After A Difficult Year, Another Difficult Year Ahead

General László Tömböl was received with military honours at the HDF Joint Forces Command (HDF JFC) in Székesfehérvár. The chief of defence staff came to the largest military garrison in Transdanubia for the assessment and tasking meeting held by the commander of the JFC. The personnel of the JFC, the commanders and representatives of subordinate military corps were summoned to the event. Lieutenant General Tibor Benkõ, the commander of the HDF Joint Forces Command began his speech with the evaluation of the previous year. In connection with command in time of peace, he said that the JFC and the subordinate military organizations operate a unified command structure. He added: in 2009, the quality of internal communication and cooperation between the command and the corps was still below the required level.

As regards the evaluation of tasks in times of other than peace, Gen. Benkõ emphasized that based on the orders given by the chief of defence staff, the general staff of the JFC have elaborated the concept of the command system and completed the preparation of designated command units.

Military culture and training

In 2009, personnel departments focused their activities on the retention of personnel, filling mission posts with competent personnel, improvement of quality indices, and the legally compliant, professional handling of the matters of people leaving the organization – said the commander, who also told the attendees that even though in the first half of the previous year, significant progress has been made in the recruitment and retention of contracted servicemen, the substantial lack of personnel still causes problems. Compared with the established staff numbers, there is a need for nearly 3,000 contracted servicemen in the subordinate corps.

In his evaluation Lt.Gen. Tibor Benkõ underlined that the strengthening of military culture is a legitimate demand. In the scope of this, it is important to maintain a continuous dialogue, paying special attention to internal communication and the organization and operation of authentic information provision for society. The commander also mentioned that as regards the promotion of military culture, special attention has to be paid to the preservation of traditional military values in the future as well.

The commander continued with the achievements in military training and preparation in 2009. He stressed that last year, they were focusing on the maintenance of the operability of the training system and the preservation of existing capabilities. The training and preparation tasks have been carried out successfully, and exercise Deployment Direction 2009, Logistic System Exercise 2009, and anti-aircraft missile exercise Swinging Sword 2009 were especially important.

At the corps of the land branch, in the area of preparation and training, emphasis was put on the training of mission units – added the lieutenant general, who expressed his special thanks to the commanders and troops of the Tata and the Debrecen infantry brigades and the Szolnok Helicopter Base for having conducted the extra basic trainings. 350 raw recruits were trained last year in Tata, Hódmezõvásárhely, and Szolnok.

The branches have performed well

In his assessment of land organizations Gen. Benkõ underlined: in the corps that belong to this branch, 82 per cent of the posts were filled in the previous year. The special units have performed their preparation and training tasks and ensured the completion of peace mission tasks and the provision of armed and unarmed standby services.

– I believe it is a considerable progress in the field of peace training, that the restoration of a former capability of infantry units equipped with BTRs, overcoming obstacles in water has begun in 2009 – said the commander of the JFC, in the opinion of whom the land organizations of the military have performed well in the previous year.

In 2009, 85 per cent of the posts were filled at JFC military organizations that belong to the air force – Lt.Gen. Benkõ informed the participants. As regards their training and preparation, emphasis was put on the training of the crew of NATO’s air standby and air search and rescue services, the preparation of troops and teams selected for missions, the training of contributed and response forces, and the preparation of organizations operating on the basis of bilateral and multilateral agreements. In addition to this, the preparation of staff for the Tactical Air Control Party continued in 2009, and the Gripen squadron also continued the further training of aviation crew who had completed their re-training course – listed Gen. Benkõ, who said that on the whole, the military organizations of the air force have performed well.

91 per cent of the posts were filled at the logistic organizations of the JFC – emphasized the lieutenant general – while due to the special nature of logistic preparations, the trainings and practices were conducted in the scope of the exercises. In addition to this, Logistic System Exercise 2009 played a key role in testing the operation of the transformed consumer logistic network in a period other than peace.

