Joint Work, Joint Objectives
Szöveg: Cpl. Beáta C. Sárkány | 2014. július 5. 13:24The snipers and mortar crews of the 39th infantry battalion of the HDF 5th “Bocskai István” Infantry Brigade recently had opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities in an international environment. They executed their tasks under alpine conditions on the firing ranges of Bac and Postojna, Slovenia, as participants of Exercise Clever Ferret 2014 of the Multinational Land Force (MLF), in cooperation with Italian and Slovenian soldiers.
1st Lt. Zoltán Takó, the commander of the fire support cell told us that “This mission was special because we carried it out under alpine conditions, which has so far been unprecedented. The fire support elements were practicing in an international environment during a live fire exercise (LFX). The three – Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian – platoons were working together and performed the role of fire control and executive subunits in turns. This was significant because in this way, the three nations operated a joint fire support system. The fire control subunit requested fire support, designated the target, provided the coordinates and the executive platoon delivered fire. Both parties were responsible for the success of the LFX because you can deliver fire precisely only when the targets are precisely designated."
The snipers were training at the same location with their GEPÁRD M1, SVD and SZÉP M1 weapons. On the first day, the soldiers zeroed their small-caliber arms on a distance of 100 meters and then fired test shots at targets placed in distances of 300-800 meters. On the second day, they zeroed the large-caliber rifles and fired at pop-up targets with weapons of all types and calibers, where the specification of initial data was of primary importance. This is a complex task because in the case of pop-up targets, they first need to assess distance and then zero their weapons accordingly so that they meet the weather conditions. “Naturally, we also exchanged experiences with our Italian and Slovenian colleagues. We have learned a lot of new lessons and have been given many pieces of good practical advice. These joint training sessions are very useful because we learn techniques which we can integrate into our own task system", stressed SFC Mihály Csongrádi, a platoon NCO serving with the 2nd platoon of the 1st company of the 39th infantry battalion.
The mortar platoon has completed its share of the tasks on Exercise Clever Ferret 2014, but the snipers are to be assigned more tasks during the exercise in Slovenia.
Photo: SSgt. Massaro Giosue
