Army Recruitment Campaign Offers Rising Salaries and High Tech Gear

The third recruitment campaign of the Ministry of Defense and the Hungarian Defense Forces (“Man to the Iron!”) has started. The aim is to recruit young people to the army for units equipped with new military technology, Minister of Defense Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Tuesday in Győr (northwestern Hungary), at the 205th Dánielfy Tibor Air Defense Regiment.

In his campaign speech, the Minister stressed that “the iron is constantly arriving, but it is worth nothing without competent, trained soldiers”. He added that

the increased needs created by the new equipment cannot be met “from within”, by the current personnel, as the renewal of the Defense Forces in all its elements requires the expansion of many other support functions.

He detailed that the Hungarian Defense Forces offers candidates a minimum starting salary of HUF 737,000 gross (EUR 1,852) per month, a one-off contracting fee of HUF 300,000 gross (EUR 754), cafeteria benefits, travel reimbursement, free accommodation in barracks or housing allowance, holiday facilities, health care and voluntary pension contributions. Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky stressed that the high entry salary and the salary adjusted to it are not only for new soldiers, but also for other soldiers serving in sub-units. The aim is to have “steadily increasing salaries in the Defense Forces that ensure a decent living”, he stated.

The Minister recalled that in the last three years there had been two double-digit salary increases for all soldiers, expressed as a percentage. The “Man to the Iron!” campaigns, including the current one, will see further increases concentrated on groups of personnel, which is a long process, he added.

He said that from the middle of this year, the salary of each soldier will be determined by the competent commander of the staff according to merit within the scale. In addition to this, in January next year, soldiers will also receive six months’ arms pay with their January salary, he added.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky reminded that the first two phases of the recruitment campaign, launched in 2023, had performed excellently. At the Kinizsi Armored Infantry Brigade in Hódmezővásárhely (south Hungary), Lynxes are in operation with sub-units, and the same is true for the Klapka Armored Brigade in Tata (north Hungary, near Budapest), where PzH 2000 self-propelled guns are in use.

The Defense Minister stressed that these results, together with the success of the Territorial Reserve recruitment, show that society has become closer to the cause of national defense and that there is mass interest in the military service.

He added that an increasing number of people believe that the military is a noble profession, offering not only a secure livelihood but also a lifelong mission, responsibility and social respect.

Gábor Böröndi, Chief of the Defense Staff, said that this year the campaign will focus on four key and critical units, be it air defense, multinational divisions or police. This time, personnel is being recruited for the Dánielfy Tibor 205th Air Defense Missile Regiment, the Szurmay Sándor Budapest Local Guard Brigade 32nd Bodyguard Regiment, the Military Police Regiment and the Nagysándor József 51st Intelligence and Command Brigade.

Via MTI, Featured photo via Honvédelem.hu