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Before Making a Decision |
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(Source: Hungarian Ministry of Defence; issued May 15, 2003)
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organisational structure and dislocation, their military equipment was modernised, and their system of training was also modified. Their duty has not changed during the years.
Today, their primary tasks are the military defence of the country and the accomplishment of the tasks stemming from the NATO membership and other international agreements. The leading organ of the service is the Land Forces Command at Székesfehérvár. The generals and senior officers serving here control the everyday life of the 15 subordinated units dislocated in 12 garrisons, command their training and preparation, make plans and do organising work.
The core force of the service consists of the three joint brigades, a mixed artillery brigade and an engineer brigade, a light mixed regiment and the various special and branch units. The changed security environment of our country, the NATO membership and the new challenges demand the constant development of the service and the improvement of its capabilities.
In 2000, after the strategic review of the activity of the Hungarian Defence Forces covering all fields had been completed, a transformation began in the HDF with the aim of improving quality and enhancing combat capabilities.
What is the present situation in the spring of 2003, when the defence review is nearing completion? Maj. Gen. Ferenc Gy_rössy, Commander of the HDF Land Forces Command answered our question.
“Our first and most important task is to create the conditions for the transition to an all-voluntary armed force, since here at the Land Forces, the last conscripts will have completed their service by 3rd November 2003. We have already surveyed all the garrisons and investigated whether we are capable of replacing the conscript staff. It seems that the conditions are given, the conditions for various services, protection, provisioning are available. However, the conditions of accommodation in Székesfehérvár and at the Light Mixed Regiment of Szolnok are presently such that the accommodation of the needed number of contracted soldiers would create a tension.
“The identification of capabilities is also going on. A decision has been made that two deployable, brigade-sized forces must be available in the future. So far, no decision has been made about the form of the realisation, we do not know whether all the three presently available brigades will remain or only two of these. Our great problem - which is being investigated - is that if we switch over to the two-brigade structure, then each brigade will function in several garrisons, which does not have a tradition in Hungary yet, and its legal conditions are also questionable. The exercise of the commander's sphere of authority, the financial and the human resource management would cause further problems.
“The future of the Land Forces Command is secure, but no decision has been made about it yet. We have to stop performing our classic wartime command (i. e. strategic) tasks. The primary reason for that is that we have to perform our defensive tasks within the allied NATO order, while control groups will suffice for the operation of the Hungarian units serving abroad. According to the plans, though no decision has been made yet, the service will regain the territorial defence and the command of the training centres. All in all, the Land Forces Command will remain, since mobile, deployable brigade staffs must be created and commanded in the future too.
“The defence review - according to the currently available information - will not affect the staff composition of the land forces. The minister of defence also said that he would like to retain a 27 000-strong combat force, so the total number of the land forces cannot be reduced. If I were very optimistic, I would say that our strength of 14 000 might even increase. If the skeleton staff numbers remain, then we will be able to carry out our probable tasks stemming from the domestic and international commitments in the future too.â€
Answering our question about the probable mission in Iraq, Gen. Gy_rössy emphasised that the service can provide the 300-strong contingent. In relation to the six-month task, he deemed it important to note that the pieces of special equipment must be procured. He also emphasised that the interest is very great.
The commander of the land forces receives calls each day from Eger, Szolnok and also from the infantry battalions, and the callers say that their units intend to be represented in the peacekeeping mission with at least one platoon. Maj. Gen. Gy_rössy does not think that the reason for the enthusiasm, the desire for the new challenge, the motivation would lie in the material aspect. As he remarked, life and experience bring enthusiasm, the soldiers would like to do something which they have not done before, which is a good thing and should be supported.
-ends-
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