Chief master sergeant Diego Cagnazzo, senior enlisted leader of the Italian Armed Forces, has paid an official visit to the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base. He was accompanied by csm Istvan Kriston, and csm Laszlo Toth, command sergeant majors of the HDF and HDF JFC, respectively. The visitors were welcomed by lieutenant colonel Laszlo Nagy, Deputy Chief of Base Staff.

The event started with the introduction of the base, the HDF 25/88th Light Infantry Battalion and the HDF 34th Laszlo Bercsenyi Special Operations Battalion, which was followed by the guests looking at the air assets operating on base, and a presentation of the equipment used by the latter two units. During the subsequent live firing exercise, the true potential of the small arms introduced before was aptly demonstrated.

After a tour of Szolnok Aviation Museum, the honoured guest gave a talk on the training of Italian NCOs, and, during the informal conversation that followed, emphasised the importance of international co-operation and learning more about each other. He added that, in many ways, they can facilitate participation in international exercises, conducted on and almost daily basis, and smoother completion of tasks stemming from sharing in multinational mission obligations, ccmsgt Istvan Zsolt Tigyi of the 86th HDF SZHB informed us.

(Ministry of Defence)