. theoretical lessons, knowledge of parachute materials, packing, emergency procedures for jumps, and the options for contacting personnel recovery forces and assets after a possible emergency landing. After the theoretical lessons, a practical training followed on the third – and last – week, which comprised static line jumps and a tandem jump.

The training closed with a ceremony where Brig.-Gen. Imre Lamos, the commander of the Szolnok base handed over certificates of the successfully completed training course and souvenirs.

Photos by the author