Lieutenant General Zoltán Mihócza
08:02 August 10, 2021Personal data:
Date of birth: 18 March 1962.
Place of birth: Budapest
Marital status: Married, with one child
Education:
1980 - 1986 Minsk Military Academy of Air Defense Missile Engineering, (Minsk, Belarus, USSR), certified radio engineer
1996 - 1997 ADA Officers Advanced Course, El Paso, Texas, USA
2004 - 2005 Air War College, Montgomery, Alabama, USA Master degree – strategic studies
Training Courses Attended:
1999 C-70 Chemical Defense Course, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany
2000 I-32 Staff Officer Course, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany
2001 C-29 MJLC Course, NATO School, Oberammergau, Germany
2002 NATO Logistics Course, Aachen, Germany
2007 Senior Leadership Course, George C. Marshall Center, Germany
2008 Defence Policy Course, Defence Academy, UK
2010 GFOAC Senior Leadership Course, NDC, Rome, Italy
Military career:
1986 - 1989 11/7th Air Defense Missile Division, Deputy Commander (Technical), Budapest
1989 - 1992 11th Danube Air Defense Missile Brigade, Maintenance Squadron Commander, Budapest
1992 - 1994 11th Danube Air Defense Missile Brigade, Chief of Maintenance, Budapest
1995 - 1996 11th Danube Air Defense Missile Brigade, Chief of Air Defense Missile Engineering, Budapest
1997 11th Danube Air Defense Missile Brigade, Chief of Military Engineering, Budapest
1998 HDF Meteorological Office, Chief Planning Officer, Budapest
1999 Defense Staff, Military Force Planning Directorate, Modernization Department, Research and Analysis Officer, Budapest
1999 - 2002 NATO Joint Forces Command, Group Headquarters J1/4, Logistics Planning Division, Senior Officer, Verona, Italy
2002 - 2003 MOD-DS, Force Planning Directorate, Modernization Division, Senior Officer in Charge, Budapest
2003 - 2004 MOD-DS, Secretary to the Chief of Integration, Budapest
2005 MOD-DS, Secretary to the Director of the Defense Staff, Budapest
2005 - 2006 MOD- DS, Military Planning General Directorate, NATO and Doctrinal Department, Head of Department, Budapest
2006 - 2010 MOD-DS, Operations and Training Division, Deputy Head of Division, Budapest
2010 - 2011 MOD-DS, Force Planning Directorate, Director, Budapest
2011 - 2013 HDF Office of the Military Representative, Military Representative, Brussels, Belgium
2013 - 2016 HDF Joint Forces Command, Acting Commander, Székesfehérvár
2015 - 2016 EUFOR, Chief of Staff, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2016 - 2018 HDF Joint Forces Command, Chief of Staff, Székesfehérvár
2018 HDF Joint Forces Command, Acting Commander, Székesfehérvár
2019 - Headquarters of the Hungarian Defense Forces, Chief of Staff
Participation in operations:
2000 - 2001 KFOR HQ Pristina, Kosovo
2015 - 2016 EUFOR, Chief of Staff, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Honours:
1994 Officer Service Medal 3rd Class (10 years)
2001 NATO Kosovo Medal 2002 Service Medal for Peacekeeping
2003 Service Medal, bronze grade
2003 Officer's Service Medal 2nd Class (20 years)
2004 NATO Service Medal 2005 Service Medal gold grade
2008 Service Medal decorated with Laurel Wreath
2010 Officer's Service Medal 1st Class (30 years )
2013 NATO Service Medal
2015 Hungarian Cross of the Order of Merit, military section
2016 EU CSDP Service Medal
2017 Migration Crisis Management Service Badge
2018 US Air Force Command Staff College, International Hall of Fame Member
2019 Gyula Sipos Award of the City of Székesfehérvár
Language skills:
English: STANAG 6001 4.4.4.4
Russian: advanced level, military interpreter
Saint Ladislaus, Patron Saint of Infantry Soldiers, Honoured in Pristina
11:45 July 13, 2026
For the first time in Pristina, a Hungarian-language Holy Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of Saint Teresa of Calcutta in honour of King Saint Ladislaus, the patron saint of infantry soldiers. The Mass was celebrated by Major Kornél Horváth, military chaplain of the Hungarian Defence Forces, with the intention of establishing a new tradition.
