‘In mid-January I received a phone call from Kosovo, from where a Hungarian major informed me that a Turkish colonel standing next to him was inquiring after me, and before I could reply he passed over his cell phone. I had not heard the voice speaking on the phone for six years. By the evening, the Turkish officer had sent me an e-mail in which he praised our phone talk and concluded with the following sentence: ‘Sir, I will stand by you, wherever in the world you are doing your tour of duty!’ Maj-Gen. János Isaszegi, the Commanding General of the HDF Central Training Base (HDF CTB) started our conversation about his international service by relating this story and letting us into the ‘secret’, as he revealed that the colonel – one of his former subordinates – had served as an officer (then holding the rank of lieutenant-colonel) with the Turkish liaison group in the Iraq War. Upon hearing this, it crossed my mind that his must be a significant commitment, certainly a very great honor to any soldier.

In the early ‘80s General Isaszegi was given the first opportunity to see the world as a young officer, being a member of some delegations that visited Syria and Africa. During the early ‘90s he was able to learn more about the UN peacekeeping missions while serving as a special expert with the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR). Nevertheless, it was only in the mid-90s that he got involved in large-scale peace support operations as a member of an international working group that was set up to deal with the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, after it had become clear that lacking the necessary capabilities, the UN needs NATO’s support in drawing up the plan for the crisis management operation. Therefore, a small group of six was tasked with preparing a core database for the transit of NATO-led multinational forces with UN mandate through Hungary after the upcoming signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, the General Framework Agreement for Peace (21 November 1995). The group was responsible among others for planning routes, bases and operation schedules so that the multinational operation can commence in the area of the former Yugoslavia with a fully updated operational, logistic and capability database. In Hungary, they had to make arrangements for the establishment of a temporary training/logistic base and a peaceful military engagement.

As representative of the HDF Defence Staff, Maj-Gen. Isaszegi was present at the reception of the US forces arriving at Taszár Air Base to conduct the IFOR operation, and subsequently served at FHQ USAREUR in Taszár as well as in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina for three years. Apart from being in charge of the transit route across Hungary used by 18 nations, the five-nation support group of Brigade North stationed at Pécs was also assigned to him, and as a senior commander in the area of operations, he was in daily contact with the commanders of IFOR and SFOR (not only at the theater commander’s conferences) which meant a complex and delicate task. Furthermore, he made preparations for the visits of the Hungarian Cabinet members and other official VIPs or delegations to the area of operations and also accompanied them – he even had time to organize a number of cultural programs and sports events, bringing some fun into the service personnel’s everyday life.

In November 1998 he was transferred back to Budapest, where he had  the opportunity to benefit from his knowledge and experience in the transforming Operations Control Centre of the HDF Defence Staff (first as deputy commander, then as commander). After a while, however, the refugee aid program in Albania and the special training for the KFOR-3 mission in Naples and Hamburg posed new challenges to him (the latter has been going on until the present day in different forms under various designations in Pristina, Prizren and Pec). At the same time, the OSCE mission (conducted in Georgia and Abkhazia) presented him with further responsibilities. In the midst of discussions and successful negotiations, he was struck by the death of posthumous Brig-Gen. László Török in 2001, an event which assigned him some duties of a new type for the first time.

Besides coordinating the multinational operations, as the Chief of Operations of the Hungarian Defence Forces he was responsible for all branches of crisis management including disaster relief efforts. During the winters, in cooperation with Gen. Ferenc Győrössy they chained some BMP APCs together to be able to bring bread and basic foodstuff to the residents of settlements blocked by a wall of snow, while in the summer they protected villages from water by coordinating the soldiers’ flood relief efforts. He still takes pride in the signal that indicates the highest-ever water level (in 2000) at the Szolnok Tisza-bridge, because they managed to keep the town safe from the flood. He directed the HDF personnel’ flood relief efforts two and six years later as well, and is rightly proud of the achievement. Thanks to their cooperation they did not lose any settlements, not even Csépa, the most endangered village at that time.

