The MLF Has Changed Significantly Since Its Formation

Szöveg: Defence Staff | 2014. július 10. 9:28

Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, Chief of Defence arrived in Maribor, Slovenia on July 2. The objectives of his visit were to inspect Exercise Clever Ferret 2014, which is being conducted with the participation of Hungarian soldiers, and to participate in the Defence Cooperation Initiative (DECI) meeting at chiefs of defence level, where he held bilateral discussions with the Slovenian Chief of Defence.

Hungary considers it a priority to maintain good military relations with its partners in the Alliance. Beyond the management of global problems, this is especially true in the case of tasks aimed at providing security in our local region.

Exercise Clever Ferret 2014 is the annual certification exercise of the Multinational Land Force (MLF). Italy, Slovenia and Hungary operate a joint standby force in the framework of the MLF. One objective of the exercise is to certify the MFL’s readiness for conducting crisis response operations. Further objectives are to increase the level of interoperability and cooperation among the contributing nations, to evaluate the activity of the MLF Headquarters, to apply and practice MLF doctrines and procedures and to check the chain of command.

The Italian partner came up with the core idea of forming the Italian–Hungarian–Slovenian MLF in the autumn of 1996. The MLF was formed with the goals of intensifying cooperation among the nations of the region, strengthening the regional security and defence capabilities and improving the executive capabilities in crisis response operations. The MLF has already been placed on standby on a number of occasions as a battle group declared to the European Union, and it was deployed in NATO crisis response operations in the Balkans and in Afghanistan too.

The exercise is being conducted in the presence of chief of defence of the participating nations. On July 2, the VIP Day, the military leaders received reports from Exercise Director Brig.-Gen. David Humar and from MLF Commander Brig.-Gen. Ignazio Gamba, and then inspected the locations of MLF staff elements and learned about the newly introduced working methods and procedures.

In what followed, the guests watched a tactical demonstration carried out by an MLF unit in the military training area of Apace, near Maribor. The scenario of this phase focused on the tactical elements most commonly used during crisis management, such as patrolling, C-IED tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), ambush, the deployment of rapid reaction forces, close air support (CAS), medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) and the use of the Special Forces.

After the demonstration, Gen. Tibor Benkő gave an assessment in front of the Hungarian soldiers. He stressed that the MLF had significantly changed since its formation. The Chief of Defence talked about the personnel’s high professional standards, the soldiers’ ability to excellently apply the procedures of partner nations and to lead each other’s forces. He pointed out that this exercise had given proof again of the Hungarian soldiers’ very high professional standards and their resourcefulness, which helps them to perform well as equal partners, often using less modern equipment than the state-of-the-art equipment used by the other cooperating nations. The chiefs of defence of the participating nations also praised the Hungarian soldiers’ excellent professional standards.

On the second day of the visit, the chiefs of defence of the participating nations discussed the details of a five-nation cooperation (Austria, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia) in the framework of the Defence Capabilities Initiative (DECI). One objective of this cooperation is to set up an EU Battle Group, which would be placed on standby in 2017.