Professional Trial in a Multinational Environment

The Hungarian co-director of the training added that although the training is similar to a traditional command post exercise, the participants have already executed several tasks during the first fieldwork phase in Austria. Their tasks included the practice of proper voice procedures in radio communication, the establishment and operation of ad hoc checkpoints, food/ammo supply and POL points, and the proper ways of locating and marking different types of UXO.

While in Hungary, the students carry out logistic reconnaissance in the area of operation and execute planning tasks in their area of responsibility. Their work is being helped by five communities in Pest County – Érd, Szentendre, Mogyoród, Veresegyháza and Vecsés – as well as by the HDF 59th Szentgyörgyi Dezső Air Base in Kecskemét as the “area of operation".

The tasks in Hungary closely resemble a command post exercise, whereas the final phase in the Czech Republic focuses on fieldwork. The students perform duties in the role of sub-unit commanders in Brno, where they set up facilities in the areas of functional support for a logistic company, establish a national support element and practice convoy operations in the field, Lt.-Col. Venekei told us.

The training involves 13 Hungarian officer candidates from the Military Economics BSc of the Military Logistic Institute of the National University of Public Service, Military Science and Officer Training Faculty. “Our primary objective with this training for officer candidates is to make sure that the education we provide them during their university years enables them to perform their duties efficiently in the positions matching their skill level on any foreign mission in a couple of years from now, so they can cooperate smoothly with troops of other nations in a multinational environment", the lieutenant-colonel emphasized.

The FOURLOG training program has involved students from the Brno University of Defence since the beginnings. At present, 13 Czech officer candidates are practicing logistic tasks. Brig.-Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Dr. Rudolf Urban, Deputy Rector of the university told us that these training programs always involve a whole graduating logistics class so that they can practice cooperation with military logisticians of other nations and know “what they can expect when they are assigned to the units". The brigadier-general said that over the last 15 years, remarkable progress has been made in the field of training as well, as it has developed from initial paper- and map-based task execution to today’s realistic computer assisted exercises.

Brig.-Gen. Dieter Jocham, Commander, Austrian Armed Forces Logistics School told us that there is excellent cooperation among the logistics students of the four nations. The reason is that the education they receive is very similar, with a few slight differences arising from the different systems of education. The general emphasized that the graduating class currently consists of three logistic officer candidates – in contrast to the 10-12 persons delegated to previous exercises by the Austrian partner –, and this is their first opportunity to practice professional cooperation in a foreign language environment.

Maj. Vlada Sokolović, a lecturer from the Department of Logistics at the Belgrade Military Academy told us that five Serbian students are participating in the exercise, all of them being the best ones in their special field. “We would like to send as many cadets of the school as possible to participate in foreign professional training programs. This is a good opportunity for officer candidates to practice their profession", the major added.

After a phase to be conducted in the Czech Republic, the FOURLOG 2015 exercise will end on March 21. In what follows, the lessons learned during the execution of this year’s tasks will be evaluated by multinational forces and also by the individual countries.

Photos: László Tóth