The Hungarian–US Military Advisory Team (MAT) finished its last joint operation with the Afghan National Army (ANA) on February 14. During the three-day patrol, the around 180 Hungarian, US and Afghan soldiers and policemen combed four valleys where – according to intelligence – groups of insurgents and gunmen were reported to be hiding. (Report from the spot)

The operation was preceded by a two-week planning phase, during which intelligence reports were gathered and evaluated. The soldiers of the MAT participated in the operation as advisors, monitoring the activity of the Afghan battalion.

Over the last four years, the infantry battalion (kandak) of the Afghan National Army has been trained and mentored by the Hungarian–US Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT). As a result of this, last June the battalion was certified by ISAF as “capable of independent operations”.

Lt.-Col. Szabolcs Pécsvárady, contingent commander told us that they had found weapons and ammunition on each day of the operation. The three-day operation, however, has some results that are not so spectacular as finding weapons but at least as important as that, the MAT commander said. Through this patrolling, the ANA has demonstrated the presence of the Afghan government in the region and showed the local people that it was able to deploy to the place where it was needed.

The OMLT commenced training and mentoring the Afghan National Army 209 Corps 2nd Brigade 3rd Infantry Battalion in Khilagay, Baghlan Province in April 2009. The work began with the individual training of Afghan soldiers, who learnt the maintenance and use of their weapons and the basic military skills (for example, on tactical training sessions, marksmanship training, land navigation practice). The training continued with the practice of platoon-, company and then battalion-level tasks, while the Afghan unit was continuously participating in the current operations led by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The Hungarian Defence Forces and the Ohio National Guard have successfully completed the task they undertook, which is also shown by the fact that the OMLT was converted into a Military Advisory Team (MAT) in December 2012 and besides performing its original duties, it started preparing for its new role, the mentoring the staff work of the Mazar-e Sharif-based Afghan National Civil Order Police and the Afghan border guards.

The joint task execution by the troops of the two countries within the OMLT has become one of the greatest examples of American–Hungarian military cooperation, which has been developing continuously since the 1990s.

(Krisztián Varga, Khilagay)