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 Air Defense Gunner Advanced Officer Course (Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, USA).
2004 - 2005 US Air Force Command and Staff College (Montgomery, Alabama, USA)
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
Another deployment: The Hungarian Defence Forces extinguish fires in Bulgaria as well
11:08 August 5, 2025
The Hungarian Defence Forces recently participated with a H225M helicopter in containing wildfires raging in Bulgaria. A seven-strong contingent of the HDF 86th Helicopter Wing was fighting fires for three days in the area of Ploski and Ilindentsi. During their 26 flight hours, they landed on 20 occasions and scooped up water 146 times with the Bambi Buckets used for extinguishing, using up a total of 277,000 liters of water.
Screw by screw
10:58 August 5, 2025
Helicopters. Realizations of the fantasy of man eager to fly, products of engineering ingenuity. Marvel machines assembled from tens of thousands of components, screws and elements. The Airbus H225M rotorcraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces have arrived from France. They have undergone a thorough technical inspection before entering service.
Rotary-wing flying: from the factory to the training area
19:00 August 4, 2025
What does it take to put the brand new Airbus H225M helicopters into service? Viewers of our short film can follow the path of the last two homecoming H225M rotorcraft of the renewing air force of the Hungarian Defence Forces from the factory in France to Szolnok, Hungary.
Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: Baltic countries can count on the Hungarian Air Force
15:48 July 31, 2025
Hungary is a reliable ally in NATO, the Baltic countries can count on the Hungarian Air Force – stated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky at Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania on 31 July, when, together with the Spanish air force, four JAS 39C Gripen fighter aircraft of the Hungarian Air Force took over from the Polish and Romanian air forces air policing duties in the airspace of the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania within the framework of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.
Judo seminar for North Macedonian policemen
12:01 July 31, 2025
“In my opinion, judo is one of the Olympic sports whose movement material is used effectively by the armed forces” – said Major Szabolcs Krizsán, after he held a further training session in martial arts for North Macedonian special police units in Skopje. The commander of the HDF Sport Company is currently the head police & military commissioner at the Police & Military Commission of the European Judo Union, and at the same time a member of the Military and Police Commission of the International Judo Federation.
Wildfire Control in Bulgaria with Hungarian Assistance
11:57 July 31, 2025
Snapshots of Bulgaria from onboard the Hungarian Defence Forces’ H225M helicopter fighting roaring fires. The modern rotary-wing aircraft of the HDF 86th Helicopter Wing, with its crew, departed from Szolnok three days ago to assist in controlling the forest fires in Bulgaria.
Baltic Air Policing for the fourth time
10:32 July 31, 2025
The personnel of the 69th rotation of the Hungarian Defence Forces Baltic Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Detachment – stationed in a lead nation role at Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania – are about to start performing air policing tasks for the fourth time as of 1 August. The airmen are already preparing on the spot for executing the tasks of the next four months, with several of them serving at the base not for the first time.
Military diplomacy recognition
11:05 July 30, 2025
On the occasion of completing her military diplomacy service in Hungary, Minister of Defence of Hungary Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky awarded the “Service Medal for Military Diplomacy” to Colonel Feride Tosun, the military attaché of Türkiye accredited to Budapest. The decoration was presented to the colonel by MoD Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy László Hajnik in the Ministry of Defence on 25 July.
Hungarian general again in “the NATO capital of Poland”
11:46 July 29, 2025
Already for the third time, a Hungarian general has been appointed deputy commander and chief of staff of the NATO Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz for three years again, starting from July 2025. Brigadier General Zoltán Bárány has taken over the command position – which is filled by Czechia and Hungary in three-year turns – from his Czech colleague, Brigadier General Petr Svoboda.
Torrent of Medals at the Weekend
11:35 July 29, 2025
Outstanding military athletes of four sports awarded Hungary with a torrent of medals over the weekend.