According to Lt.Gen. Benkõ the new legal regulation has made the sale of inactive equipment more efficient, as a result of which the storage facilities of the HDF Logistics Supply Base in Felcsút, Budafok-Háros and Nyíregyháza have been emptied. In the opinion of the commander the activity of logistics organizations in 2009 created proper conditions for the successful performance of duties.

– In 2009, the operational forces and the corps in the homeland received proper medical care – Gen. Benkõ announced at the end of his evaluation, adding: in the homeland, the situation is still critical as regards is the number of specialist medical staff and this also has an effect on how specialist posts can be filled in operational areas.

Tasks, requirements in 2010

Moving on to the tasks the general underlined that in 2010, similarly to previous years, special attention has to be paid to improving the quality of internal communication and cooperation between the command and the military organizations. In addition, the commanders will take on the important responsibility of selecting the troops for NATO and national positions, organizing their preparation and training, and planning the new posting of troops who finish their service abroad.

Gen. Benkõ pointed out in connection with the development of military culture and the retention of personnel that in addition to financing courses facilitating the reintegration of discharged troops into the labour market, greater emphasis has to be put on prevention and retention support. The extension of the reconversion opportunities of those who are planning to leave the military has to be reviewed, bearing in mind the support options entitled "Labour market reintegration training program for the military", and it has to be ensured that the way trainings that satisfy labour market demands are conducted is in accordance with advancement and specialist trainings.

The most important land training event of the year will be tactical and command post exercise Clever Ferret 2010, to be conducted in Hungary between May 17 and June 6 – said Lt.Gen. Benkõ, who also told the invitees that the Tisza Engineering Battalion’s disaster prevention exercise called Blond Avalanche, and Tisza 2010, a Romanian–Hungarian–Serbian joint disaster management exercise, to be conducted in the course of the preparation of special engineering units, will also be important this year.

As regards training, the commander of the JFC said the main duties of the military organizations of the air force branch will be to run courses for the staff of NATO’s armed anti-aircraft standby and air search and rescue services, as well as troops and units preparing for missions.

– In connection with discipline, as regards the use and sale of drugs and alcohol consumption, similarly to our practice in the past, you must still apply the ’zero tolerance’ principle – Lt.Gen. Benkõ gave the order. The general finished the tasking meeting with telling the audience that on November 27, 2009, the defence minister has declared the JFC a scientific research facility, therefore in 2010, the conditions for the operation of the research facility have to be established, and a long term agreement on scientific cooperation with institutions of higher education and research workshops in the region has to be prepared.

Defending the country, allied operations

The annual asssessment and tasking meeting continued with the remarks of General László Tömböl. The chief of defence staff emphasized: 2009 was a very difficult year for the soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces. But the greatest result of the work done in the previous year is that we have managed to maintain the operability of the defence forces.

– I think the leaders of the JFC have given a fair judgement of the situation and achievements of subordinate military organizations, and this enables us to assign tasks we have a real chance to carry out this year – said the chief of defence staff, in the opinion of whom 2010 will be as difficult as the previous year.

In his comments Gen. Tömböl expressed his conviction that the direction the JFC and subordinate military organizations are heading in is good. The main duty of the commanders of the corps should be to maintan these achievements and if possible, continue the development.

– We cannot give up attaining our strategic objectives. Therefore it is very important that tasks related to the defence of the country are maintained in the future as well. In addition to that, our participation in allied operations will still be necessary and important in the coming period – said the chief of defence staff, adding that priorities have not changed, but the Hungarian Defence Forces are extending their participation in Afghanistan. At the same time, we will continue to be present in the Balkans until the situation requires so.

Gen. Tömböl continued with the key tasks in 2010, such as preparing for the military duties of the rotating presidency of the European Union, and resolving the issues related to the introduction of the voluntary reservist system.

At the end of his short speech the chief of defence staff thanked the commanders and subordinate personnel for the work they have done in the previous year.