Hungarian Defense Forces

The fundamental purpose of the Hungarian Defence Forces is the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Hungary. Hungarian servicemen must be prepared to perform their mission under all conditions. That objective is served by the development and constant high level maintenance of capabilities and the comprehensive system of training and preparation operating for that reason. The high level fulfilment of international obligations and the execution of the tasks undertaken in allied operations, while directly serving Hungary's international interests, are also significant tools in the development and continuous modernising of the military capabilities providing the country's defence.

One of the most important areas of development is the comprehensive quality renewal and reinforcement of the professional capabilities of the all-volunteer forces through intense and high-level training and the comprehensive practical deployment in peace operations. The new all-volunteer force based on new, modern organisational and deployment principles demands a firm set of values and requires the establishment of a modern service culture building on the basic values rooted in Hungary's historic heritage. A basic condition for that is solidifying the command system and reinforcing a truly 21st century command and control staff with a new approach, possessing quality command skills and being capable of efficiently applying modern capabilities.

The Hungarian government instituted a number of significant and decisive changes in national security since roughly 1996 including the modernization of its Hungarian Defense Forces and the achievement of membership in the NATO. It has tightened its focus on the individual training of soldiers while developing the independent combat capabilities of small military units. Priority was also given to the development of logistic infrastructure, host nation support capabilities, the capacity to work with Allied forces and the upgrading of equipment and armaments.

Effective as of 1 January 2007, the Joint Forces Command, HDF (HDF JFC) was established, as the legal successor of the Land Force Command and the Air Force Command abolished, and taking over certain tasks of the Joint Forces Logistics and Support Command, the Signal and Informatics Command of the Hungarian Defence Forces, the Operation Command Headquarters, and that of the Medical Command of the Hungarian Defence Forces (these latter were also abolished). HDF JFC is a medium level command&control military organisation with an independent staff table and a legal status of higher operational unit. The founder of HDF JFC is the Minister of Defence, its supervisory body is the Ministry of Defence. HDF JFC operates under the direct service subordination of the Chief of MoD DS.

Two-star generals serving in the JFC were called deputy chiefs of the land forces, the air force, and logistics. Based on our experiences, this title is not appropriate. It has caused problems mostly in our foreign relations because the Joint Forces Command is an organization that liaises with the land and air forces and logistics organizations of other countries. On these meetings the partners were always looking for the land or air force commanders of the Hungarian Defence Forces, for all they could hear every time was that they were negotiating with the deputy. They did not know that the position of a Hungarian JFC deputy commander corresponds to the position of their active land or air force commanders. In other words: it was not clear to them that behind the title 'deputy land commander', there is the number one professional of the land forces of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Therefore it was necessary to make a change, and instead of the title 'deputy commander', as of 01 February 2010, there was a Chief of Land Forces, Chief of Air Force, and a Chief of Logistics.