Sharpshooter To Set Off For Sarajevo

The young officer has been a contracted soldier for seven years, he joined HDF 25th ’György Klapka’ Infantry Brigade, based at Tata, on 1 March 2001. He is a representative of the previous generation, who had fulfilled their statutory military service obligation (which meant a 9-month-service at that time). He has served in Szombathely and Szabadszállás, and he has even been to Szolnok when the River Tisza was flooding, to pack bags of sand.

“I have always loved this profession, even when I was an enlisted soldier. After my discharge from the HDF I couldn’t find a proper employment opportunity in my profession, therefore half a year later I submitted my application form" – says Sergeant Urbán, who used to be a baker in civilian life, though he hardly ever touched a peel in the last seven years. The situation is quite the contrary with machine guns, since from the date of his enlistment until the end of the previous year he was serving for the infantry battalion of the Tata corps as a machine gunner.

Last year he was given a new task: he become a subordinate in the Sharpshooter Squad of the First Company. At present, he operates a Gepárd (‘cheetah’) M1 bolt action sniper rifle, or as he puts it, the ‘Wild Cat’.

Currently he is preparing for his third mission, he is a member of the third troop rotation cycle of the Hungarian EUFOR contingent setting off for Sarajevo. But this time, he is carrying his new Gepárd rifle with him. He says he can hardly wait for the takeoff for Sarajevo, since he would like to broaden his experience in the course of the six months he will be spending in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As regards experiences, so far he could learn the most from the Afghanistan mission, where he had the chance to learn a lot during the six months he had spent in the Asian country, and all those experiences are truly beneficial in the fulfillment of his domestic tasks.

“The months spent in Afghanistan have forged the team together. It took only a little time and everybody in the team knew the moves of the others. I looked at my companion and I immediately knew what he was doing and why he was doing that. We trusted each other perfectly" – recalls József, who would like to participate in another Hungarian PRT mission, if there is an opportunity.

In the opinion of the sergeant anybody who says it is not the money factor that makes them join a six-month-mission, is lying, since that amount of money makes the realization of plans and dreams much easier at home. The young man has dreams, too, but he just smiles mysteriously when we are inquiring about them.

To the regret of Sergeant József Urbán, contracted soldiers can serve for a maximum of 15 years in the Hungarian Defence Forces. Therefore he hopes that by 2016, when his 15 years of service will expire, the legislation framework allowing him to carry on serving as a contracted soldier will be created.