Cohesion Across Boundaries – Both in Patrolling and Diplomacy

It was Lieutenant Colonel Béla Görbe, acting commander of the unit, who introduced the organisation to the military diplomats. The training centre provides professional training, courses and other educational programs to Hungarian and foreign service members. With peacetime operation training, language courses and educator exchange programs, the main goal of the centre is to enhance Hungarian service members’ foreign engagement and international military cooperation.

Visitors had the opportunity to gain an insight into a final exercise of the 45th International Military Observer Course (IMOC), accredited by the United Nations. Participants of the course between 24 March and 11 April learned the basics of the UN’s peacekeeping activity, the task systems of the organisations participating in operations, the process of setting up missions and the basic knowledge indispensable for UN military observers, among others. Educators talked about the course’s theoretical background and the system and structure of the practical exams to the visitors.

The final practice of the course includes solving different tasks/resolving conflicts that simulate real-life situations. The attachés could witness a patrol scene, carried out within the framework of the final exercise, during which the service members taking the exam had to take care of injuries and, based on UN regulations, handle a staged conflict built up around a fictitious refugee crisis.

Besides introducing the units and task system of the Hungarian Defence Forces, the goal of the formal programs organised for the attachés was to introduce Hungary’s cultural and historical traditions. Therefore, military diplomats visited the RepTár Szolnok Military Aircraft Museum, where, during the guided tour, they could learn about the brief history of Hungarian flying and admire such classics as the returning capsule of the Soyuz-35 of Astronaut Bertalan Farkas or the MIG military fighter aircraft family.