Head for Bosnia-Herzegovina!

In his speech at the passing out parade, the Commander of the Győr Wing Colonel Ferenc Könczöl highlighted that following the thorough preparation the departing soldiers are eligible to increase the reputation of our motherland and that of the Hungarian soldier. "In Bosnia and Herzegovina the international forces have defended the established fragile peace for quite a long time, and now the situation is relatively peaceful. But we cannot sit back, because – like they say – "the embers are glowing beneath the surface".

The stability in the Balkans is Hungary’s primary interest. The Hungarian Defence Forces with the 160 servicepersons give the third greatest contribution to the EUFOR personnel" – the Commander pointed out.

He added that the 23rd Rotation of the HDF EUFOR Contingent is drawn basically – now for the sixth time – from the personnel of the HDF SAM Wing 12 ’Arrabona’, and the Győr unit is responsible for the preparation of the contingent, too. The two-phase pre-deployment training of the soldiers involved in the mission task began in November with the individual and the central trade training program, in which the participants acquired and refreshed the knowledge related to their specific positions. In what follows the servicepersons preparing for the tour of duty abroad took part in a formation training, which manifested mainly in community cohesion practices and in tactical exercises combined with life fire exercises (LFX). The three-day closing exercise between 22 and 24 January put an end to this intensive several-month period, in which the participating personnel had to demonstrate the operational capabilities of the contingent in complex situations approaching reality.

In accordance with the task-system of the EUFOR ALTHEA mission, the contingent will begin their one-year service in March 2019. The close to 150 strong personnel – apart from the members of the 30 strong "Reception Support Section" – will travel to Sarajevo only in September. From March the Hungarian contingent will act as the reserve force of the operations, they will assume the responsibilities of the so called "Intermediate Reserve Company" for six months, then they will relocate to the Area of Operation (AO) for another six months.

Colonel Emil Oláh, the Protestant Field Chaplain of the 23rd Rotation called the celestial blessings for the successful task performance of the departing personnel.

Photos of the Author