Multi-Agency Readiness in Kosovo
14:00 July 8, 2026
International forces and multiple security and civil protection agencies conducted large-scale joint training activities on 2 and 3 July at Camp Vrelo training area, near the capital of Kosovo.
It all depends on unit cohesion
10:23 July 2, 2026
Quickness, teamwork, harmony. This is how one can summarize the tactical week of the HDF 30th Mechanized Infantry Brigade held in the Bakony Hills, where the soldiers of the 2nd company of the 1st Grenadier Battalion breached a bunker, seized it and then conducted trench warfare. The training sessions did not end nightfall, as the mortar platoons used their Hirtenberger M12 mortars to break the silence of the night.
National and allied command and control – harmony in focus
09:48 July 2, 2026
In 2026 again, outstanding significance was attached to the NATO Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exploration, Experimentation, Examination Exercise (CWIX) held in Bydgoszcz, Poland with the objective of testing and perfecting the interoperability of coalition and national command and control (C2) systems of allied and partner nations across all domains of operations.
A Test of Strength and Endurance in Kosovo
09:09 July 2, 2026
Hungarian soldiers serving in KFOR, NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo successfully completed the multinational military strength and endurance competitions held at Camp Novo Selo.
Defence Ministers agree on strengthening V4 military cooperation
11:44 June 26, 2026
The member states of the Visegrád Group (V4) – the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – consider it necessary to strengthen their cooperation in the fields of military logistics and defence industry – this was announced at a press conference following the meeting of V4 defence ministers in Budapest on June 25.
In the Lead Nation Role on Exercise Safety Fuel 2026
16:52 June 24, 2026
Exercise Safety Fuel 2026 was planned and directed under Hungarian lead. This year, the main focus of the activities was on fielding the joint Bulk Fuel Installations (BFI) and on the complex tasks relating to them.
Hungarian troops’ equipment arrives home from Estonia aboard giant airlifter
15:00 June 24, 2026
After two weeks of intensive work on difficult terrain, NATO’s international military medicine Exercise Vigorous Warrior 2026 ended in Estonia. The Antonov An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft transporting to Budapest the medical and field equipment of the Hungarian Defence Forces used in the Baltic state made two turns and so it landed at Liszt Ferenc International Airport on June 21 and 22. A prepared convoy of the Hungarian Defence Forces was awaiting for the cargo, so that it can return the items of equipment to the HDF Medical Center after unloading. On June 21, the Hungarian service members participating in the exercise also arrived in Kecskemét, Hungary aboard an Airbus A319 of the Hungarian Defence Forces.
Guest stars in Kecskemét
12:10 June 24, 2026
On June 23, traffic was busy at the HDF 101st Aviation Wing. Two new JAS 39 Gripens arrived to their permanent home base, and besides, some special “dinner guests” came along to visit the airbase. A Northrop F-5A fighter aircraft and an Airbus A400M Atlas giant airlifter of The Turkish Stars – the aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish Air Force – landed on the runway for refueling. En route to their destinations in Germany and Belgium, the members of the world’s largest aerobatic team equipped with supersonic fighters thanked their hosts in Kecskemét for their hospitality by performing a short demo flight.
The Fleet is Complete
12:01 June 24, 2026
With the completion of the Hungarian Defence Forces fighter aircraft fleet, already 18 armed JAS 39 Gripens safeguard Hungary’s and NATO’s airspace. “Our Gripens protect not only the Hungarian sky” – said MoD Parliamentary State Secretary László Kürtös at the reception ceremony of the last two assets of the fleet on June 23.