Cooperation, unity, readiness

Speaking at the October 7 opening ceremony, Major General Tibor Králik, Commander, Headquarters Multinational Division Centre (HQ MND-C) said that the exercise series Strong Bastion is an annually iterating, designated multinational cooperative event, and its aspects improving rapid response time and organizational effectiveness contribute to preserving the stability and security of the Central European region. Another objective set by the HQ MND-C is to retain the “combat ready” status achieved last year. For this, among others, the training level of those arriving in the summer rotation must be raised even higher. The major general emphasized that they are preparing with realistic scenarios, since Exercise Strong Bastion 24 is part of NATO’s regional defence cooperation strategy.

“This exercise provides us with an excellent opportunity to test and refine our tactical procedures. We are not merely pursuing theoretical scenarios, but preparing for the real challenges of our age” – said the commander, adding that trust and smooth communication are of outstanding importance in the case of troop-level task execution, especially in forms of international cooperation. The participants are working at various command posts and control centers, as the command post exercise (CPX) does not involve any actual troop movement. The entire exercise is being conducted inside the gates of the Alba Regia and József Nagysándor barracks in Székesfehérvár, without live firing exercise or any other land and air assets carrying out tasks in training areas.

“Another key element of the exercise is the training of the Support Battalion provided by the HDF 51st Signal and Headquarters Support Brigade. The members of this battalion often work in the background, but take on an indispensable role in providing logistic and operative support ranging from transportation to communications. We are now testing the fulfilment of these functions in real-world circumstances. Therefore, Exercise Strong Bastion 24 offers a complex training process in peacetime for the solution of a crisis situation that is characteristic of our age” – said the commander. In the interest of the successful accomplishment of the exercise, several units of the Hungarian Defence Forces have sent so-called staff reinforcement personnel: thus, the core of HQ MND-C is composed of more than 200 men, including the troops coming from partner countries. Besides the soldiers of the framework nations – namely, Croatia, Slovakia and Hungary –, troops of the Italian, German, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian and Turkish armed forces, as well as the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Spain (NRDC-SP) are cooperating and joining forces with each other by sharing their lessons learned and knowledge in the interest of success.