Brave Unity 2021 – exercise control and support

Under the name Brave Unity 2021, the 5th “Bocskai István” Infantry Brigade of the Hungarian Defence Forces conducts a command post exercise, including the planning, command and control of tactical-level operations related to NATO Article V and national defence tasks, at two locations with the participation of some 250 delegates from 27 different organizations of the Ministry of Defence and the Hungarian Defence Forces.

The commander of HQ MND-C was received by Brigadier General Péter Lippai (PhD), head of HDF Command Training Directorate, Colonel István Birovecz, director of the exercise and Colonel Béla Oszlánszki, Commander of the HDF Bakony Combat Training Centre, which provides the venue, infrastructure and logistical support for the exercise in Várpalota.

Major General Tretinjak was introduced to the subject, purpose and training objectives of the exercise, the structure of the exercise command executing day and night shifts and the operation of the functional areas.

Brigadier General Lippai expressed his special thanks for the participation of the HQ Multinational Division – Centre. As he said, not only during the execution, but also during the planning and preparation phase, the work of these experts in the CREVAL of the Brigade Headquarters was of outstanding added value, in the realisation of a task which the Hungarian Defence Forces are carrying out for the first time.

For the sake of complexity, the exercise is supported by a staff of nearly 80 personnel including those from HQ MND-C playing up to the 5th Brigade.

The HQ MND-C, as the superior command, has already supported the brigade's preparations during the earlier phases of the combat readiness evaluation, by developing the operation order in early September and presenting it to the brigade commander. It is now presenting the superior military organisation deploying a Forward Command Post.

Major General Tretinjak was primarily interested in the interaction with the subordinate brigade headquarters, the reporting system and thus the continuity of command and control.

The technical background – supporting the dynamics and training objectives and the CREVAL measurement aspects – is provided by the MARS/MARCUS simulation database, which was developed by HM Ei. Zrt's staff involving 12 different military organisations with the active participation of about 60 people over a period of 3 weeks. The so-called Joint Exercise Management Module (JEMM), which follows NATO guidelines, is used to coordinate the incidents that occur during the exercise.

Keeping in mind the requirements of the pandemic period, the personnel work in an isolated environment under continuous testing to avoid and detect infected cases as soon as possible.

The readiness and full operational capability of the Medium Infantry Brigade is planned to be assessed in the autumn of 2022, when it will be subject to a NATO combat readiness evaluation.