Having attended a ceremony closing the activity of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT), Maj.-Gen. László Domján, the commander of the HDF Joint Force Command (HDF JFC) continued his tour in Afghanistan with visiting the contingents of the Hungarian Defence Forces deployed in Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif, where he informed himself about the current tasks and met the personnel serving there. (Reporting from the spot)
The around 230-strong HDF Kabul International Airport Force Protection Contingent (HDF KAIA FPC) is the largest of all the contingents of the Hungarian Defence Forces deployed in missions abroad. In his briefing, Col. László Benda, contingent commander said that after taking over their tasks, the Hungarian soldiers reorganized the protection of the airport, which has thereby become much more secure than before. With this, the first rotation of the contingent has earned recognition from the international partners, Col. Benda stressed.
The Hungarian soldiers are responsible for the undisturbed operation of the military side of the Kabul International Airport – which manages an air traffic comparable to that of the airport of Marseille – and also for the protection of the airport area inside the fences.
Their main activities include the checking of outbound and inbound traffic of cars and motor vehicles at the entry control points, guarding the gates, checking the Afghan staff members on their entering and leaving the base, deploying as a quick reaction force (QRF) to secure the site of aviation incidents and carrying out unforeseeable tasks (such as convoy escort in the area of the airport). In addition to the Force Protection Contingent, more than 20 Hungarian soldiers serve in various positions of a French-led international staff which is running the airport.
One of the helicopter mentor teams of the Hungarian Defence Forces is also stationed at KAIA. Maj. Péter Simon, the commander of the ninth rotation of the HDF Air Mentor Team (HDF AMT-9) – which provides training for the attack helicopter pilots and ground crews of the Afghan Air Force – told us that during their four-month tour of duty, the airmen of the AMT fly around 40 hours on average in the area of operations. This equals around 200 hours flown under Hungarian circumstances. The Hungarian pilots and ground crews arrive in the country not only to mentor the Afghans, as they themselves also learn a lot during the mission, Maj. Simon told us. The lessons learned in the area of operations could not be learnt anywhere else, except on operations.
Maj.-Gen. László Domján attended a joint staff meeting of the contingents in Kabul, where he promoted Maj. G. to lieutenant-colonel. Maj. G. – who is currently doing a six-month tour of duty in Kabul – serves abroad as Deputy Financial Controller (Deputy Chief G8 BUDFIN) at the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps–Italy. After paying a visit to the HDF Special Operations Contingent, the commander of the HDF JFC flew to Mazar-e Sharif.
Col. László Zentai, the commander of the sixth rotation of the Hungarian Defence Forces National Support Element–Afghanistan (NSE–A) – which is based in Mazar-e Sharif and Kabul to provide logistic supply for the Hungarian military contingents – reported to the HDF JFC commander about the tasks related to the withdrawal of the PRT, telling him that the NSE would bring close to 40 containers of military materiel from the Provincial Reconstruction Team, of which it would transport some 25 containers back to Hungary. They would reallocate part of the equipment and vehicles in use with the PRT to the Hungarian contingents serving in Afghanistan, whereas they would return to the US military part of the items of equipment they had received from the American partner as battlefield aid. Of the vehicles of the PRT, they had already airlifted the BTRs back to Hungary in last December by Antonov–124 Ruslan transport planes.
Speaking about the tour, Maj.-Gen. László Domján stressed that “I have gained very positive experiences during my weeklong visit. I have made sure that the plans worked out in Hungary are being implemented precisely here in the area of operations. I met here several military leaders, and they all spoke very highly of the job done by the Hungarian troops serving here”.
“Our soldiers carry out the tasks assigned to them with the utmost professionalism, and I have experienced discipline, order and the Hungarian strength of character wherever I went during my tour”, said the commander of the HDF Joint Force Command in assessing his visit.
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In February 2013, over 100,000 troops from 50 countries served with the NATO International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF). NATO is operating in the country under a UN Security Council mandate. Afghanistan continues to be NATO’s most important mission. The Hungarian Defence Forces contribute around 1,000 troops to international peace support operations, of whom more than 530 are deployed in Afghanistan. Participation in the Afghanistan mission is one of the key elements of the tasks in the Alliance.
The Hungarian soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan are grouped into eight contingents and fill individual positions:
1.) Provincial Reconstruction Team, Pol-e Khomri, Baghlan Province
2.) Kabul International Airport Force Protection Contingent, Kabul, Kabul Province
3.) Hungarian–US Military Advisory Team, Khilagay, Baghlan Province
4.) HDF Mi–35 Air Mentor Team, Kabul, Kabul Province
5.) HDF Mi–17 Air Advisory Team, Shindand, Herat Province
6.) HDF Special Operations Contingent
7.) HDF ISAF CSS School Hungarian Mentor Team, Kabul, Kabul Province
8.) HDF National Support Element – Afghanistan, Mazar-e Sharif, Kabul
Several Hungarian soldiers are posted to fill staff positions at various ISAF commands, but most of them – more than 20 service members – are filling different positions in the staff of the ISAF Regional Command–North (ISAF RC–North). Since mid-February 2012, Brig.-Gen. Ferenc Korom, the Operations Chief of the Defence Staff has been serving as Chief of Staff at the ISAF Regional Command–North.
(Krisztián Varga)
