Hungarian Logistic Team in EUTM Somalia

The primary mission of the team is to transport the members and guests of the mission between the camp and the airport – people travelling by UN and EU service flights arriving from Nairobi on most days of the week and those travelling by a daily scheduled flight arriving from Istanbul. In some cases, they are requested to carry out other kinds of transportation tasks within the airport zone. They supervise the entire motor vehicle pool of the mission, so their duties include cleaning, refuelling, maintaining and repairing the vehicles as well as coordinating and keeping records of their movements.

The team is responsible for the material categories of stationery, office supplies and furniture, so their duties include record-keeping and periodical stock-taking and full-scale administration of the local procurement process.

The team has a role in maintaining contact with the South African company running the camp, since this company takes care of catering for events and receptions on top of the regular daily meals as well as of placing orders for troubleshooting and repair works in community buildings and for minor rearrangements.

Due to the character of their tasks, it is important that the team members have good interpersonal and communication skills as they regularly meet the personnel of the mission and liaise with the representatives of local authorities, suppliers and merchants. They maximally fulfil this requirement, and when one travels with them in the area of Mogadishu airport, one can see that a lot of people greet them as personal acquaintances. The members of the mission also profit from these relationships, because – although their status and movement are governed by agreements – the positive attitude and good will of airport officials does matter a lot, and basically, these are ensured by the team members’ presence and professionalism, so this atmosphere of trust helps the successful management of procurements as well.

The currently deployed personnel of the arrived in Somalia in July, and their tour of duty will end in early December. The two subordinate NCOs are scheduled to rotate out, but the team leader’s tour has been prolonged by six months, which ensures the necessary continuity and the smooth execution of the tasks in the future.