The One Who Finished the School of Survival

– I graduated from a technical college in Pécs as a mechanical engineer, and wanted to take a university degree from BME. It was here in Budapest that I came across the NFTC campaign and the opportunity to apply for the Hungarian Air Force with a civil degree. Mastering the flying techniques is quite expensive (even) if you’re a civilian, but I was very interested in the pilot career, so I made a clear decision to leave off my university studies at the BME. After undergoing the compulsory aptitude tests and a basic training in the former Alföld Training Centre (Szabadszállás), I continued my training in Szolnok with flying Jak-52s and doing 15 parachute jumps. Then I participated in the turboprop and jet phases of advanced training within the NFTC program for nearly two years in Canada.

– Why didn’t you become a fighter pilot?

– Every pilot candidate is streamed for a specific training course, according to his ability. The experience of traveling and flying means so much to me. We can fly over entire continents by a global-range aircraft in a short time. We fly 24 hours, while our fighter pilot colleagues have missions of a completely different character. I had flown with the airlift squadron of Kecskemét for three years before I transferred – upon the commander’s order – to Pápa, the home station of the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW).

– Orders are orders…but does the opportunity of serving with a unit like this require some extra?

– As for me, in addition to completing the three-and-a-half-month C-17 Initial Qualification in the USA, I had to undergo a three-week SERE exercise, which was quite hard. I spent the first and the third weeks without food or drink in snow and frost while roaming the woodlands of the Netherlands and Germany. The training objective was to let the crews master the techniques which help them to survive, escape and extract in the area of operations.

– You are serving in Pápa, so you’ve managed to finish the school of survival with success…

– Yes, but it took three months until I was able to feel my toes again after the exercise. During the final week I spent five days in the wilderness at temperatures of minus 5-10 degrees Celsius. I was alone, having only the standard survival kit on hand. We are forbidden to light fires in the areas of operations; I had nothing else to eat but a 200-gramm cookie-like “something", and I had to get water from snow. To simulate the enemy, there was a 30-strong team of pursuers on my trail, being equipped with dogs and NVGs. They were trying to catch me, while I had to make sure that I won’t freeze to death and that they cannot discover my footsteps in the snow. During the training we learnt the code of conduct to follow in case of being captured.

– Let us now return to Pápa. Was it not difficult for you to integrate?

– Not at all. I knew that soldiers of 12 nations work together here, so I had to be open-minded anyway.

– Is the organizational structure here the same as in Kecskemét?

– No. Under Norwegian Lt.-Col. Christian Langfeldt’s command, the Heavy Airlift Squadron (HAS) is tasked with flying the missions. At the same time, it is the responsibility of the Command and Control (C2) section to organize and carry out other flight-related tasks like planning the routes, obtaining the diplomatic permits and finalizing the passenger and cargo manifests. The Logistics Support Squadron (LSS) has the mission of providing the logistic infrastructure for all these activities. The airlift squadron of Kecskemét performs by itself the tasks that are similar to those of the C2 section.

– Let us now look behind the scene: what happens usually before the take-off?

– First of all, we need to reset our sleep cycle, and we have a day to do so before the flight. Let’s suppose the take-off time is 22:00hrs. In that case I must change my sleep pattern in a way that I can wake up refreshed early in the evening rather than in the morning. We are supposed to arrive at the base exactly two hours and 45 minutes before take-off. Prior to that, we receive a telephone call which tells us that everything is ready to start the flying mission. On arriving at the base, we have a briefing on the daily tasks and discuss the details of the concrete mission. Then we go to the aircraft, turn on the onboard systems and run the tests. Meanwhile our colleagues refuel the aircraft, finish the loading and 30 minutes before take-off we start up the engines, taxi onto the runway and then take off…

– Is this an endless story?

– Sometimes it does seem so…We can fly 24 hours with an augmented crew (three pilots and two loadmasters), during which we have just one or two hours to sleep. And that is no more than an opportunity indeed, because of the high noise level and because the aircraft will not always fly smoothly due potential turbulences. However, in return we can have exceptional experiences, as flying over those huge distances at an altitude of ten kilometers we can look and marvel at the Sahara, the whole of Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the Himalayas – almost the entire world. For example, we have already been to Dubai, the Caribbean region and Central Africa. Each location has a special atmosphere to it. As a tourist, you can only rarely get to places like these.

– Needless to say, a globetrotting soldier has a characteristic route and most of his destinations are special too. The mission of the airmen serving with the HAW is not without dangers…

– That’s right, it is often the case. On most occasions, we arrive in the area of operations by night. We fly wearing helmets, NVGs and bulletproof vests, and if necessary, we choose a method of take-off/landing in view of recommendations of the tactical and intelligence section on the specific threats (small arms, surface-to-air missiles). And the weather presents us with challenges too. Recently we had a run of bad luck when our aircraft were hit by lightning three times in two weeks. We have passed the milestone of 6000 flight hours, but have not experienced such an event before. Luckily, we managed to get away with some skin tear and the onboard systems were undamaged. Of course, the passengers did not enjoy the sound effects. Let me add that every three months we have simulator training to practice handling emergencies.

– Do you have time for other types of training?

– We have to find time to develop the skills of the team and its members. We devote ten per cent of the HAW’s pre-agreed flying hours to maintain flight proficiency. We use this time to practice different tactical methods of take-off and landing, flying by night with NVGs, low level flight, air refueling and the combinations of all these. As for myself, according to this year’s schedule I am going to take a course in airdrop of cargo and personnel. The C-17 is suitable for airdropping paratroops and light/heavy cargo, including tanks, by parachute; we learn the relevant methods during the training. In our unit, the way forward to the future is the pilot in command training – whose eligibility criteria are the number of flight hours and aptitude. Of course, we all know that pilot in command is the one who makes the final decision in all situations during the flight. But we are also aware that we, crewmembers must work together as a cohesive team, wherever our duty calls us.

Photos: Veronika Dévényi, László Tóth and the author