Military Attachés at the University of Public Service

Events and cultural programs introducing the operation of the Ministry of Defence and the Hungarian Defence Forces are important parts of the annual program of BMAC. The visit to the Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training at the University of Public Service and the HDF Ludovika Battalion on 24 April belongs to the first category. The representatives of BMAC visited the campus on Hungária Boulevard, led by the senior member of the organization, Brigadier General Manfred Hanzl, Austrian defence attaché.

In the late morning, Colonel Dr. Zoltán Jobbágy, international vice dean of the faculty, held a presentation on Hungarian military officer training, which has a distinguished tradition. The visitors showed great interest in the reorganizations of the past years, the different specialties and the research activities of the Faculty of Military Science and Officer Training, the reconsidered language teaching and the international educator and student exchange programs. The international vice dean also talked about the difficulties of military education, such as the demographic problems, the changing need for education of the younger generations and the 21st-century phenomenon of information overload.

After the presentation that ended with a conversation, a lab of the university and various modern equipment used during education were introduced to the delegation. The attachés had the opportunity to see the newly procured DMLS and 3D printing devices of the institution, then they tried out a weapon simulation program that works with a headset and VR glasses. In what followed, they had a tour – led by Colonel Dr. Zoltán Jobbágy – around the campus of the faculty, where they saw old fighting equipment and relics displayed.

In the afternoon, the attaché visit continued with a presentation by the HDF Ludovika Battalion. Lieutenant Colonel Zoltán Banka, chief of staff of the battalion, talked about the training, military socialization and sports life of the officer cadets, as well as about the everyday life of the battalion. At the end of the day, he invited the attachés and a few warrant officers from the fourth-year students of reconnaissance to an informal discussion. At the informal meeting, practical perspectives of the first appointment of officer cadets, the ongoing wars in the world and the question of how someone becomes an attaché were discussed, among others.