Strengthening U.S. and Hungarian relations

Photo By Sgt. Tyler OConnell | Sgt. Tyler Wahl, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment explains about his tank to Brig. Gen. Peter Lippai, Hungarian Defense Forces, during XIII in Hohenfels, Germany, Jan. 28, 2020. It is important to show interoperability with allies and partners to keep the trust and reaffirm the U.S.’s commitment to NATO.  

HOHENFELS, BY, GERMANY

01.28.2020

Story by Spc. Tyler OConnell 

Joint Multinational Readiness Center

HOHENFELS, GERMANY – Hungarian military officials met with Joint Multinational Readiness Center and the 1st Battalion 4th Infantry Regiment to try and grow their partnership during Combined Resolve XIII, in Hohenfels, Germany, Jan. 28, 2020. Brig. Gen. Peter Lippai, Hungarian Defense Forces, wants to unite the Hungarian opposing force and the 1-4 Infantry Regiment.

“The OPFOR is the main element of the training,” said Lippai. “The Hungarian Defense Force has an OPFOR unit and we would like to enhance the level of cooperation within the OPFOR unit.”

U.S. Army Capt. Peter Fortier, the operations officer of the 1-4 Infantry Regiment and first generation American from Hungary, has been a big piece to this puzzle in getting the American and Hungarian partnership going.

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” said Fortier. “There is a sense of pride and it is a motivator that this helps JMRC, it helps my unit, and it helps my mother’s country.”

Not only will this strengthen U.S. and its allies, but it will also help troops on both sides by being able to learn how to do the same tasks in different ways.

“By having a reciprocal partnership between the OPFOR units, we can take the time to provide lessons learned to each other,” said Fortier. “The core mission of United States Army Europe is to make Europe strong.”

Fortier believes that partnership between the U.S. and Hungary will grow and become just as strong as it is with any other of our foreign allies.

“Tactically speaking, I can not wait for them to send their OPFOR unit here so that we can fight in the box together against the Blue Force,” said Fortier.

Lippai believes that his soldiers will learn a great deal from American Soldiers.

“I am sure that the American Soldiers have much more experience in real life experiences then the Hungarian soldiers,” said Lippai. “We participate in a few different international missions and I feel like we can learn a lot from the American Army.”

• Date Taken: 01.28.2020
• Date Posted: 02.01.2020 07:57
• Story ID: 361201
• Location: HOHENFELS, BY, DE