“The Defence Forces Are Competent, Disciplined, Professional”

Last month almost one thousand four hundred troops of fourteen corps, with three hundred technical equipments have taken part in this year’s most extensive training event, exercise Deployment Direction 2009 that closed on 15 September with a so-called visitors’ day near the town of Ercsi, at the water training ground that has been out of use for years.

László Sólyom, the President of the Republic of Hungary – who was received with military honours upon arrival at the parade ground set up next to the camp –, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, Defence Minister Imre Szekeres, and Ágnes Vadai, MoD Secretary of State also attended the event.

In addition to the high-ranking visitors, the representatives of the Defence and Law Enforcement Committee of the National Assembly, the former chiefs of defence staff and commanders of the branches of the Hungarian Defence Forces, the national commanders of other armed services, representatives of the military attaché corps, heads of county and town municipalities, representatives of county defence committees, social and civil organizations in contact with the Hungarian Defence Forces, and the field chaplain services were also invited to the visitors’ day.

The core concept that was identified in advance and has been followed from the start of exercise Deployment Direction 2009, an event that mobilized the entire Hungarian professional military: to demonstrate for the military and political leaders, civil society the organizational and capability development achievements of the Hungarian Defence Forces. At this year’s exercise the main task was not only to demonstrate the cooperation of land forces and military organizations within the air force but also to make wider audiences familiar with the EOD and warship corps, the engineering capabilities, and the infantry corps serving in international missions – as it was said at the event, opened by General (eng.) László Tömböl.

The chief of the MoD defence staff underlined: it is a tradition that every year, the Hungarian Defence Forces give an account of training achievements and the situation of the development of capabilities that are required for national defence. Since exercise Deployment Direction 2005, the most important commanding, staff leading, and tactical events of the military force have been conducted in the framework of this exercise. And in the final phase of these exercises the soldiers demonstrate the leaders of the state and the civilian population the real capabilities that are characteristic of today’s Hungarian military force.

The chief of the defence staff added: exercises Deployment Direction conducted in the last few years have fully completed the tasks envisaged by the military command. They have given an opportunity to demonstrate the values of the defence forces and the capabilities that meet military/professional requirements and the expectations of society.

– As the first phase of the series of exercises, we had prepared, practiced, then presented the capabilities of the brigade comprising modules in 2005. Next year, the set of tasks of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, the demonstration of tasks that had been accomplished by that date from our allied commitments, and the simulation systems supporting combat training were in the focus. In 2007, the uniform command system of the military force was tested, and the most important activities of last year’s Deployment Direction were strengthening cooperation between the services and the specialized teams of the branches, and a battalion-level live fire manoeuvre – said General László Tömböl.

The chief of the defence staff emphasized: the activities of the past years, without exception, have manifested the values resulting from the recent cultural change, the efficient and productive training, and the preparedness and commitment of the personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces.

– Today exercise Deployment Direction 2009 and its demonstration day are key stages in this productive process – said General Tömböl, also mentioning that the series of exercises Deployment Direction, together with the demonstration today, have achieved their purpose. They have shown what the Hungarian Defence Forces are like. In the coming years, they want to add further capabilities and forms of use when preparing for the demonstration of skills and achievements. But of course, every concept and requirement concerning military tasks will continue to focus on the defence of the country and the sovereignty of the airspace, the preparation and training of the corps and the staff.

– In the future we would also like to live up to such expectations at these events, as the strengthening of international cooperation, extending the circle of participating military and national defence organizations, providing proper circumstances for the practice of top level commanding organizations and bodies. The spirit of the National Military Strategy of the Republic of Hungary also obliges us to do that – said the chief of the defence staff.

General Tömböl underlined in his opening address that the exercises in recent years, the demonstrations of military force and capabilities have always been useful in making the civilian society and the soldiers at its service come closer and know each other. And hopefully, it will not change in the future. To that end, the soldiers constantly give evidence of the fact that the military force is capable of living up to the expectations of society.

