Italian General Visits Centre

In the first half of the conversation, Col. Csaba Szilágyi, Commandant, HDF CIMIC & PSYOPS Centre gave an update about the structure of the military organization and the personnel’s preparedness for performing standby duties. Among others, he mentioned that in November 2016, the designated soldiers of the center joined Exercise European Wind 2016 to demonstrate their professional skills and preparedness, and then, in the interest of skill retention, last month they participated in the CIMIC tactical and staff officer course held by the NATO CIMIC Centre of Excellence as well as in other general military and vocational training programs organized by the center. Col. Szilágyi emphasized that already this year, by using the lessons learned during the standby service, and by attending national and international courses and exercises, they are going to start preparing for the V4 EU BG standby period, which is due in 2019 and in which the personnel of the center are scheduled to take part with similar strength and role.

After the commander’s update, Capt. László Tánczos, the commander of the Hungarian CIMIC Group of the DECI EU BG reported on the composition and readiness state of those participating in the service. He noted that last year was the first year in the history of the EU BG when the non-kinetic capabilities were provided by the Hungarian Defence Forces as a lead nation and within them, the HDF CIMIC & PSYOPS Centre. Composed of the declared forces of V4 countries, the battle group was on standby from 1 January to 30 June 2016, in which a significant number of soldiers from the center filled positions as staff officers at the force headquarters (FHQ) of the battle group, and also on the executive level in CIMIC and PSYOPS teams.

This year also holds professional challenges for the personnel of the HDF CIMIC & PSYOPS Centre, as a 20-strong Hungarian team is to provide non-kinetic capabilities in the EU BG formed on the basis of the MLF in the framework of the DECI with Italy as lead nation, complemented by soldiers from the Austrian and Croatian armed forces. In addition, Col. Csaba Szilágyi, the commandant of the center is serving as deputy chief of staff of the Force Headquarters (FHQ) in the standby period from 1 January to 30 June 2017.

The update and the report were followed by a ceremony in which tokens of appreciations were handed over between the two commanders and the command sergeant majors, who were also present at the event.

Photos by the author