Service Day With Wreath Laying And Parachuting

Seven years ago, at the suggestion of the Fellowship Association of Hungarian Parachutists (Magyar Ejtõernyõsök Bajtársi Szövetsége, MEBSZ), Lieutenant General Zoltán Szenes, the MoD chief of defence staff at that time declared March 23 the service day of airborne troops. The date is symbolic because in 1918, First Lieutenant Antal Boksay (who was also an observer) made the first parachute jump in Hungary on this day, to test a German parachute for pilots.

It has been seven years now that MEBSZ members celebrate together with airborne corps. This year the all-day event was held on March 26 and it was hosted by the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base.

The program organised by the Fellowship Association and the HDF 25/88 Light Mixed Battalion started with a ceremonial personnel meeting. Major General Zoltán Orosz, Chief of Staff, HDF Joint Forces Command was also present at the event.

In his speech Lieutenant Colonel Romolusz Ruszin, the commander of the battalion talked about the cooperation of paratroopers and the possibility of a paradigm shift. He pointed out that unfortunately, the Hungarian Defence Forces do not have enough parachutes but they try to utilise these devices in the most efficient way. The commander also mentioned that it would be necessary to procure new equipments.

The ceremony continued with the presentation of recognitions and awards, where the HDF 34th ‘László Bercsényi’ Special Operations Battalion received a ribbon for their unit colours from the city of Szolnok. Following the awards presentation, at the memorial of paratroopers killed in action retired Colonel László Keresztúri (the former commander of the predecessor of the 25/88 Battalion) commemorated fellow soldiers in the name of the Fellowship Association of Hungarian Parachutists. The members of the Fellowship Association and the representatives of the military organizations of the Szolnok barracks laid wreaths on the memorial, and the bell tolled…

At the static display conducted on the occasion of the service day the guests could see military parachutes and small arms used by the Szolnok corps. The organizers’ original plan for the dynamic display was to make a demonstration jump with each type of parachute but owing to the strong wind they cancelled everything except the cargo drop and the demonstration of the national parachute team. The cargo bags were dropped from an AN–26 transport airplane at an altitude of three hundred meters, while the members of the team jumped from three thousand meters.

The all-day event ended with the traditional paratroopers’ ball in the evening.