The members of the seventh rotation of the HDF Mi-35 Air Mentor Team (AMT-7) and the second rotation of the HDF Mi-17 Air Advisory Team (AAT-2) – together with the soldiers posted to individual positions taking their paid leave – left Mazar-e Sharif for Debrecen in the morning of Friday, June 1.

The day began with an early reveille, as the tailgate of the luggage transport truck was opened at 06:00 am. The truck started from here, the reinforced containerized housing units of the National Support Element and rolled to the tents that served as temporary accommodation for the aircrews and aircraft maintenance technicians, then having collected all the PX cases, sailor bags and rucksacks, it drove to the airport. The soldiers on their way home went to the airport on foot.

The baggage control and the passenger security screening – which is mandatory at all airports around the world – took place in the morning sunshine, at a temperature of well above 30 degrees Celsius.

Thanks to the German discipline (as the German armed forces are operating the airport of Mazar-e Sharif), we were able to watch the light, weekend air traffic on Friday only through the worn yellowish plastic windows of the closed doors until the arrival of the Boeing charter plane of Air Bucharest.

The Boeing 737 aircraft landed in the summer of Mazar-e Sharif, with 35 degrees Celsius even in the shade. The German bus transported its passengers to the parking lot where they received their baggage, while half an hour later another bus carried us to the refueled aircraft which was ready to take off. Before long, the airplane taxied to the runway, took a short ground run due to the light payload and took to the sky. At the end of the uneventful journey we encountered the much colder, cloudy weather of Trabzon with 18 degrees Celsius. The soldiers walked out from the closed-down terminal to the pouring rain.

Debrecen showed its nicer side, so the soldier seated in front of me was right to cry out “What a lot of green!” on catching sight of the Great Hungarian Plain in the sunshine after the barren yellow and grey colors of Afghanistan. The disembarkation was followed by transferring the luggage, then the Mi-17 helicopter with tail number 704 waiting for us (carrying the most important bags, cases and the writer of this article in the cargo hold) and an ex-Finnish Mi-8 (with tail number 3307, offering the troops a rapid movement home) overcame the rising wind and flew in formation to Szolnok with the homebound personnel aboard.

By tradition, Brig.-Gen. Imre Lamos, the commander of the HDF 86th Szolnok Helicopter Base welcomed the contingent back home by the sounds of the famous last number from the musical “Hair”. After performing a flyover in salute, the two aircraft taxied to the stands at the same time, and the engines were stopped in a barrage of more and more impatient glances being thrown by the next of kin. Wherever I look, I can see tears and hugs – we are back home.

Balázs Trautmann

(Ministry of Defence)