The second rotation of the HDF Kabul International Airport Force Protection Contingent (HDF KAIA FPC) has finished its pre-deployment training. The two-day culmination exercise (CULEX) of the training was conducted on February 12–13 in Hódmezővásárhely.

The members of the second rotation of the HDF Kabul International Airport Force Protection Contingent demonstrated their readiness on a 48-hour culmination exercise. Most soldiers of the around 230-strong contingent are drawn from the Hódmezővásárhely-based 62nd Infantry Battalion of the HDF 5th ‘Bocskai István’ Infantry Brigade.

Following the culmination exercise, Brig.-Gen. Dr. Gábor Böröndi, the commander of the unit told us that the members of the contingent had started their pre-deployment training in last March with a NATO CREVAL (Combat Readiness Evaluation) exercise. During this exercise, the battalion was checked for more than 1300 Performance Measures (PMs) relating to the forms of conventional combat activities. Therefore, the battalion already had a much easier time when it received the order to provide mission-specific training for its soldiers to be deployed in Afghanistan. A three-month mission rehearsal training (MRT) was enough for the contingent to reach its “full operational capability” (FOC).

During the training, the soldiers acquired the task system which is necessary for carrying out force protection duties, and they were introduced to the social and cultural traditions that characterize the people of Afghanistan, the brigadier-general stressed.

On the two-day culmination exercise, the members of the contingent modeled situations which may arise while performing guard duties at KAIA. They did this to make sure that everybody exactly knows their own tasks in the area of operations.

Acting in line with the main incident list (MIL) of the exercise, a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) deployed to the airport where it eliminated an infiltrating armed group. At the entry control point, the members of the QRF checked the Afghan civilian patients – who were arriving to receive treatment in the French hospital at the airport – and the fuel tankers. They supervised the fuel transfer and took out two Afghan terrorists who, after infiltrating into the camp, had been sniping at soldiers from a building.

The HDF Kabul International Airport Force Protection Contingent is responsible for the defence and undisturbed operation of Afghanistan’s busiest airport. The international airport, “the gateway to Afghanistan”, receives and dispatches both civil and military aircraft. The so-called mixed-use airport – which is located six kilometers to the north of the city center – is the most important aerodrome of the country, with annual passenger numbers of over two million. It is currently operated under NATO ISAF command, and the allied forces here perform their service duties in six-month periods.

The role of the Hungarian Defence Forces in Afghanistan has been transforming continuously since the autumn of 2012. Based on a governmental decision, the Hungarian Defence Forces assumed force protection tasks at the Kabul International Airport in the autumn of 2012.

(Sándor Galambos)