Black Hawk Down in Hajdúhadház

The sky above the training base of Hajdúhadház was loud with the roar of the MI8 helicopters’ gas turbines. The dust stirred up by the rotors made it almost impossible to see anything. Nevertheless, the soldiers securing the landing ground surrounded by a triple protective zone fought the sand storm and the wind of the rotors like real men, and did what they had to do in a disciplined way. Their task was to rescue a mate who got in trouble, by a helicopter, and to transport a team trained in crowd dispersal to the site of the turmoil by air. This was the scenario of the Hajdúhadház exercise which was practiced by the troops of the Hungarian KFOR corps that will set off for Western Kosovo in due course.

MEDEVAC was yesterday’s magic word. For those who haven’t served in the army or those who have experienced it a long time ago perhaps the best way to describe this experience is comparing it to the movie ‘Black Hawk Down’ — more specifically, the task was to rescue a mate or mates who have been wounded in the riots, and start crowd dispersal operations. At least until the moment when our soldiers, wearing a gear which is quite similar to the one worn by the storm troopers of the Empire, and huge plexiglass shields are able to get on the MI8 helicopter with spinning rotors without any disturbance. Not an easy task. I can testify to that, since it was difficult to jump on the aircraft quickly even in sneakers and jeans.

As early as 10.00 am the sun was blazing down the exercise ground of Hajdúhadház at a nearly perpendicular angle, and due to the draught of the last days the conditions were almost like in Iraq. Naturally, this didn’t bother anyone. They have formed a tree-fold protective zone around the landing ground and a green smoke went up the air. The sky was vibrating by the noise of gas turbines, and for a couple of moments soldiers couldn’t see anything in the sand storm caused by the rotor. In spite of this, getting on or off the aircraft took less than two minutes. Of course, a lot depended on a given situation, namely when one had to carry his weapons only when getting on the helicopter, or when they had to carry the stretcher of their wounded mate, as well. This wasn’t a minor task, either. Still the troops lifted the wounded soldier up to the entrance in no time, which is of a man’s height from the ground.

The exercise was an integral part of the training of troops to set off for Western Kosovo. Practically, this was the penultimate momentum. Following this experience there is only a two-day complex military exercise left for our boys … and girls. Since there were some troops who – in addition to the camouflage uniform, the kit and the weapon — haven’t forgotten about their daytime makeup, either.

Major Attila Enyedi described the task as a complex peacekeeping exercise. As the liaison officer explained, in their destination, Western Kosovo, it is likely that they will have the opportunity to participate in similar live situations. They even envisage crowd dispersal tasks, therefore getting on and off aircrafts in protective gear and carrying a shield must be practiced on skill-level.

They don’t have much time left to do so, since the first group of the planned 450-strong contingent is to set off for the town of Pec in mid-July – told us László Mórucz. The Lieutenant Colonel added: they will travel in several phases, the last ’round’ is to take off on 22 August. They will be engaged in classic peacekeeping operations in Western Kosovo, within the KFOR forces. The Hungarian team will take over the tasks of the current Slovenian-Italian-Hungarian battalion, which will consist of two nations from that time on, namely Slovenians and Hungarians, operating under Hungarian command.

As László Mórucz highlighted, 90 percent of the more than 400-strong team come from HDF 5th ‘István Bocskai’ Infantry Brigade, and only soldiers fulfilling certain special tasks — for instance the medic of the team — arrive from other places. As regards team members’ becoming accustomed to each other and fellowship, it is an asset that even within Infantry Brigade No5 it is the first infantry battalion that makes up the contingent. And speaking of getting used to each other and fellowship, the troops will be in great need of both, since the situation is still pliable in Kosovo, which has become independent recently.