Raw Recruits, Trainers, And The Vásárhely ‘Swamp’

According to our driver the some thirty centimeters of snow that fell in the first days of the new year melted in just 24 hours in the warm weather this weekend, turning the field behind the barracks into a swamp. And although the morning frost has hardened the top of the mud layers, the Mercedes jeep still sinks into the soap-like slush right up to the axle. But thanks to four-wheel drive and the routine of the pilot we don’t have to ask the technical rescue team to come for us.

The vast flat area that is known by the troops only as field number 4 is showing us its less friendly side. At least this is what the reporter thinks, but we realize that he is wrong. For in the last few weeks there has been snow ‘falling’ horizontally, stormy and icy wind chilling the bones, and even minus 10 degrees Celsius here. The current slimy-sticky-gray fog, mixed with some mud, is really tolerable.

By the time we arrive the company is already at work. As I am told there are exactly 112 soldiers participating in today’s tactical training. They arrived early in the morning and the plans are that they will stay until the end of the shift. The aim of the day is to repeat everything they have learned about tactics in the past three months, for it is one of the most important subjects in the final examination the day of which is approaching.

The personnel ‘spread all over’ the field arrived to Hódmezõvásárhely three months ago, on October 7. Most of them are from the area surrounding the town, but there are also a lot of people from other parts of the country. Their basic training started on the day after their enlistment.

– There has not been an example for basic military training in the Hódmezõvásárhely barracks for long years. We also received this task from our superior as an unplanned one – tells me Lieutenant Colonel József Kovács. The commander of the Hódmezõvásárhely garrison – or as he is also called: the commander of the Hódmezõvásárhely organizational units of the HDF 5th ’István Bocskai’ Infantry Brigade of Debrecen – adds: in recent months there has been a significant increase in the number of raw recruits joining as contracted troops, and the HDF Central Training Base at Szentendre does not have the capacity to train so many people. Therefore several corps were ordered to conduct basic trainings. After Tata and Szolnok, Hódmezõvásárhely also received the command: they are to start the training on October 7.

Which, by the way, is necessary because – the senior officer adds – nowadays a large part of the personnel beginning their service as contracted troops (either because they are too young, or because they are female) have never taken part in the basic training of enlisted personnel. And each soldier of the Hungarian Defence Forces, without exception, needs these foundations.

For the sake of successful implementation, a temporary basic training company had to be set up, primarily from the 5th/3rd infantry battalion, but a part of the trainers have come from the 5th/62nd battalion. The officers and non-commissioned officers had two weeks to prepare themselves for the task before the start of the basic training because in the last couple of years they were ’out of practice’, and instead of the so-called single combat training used in the basic training they participated only in more advanced task force trainings. Fortunately, this did not cause problems and there was enough time for preparation so the training of the newcomers could be started according to the plans.

According to Lt.Col. Kovács after the enlistment it turned out soon that the physical condition of the raw recruits was very poor. Only thirty per cent of them could pass the required physical test first go with ADEQUATE result and there were no EXCELLENT results. Fortunately, the daily PE trainings have proved a success: today everybody can achieve the ADEQUATE level and there are some troops with GOOD and EXCELLENT performance.

The commander also tells me during our conversation that in the past three months there were only a few dropouts among the new recruits. 136 people enlisted and only 24 have left. A part of them were discharged due to medical problems, but there were people who realized during the training that the military are not the right employer for them, or found a job they liked more. Their current number is not likely to change until the final examination on January 19-20, when the troops will have to demonstrate in theory and practice what they have learned in the last three months.

The official closing ceremony of the basic training will be held on January 22 in the barracks. Following that the new recruits will be transferred to their corps. Most of them have been given a position at the Hódmezõvásárhely battalions, but there are also some who will continue their military service in Debrecen, Tata, Veszprém, Szentes, or even in Pápa.

The superiors have also been following the basic training in Hódmezõvásárhely in the past three months. The Brigadier General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, the commander of the Debrecen brigade regularly visited the raw recruits in the field and the rifle range, but General (eng.) László Tömböl, the MoD Chief of Defence Staff was also here on a training day. And now, before the final examination, they are expecting a visit from Lieutenant General Tibor Benkõ, the Commander of the Joint Forces Command of the HDF – says Lt.Col. Kovács.

In the meantime preparation is in progress in nine locations in the field. The girls and boys are refreshing what they have learned: close quarters battle against armored vehicles, maneuvering on terrain, terrain studies, and their basic technical and chemical protection studies. All this is already part of the preparation for the final examination – tells me Captain Dávid Szent-Imrey. The commander of the basic training company also tells me in confidence that in the past three months the raw recruits were very motivated and it was clearly visible that they would really like to be soldiers. There were no problems with their behavior, in spite of the fact that most of them are very young, only 18-20. There are only a very few people among them who are older than 35. As regards their education, the majority of them have completed secondary school but there are also a few who have a degree.

