Only a Couple of Weeks Left…

Szöveg: László Szűcs | 2012. július 3. 16:00

There are only a couple of weeks left before the mission ends for the 10th rotation of the HDF EUFOR Contingent (EUFOR-10 HUN CON). We asked the commander of the Hungarian peacekeeping subunit – which has served over the last six months in Bosnia-Herzegovina – about the planned and the accomplished tasks.

“The last six months have been successful for the soldiers of the HDF 12th Arrabona SAM Regiment of Győr, so we are going to return home having a lot of new knowledge and experience under our belt", Lt.-Col. Tamás Papp told us, adding that as compared with previous rotations, the superiors of the maneuver element of the current contingent assigned it significantly more tasks to be carried out outside Camp Butmir.

Every month they had at least one two-day company-level exercise, one target practice and a several-day battalion-level exercise as well. These tasks were being executed in the entire area of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The maneuver element – that is, the infantry company and the personnel posted to the Headquarters of the Multinational Battalion (MNBN HQ) – was already assigned a special task in the first days of the tour of duty abroad. During the first days of February an unprecedented amount of snow fell on Sarajevo, so the peacekeepers were tasked to help the residents of the Bosnian capital with clearing the snow, the commander noted.

Lt.-Col. Papp told us that no sooner had the “snow readiness" ended that the Hungarian company (H-Coy) took its first test, the so-called “proxy exercise" for the evaluation of Full Operational Capability (FOC), and passed it with flying colors, definitely earning recognition from the commander of the MNBN.

The successful training programs have shown their results, so that with the mission nearing completion, several Hungarian soldiers received commendations from the commander of the MNBN, Lt.-Col. Papp told us. He also revealed that in addition to performing training and stand-by duties, the H-Coy organized the "Trebevic" running race and participated in military competitions that were organized by different companies on a monthly basis.

The entire personnel of the contingent supported the charity event held for the Pazaric Institute for the Mentally Disabled, either as organizers or as donors.

Moreover, the Hungarian soldiers participated in the programs of the weeklong 9th Kid’s Festival in Sarajevo.

The commander of the contingent informed us that over the last six months, the Hungarian soldiers have deservedly marked the anniversary of the 1848/49 Revolution and War of Independence in March, the important church festivals and the Day of the Hungarian Defence Forces.

Now, some weeks before the end of the mission, getting ready for the transfer of authority is the most important task. The personnel of the 11th rotation drawn from the HDF 37th ‘Ferenc Rákóczi II’ Engineer Regiment (Szentes) are going to arrive in Bosnia-Herzegovina in three phases during mid-July.

The “mandate" of the Hungarian contingent currently serving abroad runs until 31st July.