Development Of Mission Capabilities To Continue

The MoD Chief of the Defence Staff emphasized at the personnel assembly held in Camp Saint Stephen of the Hungarian platoon, in the town of Athienou: it is a pleasure that there has been an increase in the number of people signing up for military service, and recruitment, admission and preparation will continue in the future as well, "all depending on the possibilities."

In the opinion of Gen. László Tömböl, exercise Deployment Direction 2009, which has demonstrated the activity of the engineering support battalions in the framework of a joint forces exercise this year, was productive. The general told the troops that according to the plans a similar event may begin as early as May 2010, and what is more, in a special form, together with international exercise Clever Ferret: this would enable the military forces of the participating countries to demonstrate the tasks carried out by their troops in international missions.

As regards the missions, the chief of defence staff mentioned them respectively; first he spoke about the Balkans, since both the KFOR and the Althea operations will be transformed soon. In the case of the KFOR, the number of personnel will be decreased to 2,500-3,500 troops in 24-28 months, but the specific numbers depend on the conditions. The decision about transformation has also been reached in the case of the international forces stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina: the deterrent force will gradually turn into a force pursuing training/support activities, in which probably 15-20 Hungarian soldiers will participate. As of January, Hungary will take over the position of the deputy commander of the Althea mission, which will grant a considerable weight to our country again.

Concerning Afghanistan, first Gen. László Tömböl reminded the audience of the report of Stanley McChrystal: in the opinion of the supreme commander of the forces in Afghanistan it is necessary to accelerate the training of local security forces, and to increae their number from 240,000, the original plan, to 400,000 by 2013. Moreover, he also believes there is a need for further troop increase. The Military Committee of the NATO also supports the notions of General McChrystal.

The activity of pirates in the Gulf of Aden cannot be handled permanently until the land bases of the criminals exist – pointed out László Tömböl, who also told the troops that the defence forces will also participate in the training of the Somalian security forces, which will take place in Uganda according to the current plans, although no final decision has been reached in this issue so far. Three Hungarian senior officers are already in Djibouti to study the activity of the French instructors and gain experiences in this area.