In the opinion of the company commander the personnel also took it very well that on weekdays they had to attend various courses from early morning to late in the afternoon, and were allowed to leave the barracks only for two hours a day. But they could go home for the weekends and had to return to the garrison on Monday morning, by the time the shift begins.

– The last three months provided a good opportunity for the training officers and non-commanding officers as well to ’refresh’ their knowledge, because it was a long time ago for all of us when we had to deal with the tasks of basic training. And our efforts were not fruitless. Without any modesty we can say that we have managed to train soldiers from absolutely ’civilian’ newcomers – says the captain, who is the commander of the 3rd company of the 5th/3rd infantry battalion.

Private László Kovács is practicing how to move on the terrain when we disturb him. Under the cover of a smoke grenade he and his comrade are advancing the imaginary enemy… As he tells me he decided to be a contracted soldier at the age of 22, with a general certificate of secondary education in his pocket. He had been working as an office employee and pizza deliverer before, but he was not really satisfied with either job. He has been attracted to the military for long because there is some mystery in it, and there is also that challenge… So when he had the opportunity he submitted his application. Fortunately, he could begin the basic training in October. After the closing ceremony the young man from Mindszent will stay and serve in Hódmezõvásárhely, he will be an infantryman in the 5th/3rd battalion. He feels this is the career where he can find what he has been looking for.

– I had a very good time in the last three months, the company has also became one team. For me the terrain trainings were the toughest, but luckily I have the necessary stamina, endurance, and concentration, so I could complete these tasks too – adds Private Kovács.

Private Mária Járó decided at the age of forty, after fifteen years spent in health care, to begin another career. She tells me that in her previous job at an old people’s home she felt that there was too much load on her, so with the consent and support of her husband she submitted her application to the Hungarian Defence Forces for contracted service. Since she is a certificated nurse they were almost competing for her, practically one day she was wearing the white coat, the next day she was already wearing the camouflage training uniform, and boots.

– I don’t regret my decision, not even now when three months have passed since then. Although my 20-year-old son was laughing at me in the beginning, today he is very proud of me for getting there – tells me Mária, who doesn’t deny: there were seconds when she almost gave up. For example after the first training day, or following a tough terrain training. But she always pulled herself together and carried on. Now at the end of the training she believes during the quarter of a year spent in the barracks she has become a different person, for she has seen what she is capable of physically.

After the ceremony Private Járó will work as a nurse in the medical center of ‘Miklós Zrínyi’ Barracks, so she will be working in health care again.

Private Anett Borsodiné Hódi was also successful – she is the lady who received help from Defence Minister Dr. Imre Szekeres so that she could begin the basic training last October (as honvedelem.hu reported). The mother of four enlisted as a contracted soldier because she needed a secure job and in the Hungarian Defence Forces it wasn’t a disadvantage that she has a big family. But after she submitted her application it turned out that the date of the medical check-up was postponed and she could begin the training only later. In her despair Anett turned to the local press and the defence minister also saw the articles and decided to help. But it was nothing more that as a result of the intervention of the minister, the fitness test of Borsodiné was conducted three weeks earlier…

The help of the minister did not cause any disadvantage for the 34-year-old mother during the training. As she tells me the others were not unfriendly with her because of this. But she also tried to give her best in every task so her comrades didn’t even have a reason to think she is given preferential treatment.

– The last three months were tough and adventurous for me but I have had a very good time during the basic training. And fortunately, my family has also taken my absence well – tells me Anett, who will be a switchboard operator at the signal platoon after the ceremony.

The commonplace and fact, that time flies in the field, has proven true in Hódmezõvásárhely as well. The clock strikes twelve o’clock – the bells of the church of the town can be heard even in the field – and the company commander orders a break. In the meantime luch has also arrived. The contracted troops eat the daily menu in the tent put up in the field.

The conditions are quite spartan, but nobody complains. As they say they don’t even have a reason, because there is a ’canvas’ above their head, and the chefs of the barracks cook excellent meals. But the lunch break doesn’t last long, the personnel is soon lining up again in the large meadow. There are only a few days left until the final examination, and until then they try to spend as much time as possible with practice. For those who don’t meet the requirements cannot become soldiers and with that, the hope of a secure job and subsistence, and the dream of mission service would vanish.

Since it is the latter why most of them have joined the Hungarian Defence Forces as contracted troops.