On his journey in the United States, Minister of Defence István Simicskó held a discussion with Maj.-Gen. Mark E. Bartman, the Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard on Thursday, 13 October.
Speaking in Columbus, the Minister of Defence said that “Our American colleagues have shared useful experience with us for the renewal of the Hungarian system of volunteer reserve to be reorganized on a territorial basis. The role of national armed forces is gaining significance, and NATO recognizes the value of systems of volunteer reserve units based on territory defence.”
The close cooperation between the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) and the Ohio National Guard (ONG) has been going on for 20 years now. In connection with the engagement in the operations in Kosovo, four staff officer positions have been offered for the HDF in the OHNG staff deploying with KFOR, which are to be filled between November 2016 and July 2017.
At the meeting, Mr. Simicskó emphasized that “We highly appreciate the initiative of the Ohio National Guard, and are pleased to have another opportunity to co-deploy in an area of operations. We attach importance to our cooperation with the ONG and are open to continue it and extend its scope”.
The topics of the discussion included continuing participation in a growing number of joint exercises and training events.
While on the base, during a static display, the Hungarian Minister of Defence saw the military equipment of the Ohio National Guard. On Friday, 14 October he visited Tampa, Florida where he held discussions with Gen. Joseph Votel, commander, United States Central Command (US CENTCOM), and with Vice Admiral Sean A. Pybus, the Deputy Commander of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).