Serious recognition and opportunity

“It is a huge recognition that we were chosen to organize the main planning conference of the exercise series” – said Brigadier General Gábor Sánta, Chief of Training Directorate, HDF Defence Staff on the closing day of the conference, recalling that the Hungarian Defence Forces have actively participated in the Defender exercise series in recent years.

All this perfectly fits Hungary’s commitments as an ally. Participation in the joint exercises of NATO countries and the provision of expertise for their preparations and planning as well as the occasional provision of venues for the planning events and organizing conferences are all Hungary’s commitments in the North Atlantic Alliance, which it makes available to the best of its ability on each occasion. General Sánta emphasized that the USA and NATO consider Hungary their reliable partner.

The brigadier general pointed out that the conduct of the pre-planned, joint, whole-of-government Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 of the Hungarian Defence Forces coincides with the conference, and its main training objective is to practice the country defence plan, but the Hungarian armed forces are conducting this exercise in cooperation with the militaries of other nations, among others the U.S. military – within the framework of NATO.

Multinational exercises provide an excellent opportunity for integrating capabilities, and the development of interoperability supports our ability to perform our tasks stemming from our international engagement on the highest possible level, in full cooperation with other nations.

Justin Hill (US), Exercise Planner, Defender 26 told us that they had developed the concept and the venues in an 18-month planning process, and then collectively as NATO allies, they came together with the participants of other countries in Hungary to go through the planning process.

“It’s not only a US-internal planning process, but it also involves our partners and allies. Here in Budapest, there’s about 250 planners from 11 different countries, so this really is a collaboration bringing everybody together through virtual means, and then it culminates here at the main planning conference in personal, face-to-face discussions, coordination and relationship building” – said the representative of the United States Army.

Lieutenant Colonel László Nagy, one of the Hungarian planners of Defender 26 told us that the Hungarian Special Operations Forces (SOF) have already been participating for five years in the European exercises of the U.S. Army together with thousands of soldiers arriving from other nations.

This series of events consists of three exercises: Saber Strike, Immediate Response and Swift Response. In recent years, the Hungarian SOF were executing various tasks within the framework of the latter in Norway, Sweden and Spain” – told us the Deputy Training Chief of the Training Directorate of the HDF Special Operations Command.

Hungary will be represented by a combat infantryman platoon on next year’s Exercise Defender 26 in Finland. The main training objective will be the integration of SOF into the conventional armed forces.

The Bálna Defence Centre offered an imposing venue for the conference, and the participants highly appreciated the high quality of organization.