“Gentlemen, It Is Good To See You Home!’

On Feburary 24, General (eng.) László Tömböl was received with military honours by the HDF 25th ’György Klapka’ Infantry Brigade in Tata. The MoD Chief of Defence Staff came to the barracks of the ’City of Waters’ for the welcome back ceremony of the second rotation of the US–Hungarian OMLT.

Lieutenant General Tibor Benkõ, Commander, HDF Joint Forces Command, Colonel Robert W. Duggleby, US military attaché accredited to Budapest, and András Tatai-Tóth, MP were also present at the event.

The ceremony began with the garrison band playing the national anthems of Hungary and the United States, followed by the presentation of recognitions and awards. General Tömböl presented Service Medals ’For Peacekeeping’ and recognitions awarded by the defence minister, while Lieutenant General Benkõ gave away commemorative coins to the personnel.

– Gentlemen, it is good to see you home! Safe and sound after a work done properly and honourably – General Tömböl began his address. He said the troops who have just returned have proven in the past months that Hungarian soldiers know what to do and they are competent. US and Hungarian troops together are capable of carrying out the tasks assigned to them.

The assignment they have undertaken and from which they have returned after six months is not a simple one. It is a new type of task the Hungarian Defence Forces began in 2009 in Afghanistan – said the chief of defence staff, according to whom the troops who have returned have proven excellently: the competence and skills of Hungarian soldiers enable them to meet the requirements set for them.

General Tömböl pointed out: the service of the troops in Afghanistan might even be called emblematic, for the resolution of the problem of the Afghan people and the resolution of the conflict cannot be imagined without the participation and support of Afghan people and Afghan security forces. No country can and want to tolerate in the long run that instead of them, there are external forces guaranteeing the security and sovereignty of the country, not even if these forces arrive with friendly and supportive intentions.

The peoples of Afghanistan feel the need and have the intention to take their fate in their own hands. This is exactly what the mission and tasks of the OMLT were focused on. To give help and support so that the troops of the Afghan security forces can prepare for taking their fate in their own hands.

– I thank the Ohio National Guard for joining us on this assignment – said the chief of defence staff, who is proud of the performance the soldiers of the two countries have given in Afghanistan. For we have got to a stage where Hungarian troops, in cooperation with the soldiers of other nations, can carry out even the most complicated combat task.

In the opinion of Gen. Tömböl the knowledge with which the soldiers have returned after the six-month tour of duty is very important. And besides the troops themselves, the Hungarian Defence Forces also need this knowledge and experience.

– We will continue to have tasks in Afghanistan and the West Balkans in the future, and we have begun to lay the foundation stones of an African training mission. We will send trainers to Uganda probably this year, to help the training and preparation of Somalian security forces – announced the chief of defence staff.

At the end of the ceremony the representatives of the Field Chaplain Services of the Hungarian Defence Forces also congratulated the US and Hungarian soldiers who have returned from Afghanistan.