Signalers in Camp Pannonia

In our everyday life we could not imagine what life would be like without communication-related technology such as computers or mobile phones. For the soldiers who serve thousands of kilometers from their homeland, maintaining regular contact with their families and loved ones is especially important. The seven personnel staffing the communication and information systems (CIS) cell are working to ensure this type of contact among others, and although they are now fewer in number, the volume of the tasks assigned to them has not decreased as compared with earlier periods.

Losing contact with the units deployed on a mission is every commander’s nightmare. This is a question of life and death in the area of operations, because they need to know in every moment where their units are, what are they doing, what is happening around them and whether they need help or the commander’s decision to execute their tasks safely. As the personnel of the CIS cell puts it, “Our work is not spectacular but everyone would feel its absence". And this is true indeed, since without them we would be unable to communicate with the ISAF forces serving together with us in the area of operations, or with our superiors back in Hungary. Furthermore, they are responsible for establishing radio links for convoys on the move, which connect them with one another and with the center in control of the operation.

All this requires properly and well functioning CIS equipment whose maintenance and repair are part of their duties as well. Often it is not an easy job, since the weather conditions and the large amount of dust in Afghanistan cause significant damage to the equipment.

Many bring their broken-down computers to the only IT expert of the CIS cell, asking him to recover at least the most essential data or a family photo. The soldiers living in Camp Pannonia can follow the news from Hungary and the world, as the chief of the CIS cell – himself an amateur radio operator for 30 years – is keen to make sure that the personnel can listen to a Hungarian radio in a Hungarian camp.

Their work is indispensable: they are on duty in the ether in 12-hour rotating shifts to ensure uninterrupted communication.