HDF Joint Forces Command Commander Lieutenant-General Tibor Benkõ, who was also in charge of the dynamic display said in his address: the main theme of exercise Deployment Direction 2009 was the planning, organization, and fulfilment of national defence tasks. In addition to that – and in line with the National Military Strategy – the cooperation of branches and services, and the revival of capabilities that are important as regards the defence of the country.

After the report on the tactical situation the one-hour dynamic display began, in the scope of which the personnel performed river crossing. The BTR–80/A combat vehicles with rubber tyres and the PTSZ–M caterpillar amphibians swam across the 500-metre wide Danube while the engineering troops constructed a pontoon bridge on the river and also operated bridge ferries that transported combat equipment. The cooperation of land and air forces, infantry, engineering, warship, and reconnaissance troops has produced a spectacular demonstration.

Following that, the visitors’ day of exercise Deployment Direction 2009 continued with the so-called static display. The guests were shown the newly purchased technical equipments of the HDF 1st EOD and Warship Battalion, the container supplying special materials for cartography, as well as the mobile terrain analysing workstation, the unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle, the signal and IT central station, the methods of providing medical care for those wounded in tactical operations, the divers’ equipments, the water purification station, the technical devices on display, and the modernized mobile medical team capability.

At the personnel assembly following the demonstration, where the entire staff that participated in the exercise lined up, Gordon Bajnai assessed what the visitors have seen. First of all the prime minister thanked the soldiers who serve the security of the world, and within that, that of Hungary by risking their lives in distant corners of the planet.

– Today’s military exercise was convincing. It has proven that the Hungarian Defence Forces comprises disciplined, competent, professional, and committed soldiers, therefore we can say that our country is more secure – said Gordon Bajnai, adding: Hungary is a peace-loving country and it is willing to make sacrifices if it has to for the sake of peace. The Hungarian military force has proven again today that it can guarantee this peace and freedom. With a prepared army we can serve our and our allies’ security better.

The head of the government emphasized: as a member of the world’s strongest military organization, the NATO, we develop our foreign and security policy along common values and interests. The alliance means security and defence for Hungary, and today the country feels the benefit of this. But we must also know that this defence has its price, for we, too, must do everything in order that our allies can feel safe as well. In the past few years Hungary has shown outstanding results in meeting these requirements.

– Hungary is a reliable, predictable, and active member of this military alliance. In recent years we have been present in Afghanistan, the West Balkans, and a number of other places. In the international cooperations the country undertakes an active role – that may even exceed the size of our territory and our capacity from time to time – in guaranteeing the peace and security of the world – said Gordon Bajnai, who also talked about how successfully the Hungarian Defence Forces have implemented the military reform in recent years, which was one of the biggest tasks in their 160-year-old history. Owing to this reform the Hungarian military force is now capable of performing national defence tasks at a level that is higher than ever before, with a new organization, new capabilities, and modern equipments. It is able to meet not only the requirements set by the NATO, but the challenges of a fundamentally new world as well. For the challenges endangering security are constantly changing, new types of threats have appeared to which no good answers can be given with the reflexes that have evolved in the past decades.

– International terrorism, local and global conflicts have brought new challenges for Hungary as well. Today we have been ascertained again that the Hungarian Defence Forces are competent, disciplined, committed, and they are capable of giving a professional performance. They practice their profession in a way that with the given modern technical background they are capable of executing tasks that are outstanding even on international level. Having seen your work, I can only say two things: Hungary is safe and we are proud of you – said Gordon Bajnai.

At the end of the personnel assembly General László Tömböl presented László Sólyom and Gordon Bajnai with a commemorative document, and the head of the state, the head of the government, the defence minister, and the chief of the defence staff had lunch with the soldiers participating in the demonstration. The cooks favoured the high-ranking guests with bean goulash cooked in a ’goulash cannon’, and cheese scones.