Chemical Protection Troops Performed At Their Best

At the Joint Forces Command the guests were greeted by Brigadier General László Domján, who briefly told about the organisational structure, tasks, and operational experiences of the command. After the presentation the guests were taken to the Várpalota firing range of the HDF Bakony Combat Training Centre by bus.

The troops of the chemical protection battalion deployed to the firing range were awaiting the diplomats with a good weather and several static and dynamic demonstration programs. The guests were welcomed by Colonel (eng.) Zoltán Szombati, the battalion commander. Following that, Lieutenant Colonel János Miklovich told in detail about the history and the current activities of the NBC battalion, its organisational structure, duties of the corps, organisation of related training, and frequency of exercises testing preparation. During the demonstration special emphasis was put on tasks the battalion is capable of executing in the event of nuclear, chemical and biological attack, as well as their units and equipments used for this purpose.

After the presentation the demonstrations began. First radiation reconnaissance and assessment was conducted with the equipments of an Mi-24 helicopter in the area of alleged combat activities. The helicopter was sweeping the contaminated area and forwarded the data to the computers of the moving assessment team. The instruments for measuring radiation were placed in a container outside the helicopter.

In the second demonstration, BTR-80 combat vehicles conducted reconnaissance in an area contaminated with chemical poisons. With the instruments mounted on the vehicles the troops identified the pollutants and marked the borders of the contaminated area. Reconnaissance troops got out of one of the vehicles and took samples of soil and vegetation then carried out personal decontamination. The soldiers measured the radiation level of BTRs returning from the contaminated area and partially decontaminated them on the spot.

After the dynamic display the guests went to the static posts. Here the diplomats could take a closer look at the equipments they saw in use in the dynamic display and learn about their functions, and their questions regarding technical specifications were also answered. The diplomats had the opportunity to take the equipments in their hands and discuss their questions directly with the experts.