In 2003 he was given a great chance based on Hungary’s cooperation with the US forces in the IFOR/SFOR operations. As Chief of the HDF Joint Operations Centre, he represented the top HDF leadership in special military matters at the training base of the free Iraqi forces that had arrived in Taszár early that year and started their preparation under US Commander Gen. David Barno. Acting at US request and authorized by the Hungarian government in the summer of 2003, with the Operation Iraqi Freedom in full swing, he was posted to the headquarters of the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF-7) where he served as Deputy Chief of the Operations Department (DC3). Except for him and a British general, all other responsible positions were filled by US generals at the HQ commanded by Lt-Gen. Richardo Sanchez. He did his tour of duty in the area of operations together with soldiers like Gen. Mattis, who has become NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation (SACT), the later Chief of Staff of the US Army (Gen. Casey), the later CENTCOM Commander (Gen. Petraeus) and the present Chief of Defence of the Canadian Armed Forces (Gen. Natynczyk). He has maintained contact with all of them since and regularly e-mails them. General Isaszegi is proud to say that all generals and subordinates on duty in the operations room supported his work while troops of 37 countries from Australia to South America served under him. As Chief of Coalition Operations, he gained strategic and operational as well as wartime operational and training experience. The most painful moment in his tour of duty was when he returned home after 11 months of absence without paid leave, because on the same day the HDF lost posthumous 2nd Lt. Richárd Nagy (killed in Iraq). The next day he travelled back to al-Hillah, Iraq.

Hungary joined the ISAF operation in Afghanistan in 2003, and General Isaszegi was instrumental in preparing for the mission and the (re)deployment of the assigned forces. (He had been earlier to Afghanistan with the pre-deployment site survey staff (Dec 2002 – Jan 2003) than in Iraq). He worked towards synchronizing and coordinating the tasks between NATO, the multinational ISAF staff and the Hungarian Defence Forces at different locations.

Since 15 February 2007, Maj-Gen. János Isaszegi has been serving in Szentendre, where he was appointed Commanding General of the HDF Central Training Base as of 1 July 2007. As the head of the Command Group of the HDF CTB, he benefits from the lessons learned over the years in different positions in multinational missions. It is no accident that since 2008 the HDF CTB has hosted one of NATO’s top priority programs, the NATO Operational C-IED Staff Officer Awareness Course and ‘Train the Trainer’ courses. The CTB ran four training courses in 2009, whereas six ‘Train the Trainer’, three staff officer and three C-IED Awareness courses alongside a conference and an extramural NATO session are scheduled to take place in Szentendre in 2010. The CTB did a great job indeed, so recently they were given the opportunity to host a top-level NATO conference in the field.

The Hungarian government and several NGOs have awarded prestigious decorations to General Isaszegi in recognition of his sustained efforts, while the comrades and the population also appreciate his work. He proudly recalls his colleagues’ names, ranks and positions and relates them to memorable moments regardless of the specific missions, flood or wintertime rescue operations. No wonder that he is known by so many who seek to meet him and keep contact with him. He has friends and admirers on each continent, as witnessed by the many mementos, correspondences and awards in his office. Each item has its own story, but the general does not start with the ‘big names’. The first object he shows us is a Korean soldier’s ceramic cup. The Korean serviceman in Iraq wanted to return home but his own country’s embassy was unable to help him, so General Isaszegi arranged for a flight aboard a US military transport aircraft to Kuwait, from where the Korean soldier managed to go home to take part in his mother’s funeral with the assistance of the general’s Hungarian acquaintance. You must be someone to receive a fur-lined coat with golden embroidery from the Kazakhs, and General Isaszegi has such a coat indeed. The general sent an e-mail to a soldier from Burkina Faso to thank him for the tiny talisman he had given to him, just like to an elderly widow living near Szentendre for her handwritten letter of thanks for the help the general had offered to her family. Maj-Gen. Isaszegi shows us the memorabilia of the former comrades and fellow soldiers as well, among them a letter from Gen. Izumi from Japan with an enclosed stamp-collection paying tribute to the Japanese–Hungarian memorial year 2009. We are allowed to take a look at the letters from the colleagues and staff officers, and the ones from the present CHOD of the Canadian armed forces and from several Hungarian and US generals in high-ranking HDF and NATO positions.

The unforgettable memories and the words of appreciation all reflect the fact that Maj-Gen. Isaszegi has done his job with a sense of vocation, humanity and professionalism while representing our country, the Hungarian soldiers and the international associations of comrades with whom he served together whenever and wherever duty called him to do so. The general deflected praise with admirable simplicity, saying we all depend on each other in the area of operations where mutual trust is indispensable.

The 57-year-old general retired on 15 April. The Ministry of Defence did not need his mission-related experience...