Ceremonial Units Meet in the Capital of the Czech Republic
Szöveg: Teréz Regős | 2016. augusztus 6. 14:42For the tenth time, the garrison town of Prague organized the traditional Drill Fest for military ceremonial units in this summer. Like in earlier years, the Special Ceremonial Group of the 32nd National Military Parade Unit, Parade Battalion of the HDF vitéz Szurmay Sándor Budapest Garrison Brigade also participated in the event.
The brigade commander was represented by Lt.-Col. Tamás Zsolnai (left in the photo), the commanding officer of the parade battalion, while the 18-strong Special Ceremonial Group was led by Maj. Péter Szücs, (right in the photo), the chief of staff of the parade battalion.
“Besides Hungary, the invitees to the annual event are Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland. The Drill Fest is always hosted by Prague, being an official ceremony for the civilian public. On the first day, after their arrival, the groups were provided with accommodation and briefing. In the following morning, the participating nations rehearsed the schedule of the ceremony, and then jointly marched to the venue of this year’s event, Wenceslas Square", Maj. Péter Szücs told us.
The nations held the exhibition drill programs in the center of the square, and the audience gave them a huge applause. Appearing third, the Hungarian military drill team wanted to involve the spectators too, so while marching in the square, a member of the team “hid" among them in civilian clothes. “We were imitating that one of our soldiers was lost, and I ordered the others to find somebody in the audience so that our group can have full strength. “Accidentally", the person picked out was our own soldier in civilian clothes. Everybody was clapping to encourage our team member, who took over his parade uniform and then our official program commenced. It did not differ from our usual performance, except that this time two times six personnel executed the exhibition drill. As a special feature, I should add that this was the first time that we had appeared in our parade uniform with white fringes – this is how Maj. Szücs recalled the event.
At the end of the ceremony, the nations held a joint parade march. In the evening, the military drill teams attended an official reception in downtown Prague, where they consumed traditional Czech national dishes and drinks.
On the last day of the Drill Feast, the garrison commander of Prague thanked all participants for coming. “Based on the feedback and my experience, I can safely say that we have worthily represented Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces through our approach to the tasks and their disciplined execution", Lt.-Col. Tamás Zsolnai said in summing up the display of the Hungarian team.
Photos: Maj. Péter Szücs and Cpl. Zsolt Szabó
