Major General Zoltán Somogyi
15:53 July 18, 2023Brigadier General Zoltán Somogyi was born on 27th February 1974 in Fehérgyarmat. He began his military service in August 1992 at the Military Command Collage in Szentendre. He graduated as an artillery officer with a BSc in Land Surveying Engineering in 1996. He served 8 years in a various artillery officer assignments including 4 years as Battery Commander within the HDF 5th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 5th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion in Debrecen. During his artillery officer carrier, he successfully completed the Battery Commander Course of the German Bundeswehr and gathered experiences also in the field of rocket artillery. In 2003 he was deployed to the position of the 2nd Company Commander of the Hungarian Guard and Security Battalion, KFOR Kosovo and in 2004 he assumed command of the Hungarian Guard and Security Contingent, KFOR Skopje.
In 2007, he was appointed to the position of Hungarian Joint Force Command J3 Staff Officer in Székesfehérvár and he was promoted to Major. In 2009, he was assigned as a Liaison Officer to the German Operations Command in Potsdam and to the German MOD Planning Staff in Berlin focused on Hungarian contribution to ISAF operation. In 2010, he graduated from the National Defense University with MSc degree in Military Leadership. In 2012 he graduated the 7th German National Joint Admiral and General Staff Course at the Bundeswehr Command & Staff Collage in Hamburg. Following that, he was appointed to the position of the Military Assistant to the Chief of Land Forces of the Hungarian Joint Force Command and he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the Head of Combat Support Branch G3 HDF JFC.
During this assignment in 2013-2014 he was deployed for seven months to Afghanistan as a senior advisor and head of a brigade level advisory team. In 2016, he was assigned to the position of Chief G37 HDF Joint Force Command. In 2017, his next appointment was at HDF JFC where he held the post of Chief J3/ACOS Operations and was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
From August 2018 he started and led the planning project of Headquarters Multinational Division Centre. He was appointed to Chief of Staff of the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre on 01 June 2020 and he was promoted to his current rank on the 20th of August 2020.
12 May 2022 – 17 May 2023 he served as Chief of Staff of EUFOR Force HQ in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 15 July 2023 he has been assuming the position Director of the General Staff Hungarian Defence Forces.
He is married to his wife Beatrix and lives in Várpalota.
A look at the Western Balkans theatre
15:16 May 14, 2024
The students of the military leadership specialization of the Ludovika – University of Public Service, Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training, General Staff Training Institute, Senior Military Leader Postgraduate University Level Programme recently paid a visit to Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to gain first-hand experiences of the two international military missions conducted in the Western Balkans country, namely, EUFOR Althea – the operation of the European Union (EU) in Bosnia and Herzegovina – and the NATO Headquarters Sarajevo (NHQSa).
Hungary Has Started to Rebuild its Defence Industry in Good Time
15:07 May 14, 2024
Hungary has started to rebuild its defence industry in good time and with an appropriate strategy – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky on Friday, 10 May at the Hungarian Defense Industry Summit conference in the Bálna Defence Centre.
Attenzione! Fuoco!
12:01 May 14, 2024
On the fourth day of the multinational Exercise Brave Warrior 2024, an Italian rifle company of the NATO Forward Land Forces Battle Group (NATO FLF BG) carried out a live fire exercise (LFX) with armored Centauro Reconnaissance Anti-Tank Vehicles, towed 155mm FH-70 field howitzers, 120mm heavy mortars and Iveco LMV Light Multirole Vehicles as infantry fighting vehicles. In the afternoon, the main role in the Bakony Hills was being played by the Hungarian soldiers and their anti-armor Carl Gustaf M4 recoilless rifles, as the personnel declared to the FLF rifle company are continuously training for the Combat Readiness Evaluation of Land Headquarters and Units (CREVAL) validation exercise.
Under continuous training
11:56 May 14, 2024
During the multinational Exercise Brave Warrior 2024, training events are taking place one after the other in the Bakony Hills.
Medical treatment quickly, precisely, on the move
15:20 May 9, 2024
“Soldiers either fight or train. We are now in the training phase. We hope we won’t need to use the knowledge accumulating here, but we must acquire it by all means”, said Major Máté Tóth on 7 May, the media day of the multinational military medical Exercise Vigorous Warrior held in the Bakonykút training area.
It Is Especially Important to Save Lives
12:38 May 9, 2024
“Wars cannot be won with weapons alone. It is also just as important to heal wounds and to save lives.” You are doing important work in this field – welcomed Deputy Minister Tamás Vargha, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence the participants of Vigorous Warrior 2024 in Bakonykúti, Hungary on 8 May. More than 1,500 representatives of 33 countries are participating in NATO’s largest military medical exercise to find common solutions and establish smooth professional communication with each other.
Multinational Life-Saving
11:35 May 9, 2024
The Romanian MEDEVAC helicopter is taking off to transport simulated, moulaged German casualties. There is a presumption of infection, so the converted Black Hawk is yet to land, when the workstation of the British Casualty Decontamination Area (CDA) is already established – working intensely, its personnel have set up their tents in approximately ten minutes. After the screening, the casualties are transported in a Belgian ambulance to the tent of the US Role-2-Enhanced (R2E) medical treatment facility (MTF). This is Vigorous Warrior 2024, NATO’s only military medical exercise.
Aircraft Arrive at Pápa in Several Waves
10:14 May 9, 2024
Exercise Swift Response, which puts NATO’s eastern flank in the centre, is part of Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024. At the forefront of Swift Response are those defence capabilities which help the NATO alliance system repel possible aggression from the East. Within the framework of the exercise, German and Dutch troops of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy (NRDC-ITA) arrive at Pápa to participate in an airborne operation in Romania. Our crew captured the arrival of the aircraft at the HDF 47th Airbase.
The Holocaust Must Never Happen Again
14:43 May 7, 2024
The Holocaust was the largest tragedy in Hungarian society and the whole world, and we can never let it happen again – emphasized Tamás Vargha, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence at the former Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp on Monday, 6 May.
The Government is Dedicated to Supporting Sports
13:18 May 7, 2024
The government has always been dedicated to supporting sports, which can be seen from the introduction of everyday PE lessons and the launch of the Sporting Nation Program – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in the Puskás Aréna stadium on Monday, the Hungarian Sports Day, at the conference called “Diplomacy in Sports and Sports in Diplomacy”.