Deployment Direction 2009 To Begin

According to the information given on Thursday by the commander of the temporary camp, Colonel József Nyers, the teams preparing the exercise have been working since 17 August; the camp that can accommodate more than 1,300 troops (in case it is operated by a full staff) is already set up, and the necessary equipments have also arrived. In all probability, by 6 September they will have full staff numbers and sets of equipment. The commander of the camp said: most of the troops participating in the computer-aided tactical exercise are from the 5th infantry brigade, the 37th engineering battalion, and the Kaposvár regiment. They will revive old military capabilities that haven’t been utilized in a long time, therefore their implementation will be a new challenge for both the personnel and the military equipments to be deployed. They will demonstrate the cooperation of the military organizations of the ground force and the air force, as well as the EOD and warship corps, the engineering capabilities, and the infantry forces contributed to international assignments.

The exercise will be conducted south of the town of Ercsi in the former river crossing field exercise area near the Danube, where the troops will perform water crossing for which they will use every regular military equipment from ferries to bridges. On Thursday the ribbon bridge consisting of more than seventy blocks has been constructed. The formal opening of the exercise will be on 31 August, and on 15 September a demonstration day will be held, to which dignitaries and military leaders have also been invited.

Since 2005…

The series of field exercises titled ’Deployment Direction’ started in 2005. The aim of the very first exercise was to demonstrate the new organizations created after the reorganization in 2004, primarily the new format infantry battalions and the accompanying combat support and service support units, together with the command system that leads and controls the battalions involved. In addition to that, the invitees could learn more about new military capabilities created by the general staff of the time. As it turned out, such capabilities were for instance the technical equipments and units used for reconnaissance and the deployment of special operational and engineering activities (water purification units), and the forces that could also be used for national defence tasks. The most important aim, however, was to demonstrate the successful cooperation of the land forces and the air force. The 2005 exercise had a twofold task: on the one hand the forces and equipments used in various mission activities had to be exercised, on the other hand the manoeuvres serving the purpose of national defence also had to be synchronized. It was a battalion combat group level exercise, onto which a dynamic display was built, therefore the regular technical equipments and aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces were demonstrated in action. This year was also the first when not only the professionals, but also a wider audience had a chance to see the static display phase of the exercise.

Exercise Deployment Direction 2006 was conducted by the 25th infantry brigade of Tata. Beyond practicing command and personnel leadership skills, the exercise also demonstrated the activity of the forces participating in peacekeeping operations, with the help of setting up a fully equipped peacekeepers’ camp and demonstrating its activity, especially to reflect the conditions in Afghanistan.
Exercise Deployment Direction 2007 was built on the units of the Hungarian Defence Forces 5th ‘István Bocskai’ Infantry Brigade. The aim was to demonstrate national defence capabilities in the framework of a complex tactical field exercise combined with the live fire exercise of the battalion combat group, and the accompanying command and personnel leadership exercises. Other important goals were to amalgamate the newly created command and to make the cooperation between the land forces and the air force perfect

Deployment Direction 2008 was a sequel to the previous year’s exercise, chiefly aiming at demonstrating national defence capabilities. The command and leadership exercise was named ’Bocskai Fokos [hatchet] 2008’ and was identical with the basic data of the exercise in the previous year but the set of tasks called ’Host Nation Support’ was also added to it. The primary tasks were to receive and cover the incoming allied NATO troops and if necessary, prepare them for deployment. In the terrain the main focus for the personnel was to practice in the framework of tactical field exercises combined with live fire exercises, thus bringing the cooperation of the land and the air force to perfection.