Busy Days in the Sinai Peninsula

He added that during the joint work, the soldiers have opportunity to acquire many special police skills. On the occasion of the significant day, the leaders of the contingent awarded a certificate to the policemen serving in the peninsula, in recognition of their work.

The reception of guests from Hungary is not an everyday event in the life of the contingent either. This time, the occasion was even more special because a police delegation arrived. From the staff of the Hungarian Police, the delegation visiting the MFO mission included Police Col. Dr. Ferenc Horpácsi, Head of the Department of Education and Training, Human Resource Management Service, National Police Headquarters, Police Lt.-Col. Tamás Fekete, desk officer and Police Maj. Tamás Csatai, distinguished senior lecturer.

The main objective of their visit was to gain experience. The high-ranking visitors inspected, among others, the investigation process of traffic accident scenes in a mission environment. They did so to make sure that the further pre-deployment training can be built on fresh and real-world lessons learned. Besides, the visitors learnt about and inspected the daily work of policemen serving in the peninsula and the current security situation. While in the north and the south camps, they inspected the military police situation and the hands-on professional activity, and went on a trip along the inland road network to learn about local traffic conditions. After analysis, they can make use of the lessons learned in pre-deployment training for missions to be conducted in international environments, and their visit provides good feedback for developing the trade training part of the pre-deployment training as well.

The members of the delegation were received by MFO Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Denis Thompson (Canadian Armed Forces), and Lt.-Col. Oscar Pintado, the commander of the MFO South Camp.

Needless to say, beyond the events and assigned tasks, the contingent continues to implement the hands-on training sessions too. The multinational environment enables soldiers and policemen to acquire new types of knowledge and to broaden their skills and capabilities, for which opportunity is provided by their participation in target practices of other contingents and various tactical exercises and driving practices, for instance. At the same time, the changing security situation in the region requires them to acquire driving/maintenance skills for armored vehicles as well.

Photo: MFO Hungarian contingent